Why Golfers Turn Bogeys into More Bogeys
“Mistakes happen.” “Mistakes are a fact of life.” “We all make mistakes.”
Most people generally accept these common sayings as true… except if you’re a golfer!
How many times has your play spiraled downward during a golf game after you made a mistake?
Why does your golf game suffer after a mistake when you know: “Mistakes happen,” “Mistakes are a fact of life,” and “We all make mistakes”?
How to recover from making a bogey or two is a common question that pops up on our golf surveys.
One golfer, who wants help with this issue, wrote about how one mistake can completely ruin his round of golf.
“How do I stop myself from unraveling after a mistake or bad hole? Somehow, it always seems to happen. I’m playing a great round then one bad bounce, one bad shot, one bad hole on the back nine and it ruins the rest of the round. I want to learn how to get back on track after a bad hole.”
Getting off the bogey train has nothing to with technique, a mistake or the bad shot itself.
It’s your thoughts about what happened and your expectations of what is going to happen after the mistake!
Statements such as “unraveling after a bad hole always seems to happen… it ruins the rest of the round” are a self-fulfilling prophecy. It gives you no other way to respond. You already believe you are going to unravel.
Your beliefs or assumptions affect emotions and produce a physiological stress response within your body.
As your thoughts spiral out of control, your emotions run wild, and your physiology is altered, it’s no wonder that your performance suffers and unravels.
Being in command of his thoughts was Nick Taylor’s key to victory at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM.
Taylor started the final round with a one-stroke lead and faced some challenges during the final round. For one, Taylor was paired with Phil Mickelson, winner of five Major Championships. Even though the wind picked up, Taylor kept his mind clear to win the tournament by 4-strokes.
There were definitely challenges to be met and distractions to overcome as
Taylor stated after the third round.
TAYLOR: “I’ve just got to do my own thing and try to block all that out.”
Taylor admitted that winning wasn’t easy but he was in charge of his thoughts rather than letting his thoughts control him.
TAYLOR: “Yeah, it was really, really difficult. The wind picked up kind of the end of that front nine, and I was hanging on there, and a few poor drives that I didn’t think were too bad but ended up in bad spots and just tried to manage my way from there. And 14’s such a difficult hole, once I made double there I had to settle myself down and know that I still had a two-shot lead. And then obviously, chip-in the next hole and get one shot back was massive.”
If unraveling after a mistake is initiated by your thoughts, you can also direct your thoughts to enhance your golf game. The key is to stop buying into the false assumptions and false generalizations that pop up in your mind.
Getting Off the Bogey Train Mindset
Conscious Debate – You can alter the message in your mind by quickly challenging your expectations about how you are playing or scoring.
For example, “Is it always true that one bogey will turn into several?” No, unless you buy into this self-fulfilling prophecy.
One bogey doesn’t have to turn into another bogey–unless you make it so. You have to control yourself (emotions) before you can control your golf game!
Learn Proven Strategies to Perform with Confidence!
Do you suffer from fragile self-confidence after missed hits, playing with strict or high expectations that undermine confidence or the inability to play freely and relaxed on the course?
If you suffer from lack of focus, low self-confidence or other mental game obstacles on the course, you cant reach your true golf potential…
Successful golfers have learned how to perform with ultimate confidence in competition, so we’ve developed The Golfer’s Mental Edge Workbook and CD program to help you do this!
The Golfer’s Mental Edge program includes the top 8 mental training sessions I do with my personal students to help them boost their mental game and improve consistency on the course.
The Golfer’s Mental Edge program includes 8 confidence-boosting CDs, MP3 audio recordings and an 8-session golfer’s mental edge workbook.
The Golfer’s Mental Edge: An 8-Week Plan for Ultimate Confidence
Boost Your Self-Confidence And Focus With Expert Mental Game Coaching!
Master mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“To play well, you have to believe you can play well. Confidence goes a long way in golf. Patrick has developed a great system for helping me improve confidence and my overall mental approach to golf.”*
~Brian Watts, 11-time Winner on the PGA Japan Tour
“The mental side is everything in golf—the
ability to see your shot or line and trust that you can hit that shot
or putt. Dr. Cohn has helped me trust my game and putting stroke.”*
~Frank Lickliter, PGA Tour, Nike Tour Winner