PGA Tours: How to Become a Bounce Back Specialist

Is there anything worse than playing one bad hole that ruins what was potentially one of the best rounds of your golfing life?

For many golfers there is nothing worse. It’s hard to be philosophical when you have just had a double bogey on the last hole!

You could simply put it down to experience and acknowledge that if you get yourself into a position to produce an excellent round again, you would do it differently.

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So how do you rebound back from a bad hole or holes that keeps your score average higher than it should be? I get asked this question a lot of times and the first thing I explain to students is that they need to understand that just because you have a bad hole doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you, or your game.

"You are not your bad golf score!"

Golf is a game built upon mistakes, not good golf shot’s. It’s a highly technical game that for the most part can’t be mastered consistently by anyone; not even Tiger Woods.

Look at the scores of PGA tour golfers and LPGA golfers and you’ll see that their golf scores ebb and flow from hole to hole and round to round. Of all the statistics on the PGA tour the one the touring professional’s value almost as highly as the low score average is the “bounce back” statistic.

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"The bounce back statistic measures the percentage of holes on which a golfer is over par on one hole and under par on the next. It’s another way of expressing the player’s ability to forget the past hole and get on with the next shot."

It is totally unrealistic to think that any golfer can achieve a high degree of consistency when the golfing environment you play in changes constantly. In fact we can say that the only thing that is consistent about golf is that it is inconsistent. It changes constantly and so should you.

My suggestion is that you learn to develop a more flexible mind-set. If you’re someone who has at least one bad hole during a round, then ask yourself whether your mind-set tends to be consistent and inflexible. My experience working with many golfers over the past twenty years suggests that many golfers have rigid and unbending thinking strategies and as a consequence play their golf course with the same expectations and game plan over and over.

I'm sure that you appreciate that you have many ways that you can play a hole and produce your score. So if you tend to play a certain hole with less than ideal results from week to week, then you should consider an entirely different approach to playing that hole.

Bad holes usually result from a defensive attitude to playing the hole. The simple way to overcome this defensive attitude is to play a golf club from the tee that you know you can play confidently at least seventy percent of the time.

It doesn’t make sense hitting your driver off the tee if you can only hit it in the fairway a low percentage of times. This will place excessive pressure on you and you will not make a positive, free-flowing golf swing.

If instead, you hit a five wood from the tee because your percentage of success is much higher; your positive attitude will definitely help you to produce a better score on the hole.

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The next time you go out for a round of golf make a contract with yourself that you will play your entire round using golf clubs that you wouldn’t normally use. Get used to the idea of adapting to changing conditions and develop an attitude of acceptance when you have a higher score than you expected on a hole.

By learning to let go of the frustration, bitterness or anger quickly you will be able to re-focus your mental energy on playing the next hole with a fresh perspective.

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
The US Marines have an amazing capacity for creative thinking. The unofficial mantra of the United States Marine Corps is Improvise, Adapt and Overcome which is based on the fact that the Corps generally received Army hand-me-downs and the troops were poorly equipped. The Marine’s utter drive and dedication towards accomplishing the mission, even when faced with what appeared to be impossible odds is legendary.
Read more: http://socyberty.com/advice/life-lessons-from-the-marines-improvise-adapt-overcome/#ixzz1H8NpUGUv
The Marine Corps has been successful mostly because of the creativity of its people and their success-based attitude.

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You will discover a rare and exciting freedom in developing a success based attitude by letting go of your old and tired approach to the game in favour of a more flexible and positive approach through adapting to new ideas and overcoming your limiting beliefs.

Develop a positive bounce back attitude and it will help you to shoot lower golf scores and become a far more competitive golfer.

Lawrie Montague