I could start with a hackneyed cliché about women being more emotional than men. But we all know what happens on the golf course: the playing field is level, and men are plagued by the same emotional reactions as women.
Golfers are prone to three basic emotional responses, and if you let them get out of hand, they can have a huge impact on your bottom line. It’s no secret that the game of golf is mental and your emotions have a direct impact on your state of mind.
Anyone who has ever gone to the course with a heavy heart knows that if you go in thinking it’s going to be a rotten round, it probably is. Even overly excited players can get their ball to snag or cut because their body is full of adrenaline.
Don’t add anger to your scorecard
Anger is perhaps the most frustrating thing you can experience when playing a round of golf. You went out to get some exercise, enjoy nature and hone your skills and you end up having to go home and de-stress in a candlelit bubble bath.
Golf can be frustrating because we always want to hit the perfect shot. Even a small mishap can irritate us to the point of affecting every subsequent shot. You have to see the game as a whole and not carry the burden of every shot you take.
Even the pros in the men’s and women’s professional tournaments have days when nothing seems to go right. But you don’t see them throwing their clubs into the pond or hear them cussing loudly at the ball as it flies toward OB territory.
Because golf is such a mental sport, it is vital that you keep your emotional frustration to a minimum so that you can perform to the best of your abilities on every hole. Some people play as if they can’t see anything but the immediate situation.
You just might have the worst (and most embarrassing) tee shot of the day. But it can still go down if the rest of your game isn’t affected by the negativity that many golfers carry from one hole to the next.
Take each shot for what it’s worth. And it really plays the rest of the times you do something right. You have to think positively and breathe in the moments when you feel angry for choosing to pick a club in the first place.
Whatever you do, learn to control your anger in the course to a minimal amount. If it seeps into your mind a bit, that’s one thing, but it’s bad sportsmanship to let it spill over into everyone else’s game.
Even emotion can interrupt your game
Not all emotions are negative. Unfortunately, you may hit an incredible tee shot from the first hole and your enthusiasm will run so high that you cut off all other shots until you feel miserable and feel like giving up.
It’s easy to get excited about the course. You feel proud when you hit the sweet spot and even more so when other people encourage you and are impressed with your efforts. It’s okay to smile and revel in the moment a bit.
Just don’t get so excited that you’re overconfident in your abilities and forget to line up properly, keep your head down, or stay bent at the knees. Sometimes the thrill of a good shot will cause you to backswing faster, which will waste time.
Just like you do with your angry emotions, after they surface, give it a moment of pause and then save it to revisit on your ride home from the course. Start each swing from scratch.
Envy is the root of all double bogies
Golfers can be as green as the Bermuda they stand on. It’s no secret that each and every one of us wants to be the best player in the foursome. But golf itself is like a fight: sometimes your shot is the best and other times the title goes to someone else.
In golf, you are not only playing against yourself, to lower your handicap, but you are also playing against others in many cases. You still have to realize that at the end of the day, the scores of others in your group will not be given to contribute to your handicap.
All you can make are the bets you’re capable of, and instead of being envious of someone else’s talent, let that inspire you to take an extra trip to the driving range to practice some more.
But in the middle of a game, if you let envy get the better of you, you’ll end up trying too hard to make up for what you lack compared to the other players. This can take you from 2 over par total to 2 over par on every hole if you’re not careful.
Copyright 2006 Mrs. O’Golf