How to Bounce Back From Mistakes and Disappointing Performances in Golf Tournaments

"When you focus your discussion with yourself and your caddy on the present moment you can rapidly regain control of your emotions and make more clear decisions."

Great players have the ability to bounce back from making mistakes during a round, or from disappointing performances during important tournaments. Developing and maintaining a positive approach to dealing with errors plays a crucial role in your success.

A Negative Approach to Mistakes:
Coaches and Caddies alike, talk to me about the frustration they experience when watching their players make errors on the course, and then psychologically beat-themselves up. These players focus on the mistake, continue to talk about it on the 12th tee when the error occurred on the 9th green.

These players become unfocused on what is important: the next shot. Negative and unproductive thoughts allow doubt to creep in, confidence can plummet, and performance deteriorates. As a result, players who respond to mistakes in negative ways seldom reach their full potential.

The Bounce Back Factor:
A positive approach to mistakes is first built on a foundation of acceptance that mistakes are inevitable and a realization that the mistake is not permanent and can be changed or rectified.

A positive approach to mistakes is NOT about being satisfied or accepting less than your best, it’s a productive approach where players realize golf is a game involving errors, and winners are those players who bounce back quickly and consistently. 

The goal is to learn from the errors and move on.


Developing a positive response to mistakes:

Developing a positive response to mistakes often requires more than just re-directing your attention and “forgetting about it.” To be truly effective in your attempts to bounce back you must develop an action plan that includes both key thoughts and actions.

Positive Response in Thought and Discussion:

1. Refocus Cues: First create a guiding attitude you want to live by as a player: An attitude that is based on adaptability and intensity when things aren’t going well, and does not accept quitting or feeling sorry for yourself.

Then come up with one or two words that sums up this attitude for you as a mission statement such as, “stay hungry”, “never quit”, or “love the battle.” Use these words as Refocus Cues when you experience adversity on the course and stop the negative responses cascading out of control.

2. Productive self-talk and conversations with others: Review the type of conversation you have with yourself and with your caddy or coach when you make poor mistakes during a round. Some players can get more openly negative when they have some one there to complain to such as their caddy or coach, compared to times when they are alone on the course.

This type of action must be controlled. You have to practice discipline in what you chose to talk about. Your discussion can be reactive and maintain your focus in the past and on how frustrated you feel, or it can be proactive and focus on the “task at hand”.

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An effective approach to creating a proactive discussion is to ask yourself, “What is my plan for this next shot?”, “What do I need to do right here, right now?” Think and Do. 

When you focus your discussion with yourself and your caddy on the present moment you can rapidly regain control of your emotions and make more clear decisions.

Positive Responses in Action:

Body Language: 
Altering your body language or walk can be a highly effective way to reverse negative emotional reactions. Most players do not place enough weight on how powerful this type of action can be.



For instance, if you are the type of player who starts to rush your walk and looks down in thought after a few errors this can translate to rushed pre-shot routines and fast swings. To reverse this chain-reaction, you might need to slow the pace of your walk, look up and out at the course, and stretch to reduce the tension you feel.

Recognizing the type of switch you need to create is an important step and everyone has slightly different needs.

Leave the error behind you: 
Following a frustrating 3-putt or a really poor shot that has left you in trouble, most players walk on from these errors too quickly still carrying the mistake with them as they move to the next shot.

Create an action that helps you to leave the mistake behind. For example, take a moment to visualize the shot you wanted to see, and then let it be. Make a commitment to placing your club back into your bag only after you have assessed why you made the error and are ready to move on. Do not place the club back into the bag until you can let it go.

Plan your positive approach to mistakes:

All of these strategies seem easy enough to do, but if you do not plan specifically the key thoughts and actions you will engage, they won’t suddenly take shape when adversity strikes, and your default reactions are likely to take over.

Select at least ONE key thought and action as your “go to plan”, and then share it with your coach or caddy. Sharing your positive reaction plan will allow your supporters to provide feedback on how well you are responding in accordance with your plan, particularly the body language changes. 

Sharing the plan with others also enhances your accountability; in fact we are all better at following through with our plans when we know we are being monitored.

Dr Jay-Lee Longbottom

Book an appointment to further develop your positive approach to mistakes with Dr Jay-Lee at the Singapore Sports Medicine Centre.

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