How not to let one bad shot snowball into two or three or …

How many times Have you hit a bad shot, stormed up to your ball determined to redeem yourself with your next swing-only to hit another lousy shot?

Golf is not a game of perfection. Even during your best round you are likely to hit some shots that disappoint or frustrate you. It’s normal to react negatively, but it’s not effective for playing your best golf. Your reaction to your shot can happen as soon as you initiate your back swing. Not everyone is as disciplined as Tiger Woods, who will stop in the middle of his swing if he’s distracted by, say, a bird chirping. If we notice something doesn’t feel right or if a playing partner distracts us, we go ahead with our swings anyway, usually with disastrous results.

For many of us, our reactions to our shots start as soon as we make contact with the ball and see its trajectory. We immediately decide if it’s a good, bad or indifferent outcome. Typically, thoughts lead to emotions, which our bodies then feel. The sequence is fairly predictable: negative judgment (“That was really stupid!”) leads to negative emotion (anger), which the body experiences as muscle tension and shallow breathing, similar to a stress response. It’s important to note this whole process happens within a split second and is nearly impossible to stop. Many of you already know you shouldn’t hit a shot while feeling angry and tense, so what are you to do?

Here’s when a post-shot routine comes in handy. A good, consistent, post-shot routine will allow you to stay in the present and let go of bad shots more quickly than anything else I know. The following are important steps for the post-shot routine:

• Give yourself a brief period of time (5 seconds) to feel your emotions and react.
• Breathe deeply (5 seconds in and 5 seconds out) to let go of the tension in your body. Depending on the intensity of your
reaction, it may take several breaths before you start to feel the release.
• Replace the negative emotion with a neutral or positive feeling by focusing on something else, like the fact you are playing golf and not at work!
• Take another swing, and visualize the ball going to your intended target. Let that be the image and feeling you take with you to the next shot.
• As you walk to your next shot make sure you have completely let go of the negative thoughts, emotions and physiological reactions to the previous shot.

Do a body scan and see if you are still feeling tense. If so, continue to breathe and refocus yourself. Find something you can actually feel positive about.

If you can discipline yourself to do this after every shot, you will see positive results in a short period of time. Better yet, you’ll be more fun to play with.

By Denise McGuire

Denise McGuire, Ph.D., founder of Get in the Zone, uses mind-body techniques to teach golfers of all ability levels to optimize performance. Contact her at 303-902-5998 or denise@getinzone.net