As I approached my first competition of the season, after a winter of working on my swing, I could feel the nerves rising. I’ve been playing some of my best golf lately and I quietly hoped that would continue – rather than desert me – when I had a competition card in my hand.
After a shaky 4 over through 3 start, I went on to shoot my lowest competition score to date – a 6 over, 78 (39 points) – and cut my handicap from 7.3 to 6.7.
Here are the 5 mental strategies that helped me recover after a wobbly start, stay calm when the pars were flowing and close it out coming down the stretch…
Pick A Tiny Target
I’ve noticed that when I’m starting a competition round, it’s easy to let the pressure to perform hijack my focus. I’ll catch myself racing to the end of the round – thinking about the score I hope to shoot or making a plea that my practice pays off.
With this being my first competition of the season, after spending all those wintery hours on the golf range, I was conscious of that pressure to perform more than ever. But I knew that, if I was to play my best, I needed to let that pressure go.
That’s where picking a tiny target came in. As I stood behind my shot, I picked a tiny target that I wanted to send my ball to. The middle of the fairway. That shadow on the green. It was like I was zooming in on a photo – locking my sights on the spot I wanted to hit.
Now of course, that didn’t mean that I always hit my target but this strategy freed me from too many swing thoughts and instead, helped me trust that by focusing my mind on a tiny target, my body would find a way of sending the ball there.
Trust The Work
I’ll be honest that even with my focus on those tiny targets, I didn’t get off to the best start in this competition – going bogey, double, bogey. It can take me a couple of on-course swings to get into things and release those card-in-the-hand nerves. But as I found myself 4 over through 3 holes, I knew I had a choice. I could either panic or be patient.
I knew panicking would leave me trying too hard to get shots back, while at the same time, playing with the fear that I might drop another shot.
And that might have been what I turned to last season but not this time. Rather than worry that this round was going to unravel, I reminded myself to trust the work. To have faith in the fact that I can steady this ship.
So I let those holes go and focused on the next shot ahead. One at a time. And as I found myself plucking off pars, I could see my patience was paying off.
After being 4 over through 3 holes, I went on one of my best closing runs yet, shooting 2 over through the remaining 15 holes and carding my first 78 (of a par 72) in a competition.
Have A Mindset Mantra
As I left that shaky start behind and found myself on a par run, my focus shifted from steadying the ship to staying calm when I could feel I was on for a good one. I knew that if I thought too much about my score – what it was at that moment, or what it could be by the end – my momentum would crumble.
So to help me stay calm, I repeated the words “one shot at a time” to myself. That mantra blocked the other thoughts that were trying to take the wheel, like “Don’t let this slip now” or “There’s no way I can keep playing like this”.
It might seem like a golf cliché…one shot at a time…but those five words kept me in the present moment and helped me to close out one of my best rounds yet.
Focus On Course Strategy
I’ve been working on plotting my way around better, using tactics like aiming for the greatest space on the fairway, taking the trouble out of play and playing for the pay off on my next shot.
Those tactics led to choices like hitting my 5 iron (rather than driver) on a downhill par 4 because it put me in a more predictable spot and still left me with a short iron in. By making that choice, it took the risk of being in a fairway bunker out of play and out of my mind as I stood on the tee, so I could swing freely.
There’s no doubt that working on my course strategy has helped to take the stress out of my scores. In fact, the only hole that I doubled in that round was one where my course strategy slipped.
I played it too safe on a par 3 – really taking the trouble out of play – and found myself through the back of the green in a patch of juicy rough, playing to a front pin on a speedy green. Ouch.
That mental slip showed me that playing it too safe can bite you too and so it’s key to plot your way around by making sensible choices but also backing yourself to pull off your shots.
Save The Score For The End
This is a simple but mighty shift that’s a non-negotiable for me now – saving my score until the end. I’ll politely let my playing partners know that I don’t want to know my score as we go round – to prevent that call out at the turn. And I'll only calculate my score after that last putt has dropped.
When I catch myself mentally tallying where I’m at, either after a good run or a bad hole, I’ll bring myself back with that “one shot at a time” mindset mantra. Quietly repeating it to myself to block the thoughts that are trying to take me out of the present and into judging my performance, whether good or bad.
It can be easier said than done but I’ve gathered enough evidence through my rounds to know that when I stop fixating on my score and save it for the end, my score is the better for it.
Follow Jess on Instagram and if you’re ready for a new approach to your golf, check out Jess’ 90 Day Plan.
