How To Control Your Fear
By Michael Anthony
If you are
honest with yourself, you will acknowledge that you experience fear while
playing golf. It could be fear of missing a put, hitting over water or into a
bunker, selecting the wrong club, misreading the green, etc. Controlling fear
is easier if you know how.
The first step,
is to clearly understand that your negative emotions adversely affect the
chemistry of your brain/nervous system and cause your performance to
deteriorate. The more objective you become, the greater control you will have
over your emotions and performance.
Your thoughts
have two components: facts and emotions. Every situation you face on the golf
course is nothing more than a fact. Facts are merely facts! It is the negative
emotions you have attached to certain facts that magnify your challenges, not
the facts.
Fear leads the
list of negative emotions, yet fear is one of the easiest negative emotions to
overcome if you are objective and understand its source. Make a list of all the
facts that you associate with fear while playing golf.
Upon objective
reflection, you will realize that fear is the result of being concerned about a
future outcome before it even occurs. Fear of missing a putt before you even
putt causes your brain to secrete corresponding negative chemicals that, in
turn, cause your stroke mechanics and ability to read the green to deteriorate.
This greatly increases the probability that you will miss a putt that you could
have easily made if you were relaxed and confident.
Once you
clearly understand that your fear of missing a putt greatly contributes to your
downfall, it becomes easier to control your fear. The only way to successfully
overcome your fear is to stay in the present, focus on mastering the process
and let the outcome take care of itself - win or lose.
The next time
you experience the fear of missing a putt; step away from the ball, take a deep
breath, tell yourself to relax and to be willing to live with your present
probability of success. Then, set up and putt. By focusing solely on the
process and being willing to learn from the outcome, you will notice your fear
will decrease as well as the amount of times you will miss the putt.
The more times you practice the above routine while putting as well as working on improving your mechanics and developing your feel for the green in practice, the less fear you will experience and the more putts you will make. Try it - it works and will work for all your fears.
