Golf Smart Academy Forum — Mental Question - How Does One "Bounce Back" (?)

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Mental Question - How Does One "Bounce Back" (?) ¶

By: Ed C on March 17, 2020, 1:02 a.m.

It's an official stat kept by the PGA Tour, but I don't see it talked about beyond a very superficial level. The mental side of "bouncing back" - whether it's from 1 hole or a string of 5 holes - seems like a big grey area. I hear people commenting about a player's "mental toughness" or "grittiness" but do we have any info about what elite players do (mental or physical checklists?) to "right the ship" mid-round?

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Re: Mental Question - How Does One "Bounce Back" (?) ¶

By: Tyler F on March 19, 2020, 12:45 p.m.

+Ed C
Just my thoughts. No data to back it up :)

Hate to lose
Good short game
Go to shot
Know how to adjust your strategy

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Re: Mental Question - How Does One "Bounce Back" (?) ¶

By: Ed C on March 19, 2020, 9:17 p.m.

+Tyler F

Tyler,

Thanks for sharing those insights. That really helps to clarify things in my mind.

For fun, I dug up a recent scorecard (attached) along with a short anecdote of my own "non-elite" golf round which completely backs up your point about hating to lose actually fueling better performance. In this case, I recall 4 birdies which each had an element of "hating to lose":

Birdie #1 - being heckled relentlessly by my buddies, trying to distract me standing over a 15 ft putt. i learned heckling changes my mental state from "winning" and being nervous about making birdie, to simply "don't lose / give in / show weakness to these (guys)"

Birdie #2 - more heckling by buddies on a 20 ft putt, because I had a great read from another player's putt. so the mental state was "don't give in"

Birdie #3 - was losing money after a string of bogeys & doubles; couldn't figure out how to "bounce back" with better swing thoughts, so doubled the bet to try and get myself back to even money. birdie got me back to "not losing" money.

Birdie #4 - 18th hole is our beer hole; net loser buys a pitcher of beer, so I did not want to lose the hole

I'm just using birdies because I tend to have clearer memories of them vs. par saves. Your video explanation has really got me thinking about how to structure betting games with buddies to bring out peak performance - without losing too much money. =)

I definitely think you're onto something with the "hating to lose" mindset.

Last edited by: Ed C on March 19, 2020, 9:36 p.m., edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Mental Question - How Does One "Bounce Back" (?) ¶

By: Tyler F on March 20, 2020, 5:12 p.m.

+Ed C I'm also of the stance that birdies happen better when you don't try to force them. Just hit good shots that are close enough to give you opportunities and make the best putt you can. Your trend of birdies after a string of bogies can also signal that perhaps you were focused too much early in the back nine. Once you 'gave in' to the round, and relaxed, you made better swings. Trying too hard can be a real problem for casual golfers.