grinter001
5 minutes
How many times have I suffered the bounceback effect... countless. Is like my dad use to say: "In golf one can switch from Sublime to Ridiculous in matter of minutes". You get a Birdie and right after... Double Bogey. But it is also true that it happens both ways.
I cannot think of any other game where the performance of the same player varies as much as in golf. Look at Tennis for example. When a player is dominating the sport he can win several tournaments in a row and people wouldn't be as surprise, they will be excited but wouldn't be as uncommon. But in golf, winning more than two tournaments in a row is an achievement that only very very few have achieved.
But why? Well, there are several reasons in my opinion that include the fact that golf courses and conditions are very variable, others may say that luck is also intrinsically involved in golf. But to me it comes down to the Mind Mojo and resistance to the bounceback effect.
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Golf is a sport of concentration, much more than the majority of sports. How you approach the situation of each shot and your concentration is critical to perform well, but what happens when you are over confident or simply not confident? Well, the results are typically not good. When you are over-confident you loose concentration or sometimes even become too aggressive with your lines. And when you are not confident your are simply too nervous to be able to hit the ball well.
The key to great amateur players in my opinion is in finding the balance of your confidence. Being confident that your game is on, but understanding the need to commit your mind to every shot and keep your Mind Mojo on. Let me give you an example, which was the reason behind me writing this post. Look at my last 20 scores in the graph below from TheGrint.com (Is a handicap differential graph, so it shows what was my true net score over par)
Notice anything strange? I just shot a round of +3 after having one of my worst periods. I had 7 rounds in a row shooting 90, and even had a 98. I was a 9 handicap (now 11 after that period) so you can imagine how frustrated I was. But in the previous 3 rounds, even though my score was not good I felt that I was striking the ball well, but was not scoring simply because the ball was not going in the cup. So there I was with the "Ideal Mind Mojo"
A perfect balance of confidence and urgency. I had confidence in my stroke but I knew that I had to put my whole mind in the game to not fall in my recent mistakes and leverage that good swing. Then somehow... 74, my best round ever. But how? Somehow I kept making easy swings, never forced a club, never tried to hit a 300 yard drive. I was always aiming at the center of the green and tried to grab a higher club every time so I never swung too hard.
So next time you are looking at your last scores and stats at TheGrint, analyzing your game in agony trying to figure out how to break your streak of bad rounds, think about the Mind Mojo, look at your stats closely, understand your strengths and weaknesses, and then understand how to balance of confidence and urgency in each of the areas of your game.
Is it possible to get me to the same Mind Mojo next time I play? Most likely no. Most likely I will bounce back and shoot another 90, or maybe I can remain cautious but confident, who knows... I will let you know
Enjoy your golf!
