Controlling Your Anger in Golf
By Frank Sornatale
Imagine yourself in this situation, a beautiful afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, about 85 degrees with a slight breeze. You're out on the golf course playing with three of your buddies from work, drinking some beers and having a good time. Your round is going well, and your score by the thirteenth hole is even par. Suddenly you begin to realize this could be your best round ever if you just keep it up till you reach the eighteenth hole. Next thing you know you're on the fifteenth green and you miss a four-foot par putt that now puts you at plus one with four holes left. The feeling in your stomach is boiling with anger as you curse yourself to the fifteenth tee-box; suddenly you slice your tee shot out-of-bounds already adding a penalty stroke to your hole. Your brain is now rumbling with anger as you already keep adding more and more strokes to your round. A par soon becomes a bogey, a bogey becomes a double-bogey, then a double-bogey results in you taking your putter and snapping it over your knee. What could have been a perfectly good round turned into a disaster all because you couldn't control your anger to keep it from affecting your golf performance.
So, how do you control and manage your anger on a golf course? It is inevitable for one to get angry in golf if their round is not going how they think it should be. It is a proven fact that about ninety eight percent golf is all mental, that is why professional golfers pay a lot of money to have there own personal sports psychologist. Anger in golf comes from your brain not being able to register the fact that you missed a three-foot putt or a slice tee-shot into the woods. You are the only one to decide how you act and react when these situations arise, its very often easier said then done.
One technique that you can try is working on your breathing. I have played golf for many years in junior golf and for college and when I had my sports psychologist he would always work with me on my breathing. If you know it or not, when you tend to get angry your breathing increases rapidly causing you to lose focus. Close your eyes when you have a break in between golf shots and focus on everything except what's at hand, which is your next golf shot. Most golfers that get angry tend to increase their breathing which causes them to lose focus and start thinking about every negative thing that can happen with their next shot. Being able to close your eyes and let loose and not have a worry in your mind could be the best thing for you to help better your game. You don't even have to be angry and this technique will still work to your advantage.
Another good technique that I have found to be positive in dealing with anger is being able to keep a notebook with you and jotting down all that goes wrong. Take out your anger with a pen and paper; also write down all your positive thoughts that go on in your golf round. If you have a moment and you feel like you're starting to get in the heat of things, you can pull out your notepad and review all that was good, and know if you were able to accomplish them, then what's keeping you from achieving them again.
So why bother to let anger take you over, there is no point in turning into the incredible hulk because you missed a putt or you hit a bad tee-shot. If you're a pro then you should already learn how to deal with anger, but for those amateurs you should learn how to be able to play a round of golf knowing those missed putts and bad tee-shots are going to happen no matter how good you are playing. Try these techniques I offered and see how they can improve your game, and if all else fails and nothing can cure your anger, then pull out a five-iron (preferably) grab both ends of it, and give it a swift crack over you knee breaking it into two. If the pain doesn't take away the anger then the bill to get your club fixed will.
So take charge of your emotions, and go out there on that beautiful sunny day, and enjoy your golf round. Remember, after all it's only a game.
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Reprinted with permission of the writer.
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