The game of golf is easy, but we make hard with our mechanics and fear of failure. It is amazing how often you see a golfer of any level, hit a great shot when not under any pressure.
So, why do we put ourselves under pressure?
Most of the time, we do not realize we are doing this. Here are a few situations which add pressure to our game unintentionally.
- Checking your handicap record on golflink to see what score you need to shoot that day to improve your handicap.
- Keeping score in your mind during the round.
- Worrying if you get a shot or not on particular holes on the course.
When you play golf, you need to be relaxed and simply trust your technique. It seems that many golfers are fearful of playing a poor round. Nobody likes not scoring well, but putting pressure on yourself to play well normally will end up making you play poor golf.
When golfers play, it is quite obvious to me that many of them are not swinging freely. They are afraid of the hazards the course has to offer. Here is an example of fear on the course.
A golfer stands on the first tee. He realizes that if he hits the ball to the right, he will hit the ball out of bounds because of his length. The thought in his mind is to hit a good shot down the middle of the fairway, but his mind is not completely convinced, so he hits a hook left into the trees because of his fear of the out of bounds down the right.
If the golfer was confident and relaxed, he would aim down the middle, trust his swing and hit freely. This may not mean he will hit it straight every time, but it will reduce the amount of poor shot by a substantial amount.
On the other hand, a player chooses to play a different club which does not have the length to get to the out of bounds fence. This may sound clever, but it is making the player play defensively, which can cause a lack of positive play and poor scoring because now they are adding pressure to the rest of their game because of the lack of length off the tee.
Many players try to steer their chip shots, tee shots, and putts. When trying to steer the ball, the body tenses up, it does not rotate, which then makes your hands “flip” which can cause a hook or a poor shot to the right due to poor timing.
Another important point to note, if you have the wrong shafts in your clubs, it can cause injury to your body because the body strains harder to hit the shot you want. Get your clubs checked to improve your golf and reduce injuries.