May
07
2008

Ditch the Negativity

Posted by Double Eagle in Mental Game

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Angry GolferThat’s right. I said it. You want to play better golf? Positive attitude is a great way to do it.

I’ve never read a book that covers the mental game that advocates anything but a positive attitude on the golf course. I’ve never heard otherwise in a lesson or from a pro or from watching an instructional program on television.

So why is it that so many players have such a poor attitude on the course? I’ll tell you why - they don’t realize the importance of the mental game and they let their emotions get the best of them.

Golf is an expensive game. It takes a lot of time to play, and a LOT more time to play well, in the form of practice and exercise and lessons. Why would anyone want to get anything less than the maximum out of a round?

I’m sad to say that I succumbed to negative attitude on the course a week or so ago.

I was struggling with my finesse wedges. I had just duffed about a 100 yard wedge up to about 60 yards. I tried to regain my composure as I approached my ball. I rehearsed my next swing several times and felt like I had it. I stepped up to the ball and did the same thing again. Fat city.

Add together a few bad shots a stressful couple of weeks at work and I was drowning in negativity. I slammed my club down, clenched my teeth, and grunted. It was not a pretty picture and somewhat out of character for me.

Eventually, I pulled myself together and recovered. I regained a good attitude after a few holes, but the damage was done.

Emotions are a very powerful thing, both positive and negative. Drawing upon positive emotions can give a boost when things are looking grim.

Let me ask you a question - what’s the worst shot you ever hit? Most of us can’t even easily come up with a list of candidates, except maybe from the last several rounds. See? You’ve already learned to get rid of those negative thoughts. It just took longer than it should have. Now, what was the best shot you ever hit? I bet you already have a few possibilities in mind. How does it feel thinking about it? Good, I bet.

If you can find a way to harness that kind of positive energy, it feeds back into itself. It shouldn’t just be the product of good shots - it can also be part of the cause.

We can’t control all the adversities we face on the golf course. We’re going to hit bad shots. We’re going to get bad lies. We’re going to get bad breaks.

What we can control is how we deal with those things.

Let the negativity creep in and you’re going to drown. Find a way to stay positive, and you’ll suddenly find the game a whole lot easier. You’ll feed off that energy and find that these bouts of adversity are just tiny bumps in the road to success.

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There are currently 9 responses to “Ditch the Negativity”

  1. 1

    Thecpa said:

    Excellent post! This is great advice on or off the golf course.

    Posted on May 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm

  2. 2

    Mr Business Golf said:

    Seems this negativity bug is going around. I read about how negative attitudes are effecting the job market and negative view points are wearing down the economy. I see how negative people are all over the highway these days…well I can kind of understand it if they are in line at the gas station, but over all negativity is everywhere. When it comes to the golf course I can understand someone going left in their mental state if someone drives up smoking on a stogy, but for hitting a 3 iron shot three inches off line or missing a three foot putt…come on, that surely is not helping a person’s game to burn up that much energy over something that is over…now as far as that cigar smell getting out of your Bobby Jones shirt, I think I could see where someone could get pretty negative towards about that..

    Posted on May 7th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

  3. 3

    Double Eagle said:

    Thanks, Thecpa.

    I think you’re on to something there, Mr. Business Golf. Negativity does seem to be creeping (or storming) into all aspects of life, it seems. I have to admit that sometimes I get a chuckle out of the guys that burn the edge on a 20 foot putt or only hit their drive 295 yards and get all down on themselves and act like they missed a gimme.

    Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 8:45 am

  4. 4

    Artful Golfer said:

    I have a pretty good record winning matches in my Tuesday night 9-hole league, which I attribute entirely to attitude. I’m learning to just play one shot at a time and move on to the next regardless of how the last one came out. I’m out there to have fun! This week I duffed my very first shot off the tee in a match against a better golfer. I bogied and lost the first hole. I then birdied the next three holes and went on to win the match 2 and 1 (without needing any strokes).

    Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 11:21 am

  5. 5

    Double Eagle said:

    That’s great, Artful Golfer! Having a short memory and positive attitude is working its magic!

    Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 11:29 am

  6. 6

    Bruce said:

    You know that really is true. Two of my best games came when before starting the round I reall focused on a Zen like approach, 0 anger. Well for one game anyways, the other game I just drank a few beers 9always makes me happy). I have a game next Friday where I’ll try and re-produce this Zen idea..It’s not easy staying peaceful when you watch your ball sail into the middle of a lake!

    Bruce from Golf Books

    Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

  7. 7

    Scott Allen said:

    Wow, that’s a great post and it applies to more than golf! Tell you what…I’m not the best golfer (even though it is enjoyable) but I can definitely relate what you’re saying to so many things. I’m always telling people the same thing about staying positive - it really is important, and makes an impact in everything you do.

    Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

  8. 8

    John Edwards said:

    This is not just applicable to golf, but a lot more things! Negative things may happen to us but it is about learning from those negatives that makes it positive.

    Posted on May 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm

  9. 9

    Golf Tips For Beginners said:

    I write about this all the time. “Game Mentality” I call it, is in my opinion the most important aspect of a good round. It never fails to annoy me, the ammount of people that could be fantastic golfers were they just to stop being so negative. Every week I play with a guy that has so much anger and angression in his swing it is obvious his next drive will be a bad shot. Read my thoughts on this on my website.

    Posted on June 19th, 2008 at 5:01 am

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