Desperate Measures

There are not many worse feelings in golf than standing over a shot knowing the only place the ball will go is somewhere other than your intended target! Playing "scared" golf makes for a very long day, and is often one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. But here are a couple ideas that have worked for me to at least get me through the day with hope of improvement in rounds to come.

This situation I am talking about is hopefully a rare one, but when we are in this state, the game will not fix itself instantly or in a couple of swings. Very often what we find ourselves doing is trying a new swing on every shot. Have you ever been there? I know I have. However, this is usually unsuccessful, primarily because the more we try, the more we rely on anything other than our natural ability to hit the ball. Mechanics will not come to our rescue quickly - changing them takes time and effort in order to make them feel natural, and feeling natural is the key to lasting improvement. So here is the "quick fix" that will at least help us make it through the day and give us something positive to take to the next round.

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS

I realize that this goes against nearly everything we teach in golf, but let me explain what I mean and show you why, at desperate times, this may be a good solution for you.

There are several ways to accomplish this, and both have worked for me in the past. The first example is a situation when the ball is just going everywhere, and because I am trying so many swing thoughts, nothing feels very solid. As you are preparing to his the shot, SIMPLY FOCUS ONLY ON HITTING THE BALL SOLIDLY ON THE CLUBFACE. Don't worry about the bunkers, don't worry about the woods, don't think about anything other than feeling that clubhead and letting it strike the ball solidly. You will find that very often this completely changes your mindset, because just one solid shot translates quickly through the rest of your game. In addition, a solidly hit ball usually travels straighter (especially in windy conditions), so simply focus on hitting the ball solidly and allow this to boost your confidence.

Another trick I use, especially when my problem is direction, is to widen my target area. If I am standing on the tee, I will not limit my focus to the fairway. Instead, I will expand it to include basically everything in sight. One phrase I will say to myself is "ALL I HAVE TO DO IS LAND IT ON PLANET EARTH!" It is amazing sometimes that by saying this to myself, I can relax, quit squeezing the club, and allow my natural swing to take over. This works especially well when there is trouble guarding the landing area. If I can block out the negative thoughts and let the ball go freely, I am more likely to hit a good shot and avoid the trouble.

A couple final thoughts on this. As is a theme of my teaching, I believe lack of feel is what leads to trouble on the course, and lack of feel leads to lack of confidence. Anything we can do to help improve our feel will help improve our confidence and enable us to play better golf. Games like bouncing the ball on the clubface, chipping around the tee with your driver while waiting until the fairway is clear, or simply swinging the clubhead back and forth are all good ways to help regain your feel. You cannot do these things mechanically - they rely on feel and help bring it back to your attention.

Note that these suggestions above are all ideas to use while playing the course. If you have yet to tee off, use some of my suggestions in a previous post (Warm Up for Feel) to improve your feel and confidence while warming up. If you have just had an awful day on the course, take ten-minutes and go to the range. Don't work on mechanics, just hit some basic short, solid shots. Use a tee if it helps. Hit some chips and pitches. Do anything to make your confidence get back up to where it should be. Confidence = Great Golf. Build it, practice it, and when all else is lost, look for it and find it again.