Golf How To: Letting Go of Bad Shots or Bad Luck

You've seen it happen. A golfer is playing great, everything is flowing and they seem unstoppable.

Then something happens. A shot goes bad or a gust of wind costs them a stroke (that happened to Harrington at the 2009 Masters). They can lose their rhythm, confidence or focus. Shots go bad, they can choke, get the yips, get more and more stressed and they end up in a vicious circle of frustration. At that point, they've lost the mental game.


If this happens to you, how do you let go of bad shots (or a spot of bad luck)?

One approach is to use The Mental Coach's three-step L-D-F mental game system after every shot.

STEP ONE - L - Learn from what happened
Maybe you misjudged, used the wrong club, didn't account for something, got distracted or were the victim of plain bad luck. Acknowledge it and consciously Learn from it (even if it is saying to yourself that you can't do anything about bad luck). What this does is help take away the emotional power of what happened.

STEP TWO - D - Dump what you don't want
We do this all of the time, something little happens that annoys us, we just let it go. You can learn to do this with anything. Start using a specific word, phrase, gesture, etc. to Dump something that annoys you a little. What you are doing is programming a habit that you can use in other circumstances. What will happen is, once you've developed this skill, you can use it in pressure-cooker situations.

STEP THREE - F - Fresh Start
Before you start your pre-shot routine, give yourself a literal (or figurative) shake to let your mind know that it's time to shift gears and get a Fresh Start. Examples include shaking your fingers, puffing your breath or saying a word or phrase.

The great thing about using mental game systems is that they expand on what we already know how to do. Practice and use the LDFS system and you'll discover an inner confidence that comes from taking control of the mental game.

David Kenward - The Mental Coach