Post mortem

In my previous blog I outlined my three fundamentals of the golf swing (straight lead wrist, steady head and an easy or less than full-out swing). Unfortunately, I forgot to include reference to the mental fundamentals of the game, which might actually be more important than the simple swing fundamentals  discussed.

The reason I say 'more important' is because in a serious, competitive game of golf, where scoring is the focus, rather than having fun, a golfer with the very best swing mechanics (and short game) can still come completely unstuck.

Now my swing is far from pretty, but it is compact and fairly reliable. I don't usually hit too many tops or duffs, though I hit plenty of less than perfect shots. For many average golfers playing a competitive round, particularly a stroke round, it is these few really bad swings, chips or other shots that mess up their scorecards.

That was my fate last weekend. Starting with five pars, I knew that the challenge would be to keep my emotions in check, and I did that for the rest of the first nine, no problem.

However, after a solid drive on ten, I hit a terrible topped, pulled approach shot with a 4-hybrid and followed up with a whole series of mis-hits, mis-judgements and other mis-adventures. A double and two triples later and my score was in ruins. I didn't lose my cool completely, but I didn't enjoy the round and felt terrible for quite a while after.

The lesson I learnt was a simple and familiar one: 'don't let one bad shot influence the following shot'; with the corollary of this being 'don't attempt miracle recovery shots'. Accepting that you have made a serious error and that it is going to be costly is a very difficult thing to do with equanimity. But if you can do it, you might keep the damage to one hole, and all will not be lost.

My massive mental failure was to let a double bogey turn into two triple bogies, whereas a double followed by even two bogies would have kept me in a better frame of mind for tackling the last half a dozen holes, with the chance to post a more respectable score.

There is no magic bullet when it comes to mental strength on the golf course. Playing each shot on its merits, playing in the moment, and all the other mental game cliches don't help when you are in the heat of the moment. All I can say, and thank you John Kennedy, is: 'Don't think; Do!'