The Mental Side Of Golf: Part 7 Playing Competitive Golf Without Anger (Video) - by Pete Styles
The Mental Side Of Golf: Part 7 Playing Competitive Golf Without Anger (Video) - by Pete Styles

There's one thing caring about how you play and there's another thing getting angry about how you play. And the main thing we've got to try and separate the two here. We can have passion for playing the game, but we can’t really get angry when we don't play as well as we want because the passion for playing the game can drive you forwards. It can make you better, it can encourage you to spend hours on the practice ground and money on buying golf clubs.

So, the passion is a good thing, the passion could help you focus on the shots that you play, but the anger can sometimes creep in when you don't play as well as you like and often the anger is detrimental. Very rarely will you see a golfer who hits a bad shot and then throws the golf club after the ball then walk up to that ball, check it onto green then hole the putt.

So, the anger is always going to leave a detrimental effect on your golf; therefore, leading to more anger and you just get yourself in this ever decreasing cyclones until you get to a point where you're so angry, you end up just giving up. Maybe walking off the golf course or playing the back-nine like you don't care. Sometimes when you play like you don't care, you actually get better again because you've lost the anger for the game.

So, as a young golfer, you'll often see a lot of the younger guys come out onto the tour, very angry with the way they're doing things because they've got so much passion for the game, they can't quite control it. When they hit bad shots, they end up getting angry. If you look at some of these slightly older golfers, the guys that had been around a bit, maybe the guys have actually got a few more quid in the bank, but more money in the bank they don’t necessarily have to be so angry when they don't play well. They’ve got a little bit more laid back lifestyle. They’d be a little bit more laid back about the golf they're playing.

Try and copy those guys. Someone like Ernie Els, very easy, smooth relaxed tempo, very easy relaxed character, plays good solid golf. He still got the passion to play the game, but he has lost a little bit of the anger. So, try and sort of model your game on somebody like Ernie Els, having passion for the game is good, reduce the anger.

If you're playing badly, what can you do to reduce the anger? Firstly, pressure. Don't grip the golf club too tightly, don't swing too quickly, don't walk too quickly, just slow everything and relax everything down. The old mantras of taking a deep breath, and just saying to yourself over and over again, relax and calm and that sort of thing, find something that works for you.

If you have to just walk away from the golf ball for a second, take a deep breath. Walk down the side of the fairways, so you’re not distracted by your playing partners, you’re just well out of the way. Take a few minutes and come back to it.

Because just remember, golf’s a game. You're not playing for a million dollars most of the time. You’re just playing for a nice, relaxed, couple of dollars with your friends--so you just keep it calm, keep it smooth, and that's the best way to play good golf. You can have passion, but let’s lose the anger.

 2012-06-11

There's one thing caring about how you play and there's another thing getting angry about how you play. And the main thing we've got to try and separate the two here. We can have passion for playing the game, but we can’t really get angry when we don't play as well as we want because the passion for playing the game can drive you forwards. It can make you better, it can encourage you to spend hours on the practice ground and money on buying golf clubs.

So, the passion is a good thing, the passion could help you focus on the shots that you play, but the anger can sometimes creep in when you don't play as well as you like and often the anger is detrimental. Very rarely will you see a golfer who hits a bad shot and then throws the golf club after the ball then walk up to that ball, check it onto green then hole the putt.

So, the anger is always going to leave a detrimental effect on your golf; therefore, leading to more anger and you just get yourself in this ever decreasing cyclones until you get to a point where you're so angry, you end up just giving up. Maybe walking off the golf course or playing the back-nine like you don't care. Sometimes when you play like you don't care, you actually get better again because you've lost the anger for the game.

So, as a young golfer, you'll often see a lot of the younger guys come out onto the tour, very angry with the way they're doing things because they've got so much passion for the game, they can't quite control it. When they hit bad shots, they end up getting angry. If you look at some of these slightly older golfers, the guys that had been around a bit, maybe the guys have actually got a few more quid in the bank, but more money in the bank they don’t necessarily have to be so angry when they don't play well. They’ve got a little bit more laid back lifestyle. They’d be a little bit more laid back about the golf they're playing.

Try and copy those guys. Someone like Ernie Els, very easy, smooth relaxed tempo, very easy relaxed character, plays good solid golf. He still got the passion to play the game, but he has lost a little bit of the anger. So, try and sort of model your game on somebody like Ernie Els, having passion for the game is good, reduce the anger.

If you're playing badly, what can you do to reduce the anger? Firstly, pressure. Don't grip the golf club too tightly, don't swing too quickly, don't walk too quickly, just slow everything and relax everything down. The old mantras of taking a deep breath, and just saying to yourself over and over again, relax and calm and that sort of thing, find something that works for you.

If you have to just walk away from the golf ball for a second, take a deep breath. Walk down the side of the fairways, so you’re not distracted by your playing partners, you’re just well out of the way. Take a few minutes and come back to it.

Because just remember, golf’s a game. You're not playing for a million dollars most of the time. You’re just playing for a nice, relaxed, couple of dollars with your friends–so you just keep it calm, keep it smooth, and that's the best way to play good golf. You can have passion, but let’s lose the anger.