Hello, Daily Duffer readers! Sarah Chen here, your PGA-certified golf instruction editor. I’ve spent over 15 years on the range, helping everyone from weekend warriors to tour professionals unlock their full potential. Today, I want to talk about something crucial that often gets overlooked in our quest for better scores: the mental game. It’s what drives our confidence, our course management, and ultimately, our performance.
Sometimes, life throws us curveballs, just like the golf course. We’re faced with unexpected challenges that can disrupt our focus and peace of mind. But those moments can also reveal a profound resilience, a determination to get back on track. I was reminded of this recently when reading about golf course architect Agustín Pizá and his experience in Puerto Vallarta.
Finding Your Mental Fairway
Pizá, a creative force in golf design, found himself in a challenging situation, dealing with a sudden lockdown and the disruption of his travel plans. Yet, through it all, his focus remained clear: getting back to his work, his passions, and anticipating his return to Puerto Vallarta. He found an outlet, a “welcome outlet” as the article describes, in watching the TGL, a league where he had designed some of the fantastical courses. This is a powerful lesson for us all.
“I follow them because they focus on success stories,” Pizá told GOLF.com by phone.
This quote from Pizá resonates deeply on the golf course. Our minds are powerful. If we constantly focus on past mistakes, dreaded outcomes, or the difficulty of a shot, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Instead, let’s learn to actively seek out and focus on ‘success stories’ – not just in our lives, but in our golf game.
What does this mean for your golf?
- **Focus on your strengths:** Recognize the shots you hit well, the putts you’ve drained, the recovery shots you’ve pulled off.
- **Visualize success:** Before each shot, see yourself executing perfectly.
- **Learn from challenges:** Every bad shot is an opportunity to learn, not a reason to despair.
The Power of Perspective: Rebounding from the Rough
Just as Pizá didn’t let a major incident define Puerto Vallarta’s reputation, we shouldn’t let a few bad holes define our entire round. He observed that “the smoke had cleared” and the city was “getting back on its feet.” He saw the resilience of the community, even noting that a local golf course had completed “200 rounds that day and were handing out free margaritas.” This incredible ability to rebound, to get back to the game, is something we can all emulate.
“I don’t want to minimize what happened,” he said. “But Puerto Vallarta is going to recover a lot more quickly than people expect.”
This optimistic yet realistic outlook is exactly what you need on the golf course. A bad shot or a lost ball isn’t the end of your round. It’s simply a moment, and you have the power to recover from it quickly. Don’t carry the weight of a triple bogey for the next three holes. Let it go and focus on the present.
Drills for a Stronger Mental Game
Building mental toughness isn’t just about thinking positive; it’s about training your brain just like you train your swing. Here are a couple of drills I use with my students:
Try this: The “Next Shot” Reset
This is a drill I encourage all my students to use, especially after a disappointing shot. After you hit a shot that you’re not happy with, engage in a quick mental reset routine. You can make it three steps:
- **Acknowledge and Release:** Briefly acknowledge the shot (“Okay, that wasn’t ideal.”) but then physically or mentally “release” it. Some players like to wipe their hands, jingle their pockets, or take a deep cleansing breath. The key is to signal to your brain that the previous moment is over.
- **One Positive Thought:** Immediately find something positive to focus on. It could be your good tempo on the swing, the way you addressed the ball, or even the beautiful surroundings on the course.
- **Commit to the Next Shot:** Shift your focus entirely to the upcoming shot. Visualize your target, think about the club choice, and commit fully to the process of hitting *this* shot well.
The goal is to shorten the emotional recovery time between shots. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can turn a bad moment into an opportunity for a great comeback.
Here’s a drill: The “Imagination Practice”
Pizá’s inventive designs for TGL, featuring holes like a “cenote” with a “tapered, concave platform” fairway or the “Temple” looking like “what you might get if Alister MacKenzie had collaborated with the Aztecs,” highlight the power of imagination. This concept can significantly boost your mental game. Before your next round, spend 5-10 minutes visualizing success:
- **The Perfect Drive:** Close your eyes and see yourself standing on the first tee. Feel the club in your hands, execute a smooth swing, and watch the ball soar down the middle of the fairway.
- **The Clutch Putt:** Imagine a crucial putt on the 18th hole. See the line, feel the stroke, hear the ball rattling into the cup.
- **Navigating Trouble:** Visualize hitting a ball into the rough or a bunker, but instead of panicking, see yourself calmly assessing the situation and executing a smart recovery shot.
Regular visualization strengthens neural pathways, making these positive outcomes feel more familiar and achievable when you’re actually on the course. It builds confidence by repeatedly impressing successful images into your subconscious.
“If it wasn’t for TGL,” he said, “I’m not sure what I’d be doing.”
This quote emphasizes the importance of having an outlet, something to focus on that brings you joy and purpose, especially during challenging times. For us golfers, golf itself is that outlet! But within golf, finding little “outlets” – like focusing on a particular swing thought, a successful practice drill, or the sheer beauty of the course – can pull you through a tough round. It’s about channeling your focus away from negativity and towards something productive and enjoyable.
In my teaching experience, the players who show the most improvement aren’t always the ones with the ‘perfect’ swing, but the ones with the most resilient mindset. They understand that golf is a game of recovery, both physically and mentally. Embrace the challenges, learn from them, and always look forward to that next shot. You have the power to bounce back and play your best golf!
