Throughout the last 25 times, I’m confident that I have either made or evidenced every gaffe imaginable in golf- especially in the mental game. When it comes to your attitude on the golf course, it is critical to strike a balance and eschewed extremes. While this might seem generic and simple, I can guarantee that getting this right( or at least improving) will be part of your keys to getting better at this play. Every golfer on this planet could use help in this department.
Recently, I sent out this tweet, and we can use this as my” thesis statement” for this article 😛 TAGEND
The best golf is played when you exist in the space between caring too much, or not at all. This is* hard-boiled* to do
You can’t “live and die” at the outcomes of every shot. But at the same time, you need to be engaged enough to control your emotions and approaching each shot analytically
— Jon Sherman (@ practicalgolf) May 6, 2021
Finding the happy medium between caring too much and not enough might look different for all of you. We each delivering our own personalities to the game. However, I know that tip-off in either direction too heavily does not work out in the long run.
As usual, I’ll try to provide tangible a few examples of what I intend because I’m sure at this degree you’re wondering,” what the hell is he talking about ??!!”
Living and Dying On Each Shot
All of you know this by now, but 18 gaps( or even 9) is long. Each round of golf typically has different acts. They can even has become a dramatic as some of your favorite movies. There is heartbreak, hubris, joy, and even redemption.
If I must be given to pinpoint one of my greatest flaws as a golfer, I reacted too heavily based on the result of each shot.
An errant drive might mail me into a panic- all of a sudden, I’m walking faster and worrying about what my next gaffe might be. Conversely, an early birdie might have had me “peacocking” a bit too much and wondering just how well I was going to score that day.
I now know that you cannot become a better golfer if you are constantly in this state. If there were some device to measure your reactions, you would want to go from this 😛 TAGEND
to this 😛 TAGEND
As ever, I want to remind you that there is no such thing as perfection. We are humans, and it’s impossible to control our emotions completely.
There are still rounds where I am a little more erratic, but I know I’m doing it far less than I used to. Additionally, after being around a cluster of top-level players, I can tell you that they are more likely to be even-keeled in this department as well.
Playing” I Don’t Care Golf”
On the other end of the spectrum, there is a desire to mentally check out when things get tough.
I used to play a extremely unproductive game against myself. Let’s say the first 5 holes were a disaster; I might say to myself,” oh, just forget about this round .” And then, all of a sudden, after 4 good pits, I might say,” wait, I’m going to play this one out and meet what happens .”
Unfortunately, golf doesn’t work this way( in the context of becoming a better player, of course ). There are ample every opportunity to bail out or say to yourself,” I don’t care at all what happens .” Often, I find golfers do this as a defense mechanism. We’re scared to find out just how severely we might score if we keep trying after a bumpy patch. Sometimes it feels like we are staring into the abyss( yes, this play can make us feel that way ).
This extreme doesn’t work either. If you are going back and forth between caring and not caring, there is no opportunity to grow as a musician. Of track, we care how we play!
I’m invariably saying words like procedure, consistency, and structure on this site because they are important. Golf is a game that requires long periods of focus and emotional self-control, which is perhaps one of the single greatest challenges. Now I don’t expect you to operate at the level of a PGA Tour pro, but there are usually opportunities for most players to make adjustments relative to their experience in the game.
Dedicate Each Shot the Attention It Deserves, and Move On
Here comes the part of the article where I give you the simple answer. It will clang too easy to be true, but the big concepts are easy to understand but difficult to put into practice, as with the majority things in golf consistently.
I keep finding different ways to say the same thing, but that’s what coach-and-fours generally need to do to change behaviors.
Existing in the space between not caring and caring too much, generally can be achieved by committing to the following process on the course.
Go through an analysis before each shot. Consider things like your lie, wind conditions, altitude varies, the fus surrounding your target, etc. This are not required to take 2 minutes! Commit to your target, club selection, and technique. Have a pre-shot routine. For lesson, I pick my target behind the projectile, take two sways, then align myself. Execute the shot! Briefly go through a post-shot routine. If it is a good result, internalize the success. If it’s not what you had hoped for, go through a quick non-emotional analysis.
If you can commit to going through a similar process before each shot, you will become a better golfer no matter what is going on.
This took me a really long time to understand, but each shot you hit genuinely is an independent event. All shots in aggregate affect your eventual rating, but I find it’s best to approach each one as a new, different context. It will help you make better strategic decisions, and most importantly, assistance compartmentalize your emotions. Again, muccccccchhhhhh easier said than done! I don’t get this right all of the time.
So when you make an errant drive into the trees, and you’re still fuming over your misconception, that shot is over and done with. Your brand-new project is to establish the best decision possible with the current shot and not let the prior event force that decision, which with many players, to consider ways to made a hero shot to make up for the mistake.
If you can commit to this philosophy and consciously work on it, I guarantee plenty of good things will happen in your golf game, and it won’t simply be your score plunging. You’ll likewise have a healthier relationship with golf and likely derive more atonement out of the game.
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