Every Tuesday I’ll be writing a brief instruction article (about a 3-5 minute read). Feel free to send me your ideas for an article to tyrus@hpgolfacademy.com!
Golf most certainly has a way of tapping into the deepest part of our soul, rendering smart, kind hearted people to act out in ways never imagined just because they hit an errant shot on the golf course. If you’ve spent any time at all around this game you’ve seen it get the best of a lot of people you would have never thought capable of showing such negative emotion.
Even the best players in the world are susceptible to acting out and showing their dark side after a bad miss. Although, who could blame them given the amount of money on the line that one bad shot can cost them.
When Tiger Woods began breaking his silence after a horrific car accident that left many wondering if he’d ever play again, let alone professionally, he took the opportunity to share some advice he gave his talented son:
“I went to golf tournaments to watch him play, and I’m looking at some of these scores he’s shooting and I said, How the hell are you shooting such high scores? I gotta go check this out. So I’d watch him play and he’s going along great, he has one bad hole, he loses his temper, his temper carries him over to another shot and another shot and it compounds itself.
I said, ‘Son, I don’t care how mad you get. Your head could blow off for all I care just as long as you’re 100 percent committed to the next shot. That’s all that matters. That next shot should be the most important shot in your life. It should be more important than breathing. Once you understand that concept, then I think you’ll get better.’ And as the rounds went on throughout the summer, he’s gotten so much better.”
- Quote taken from Golf Digest via www.golfwrx.com.
Learning to control anger on the golf course is just another aspect of the game that a player must learn in order to reach an elite level. It’s easy to think that great players lose their temper too often (and they certainly do), but Tiger just explained the difference between them and the rest of us. There is nothing wrong with getting mad on the course, assuming you don’t do anything destructive to yourself, the course, or others. But knowing how to let it go and move on so you are 100% committed to the next shot is critical.
I want my players to learn how to control their initial anger by not getting so upset to begin with. But each player’s personality will dictate the level in which someone gets angry. So what are some things anyone can do to make sure you are committed to your next shot?
Breathe
If you have an Apple Watch you may be used to getting told to breathe often during the day (or is that just me lol!) Once the initial shock of a bad shot hits you, give yourself no more than 10 seconds to embrace the anger, then begin to take slow, deep breaths. Do this before you approach your next shot so that your heart rate can begin to stabilize.
Focus on what happened
This can be tricky if you’ve never had instruction and aren’t sure of basic ball flight principles that affect each shot. But for example… if you hit a monster hook to the left, ask yourself what kind of impact (club face angle and swing path) could have created that shot. Then start to focus on the solution.
W.E.L.D.
When you approach your next shot, get lost in the process of identifying what you need to do next. At the High Performance Golf Academy, we teach the W.E.L.D. system:
Wind
Elevation
Lie
Distance
Once you know these things you can more accurately select your club and the shot you want to hit with 100% commitment. More importantly, it distracts you from the previous bad shot.
Remember, golf is game and games are meant to be fun. When you turn professional and it becomes your job, just make sure you are playing for the right reasons. This will give you the ability to always remain grounded and keep you from destroying yourself from the inside out every time a shot doesn’t go according to plan.
