You can choose at any time how you feel, e.g. frustrated, angry, mad, etc.

Now I know it’s easy saying this and you may be thinking it’s just not possible to feel any other emotion apart from frustration after hitting a bad golf shot on the golf course.  But you must learn to put a bad shot behind you and play the next shot as the new shot that it is.   Read this if you don’t believe me…

“The whole secret of mastering the game of golf – and this applies to the beginner as well as to the pro – is to cultivate a mental approach to the game that will enable you to shrug off the bad shots, shrug off the bad days, keep patient and know in your heart that sooner or later you will be back on top.”

Arnold Palmer

Now to actually do this, you must start each new shot on the golf course with a trigger.  Something that signals to your mind that a new shot is about to start.  You can choose whatever you want to start a new shot, but here’s a piece of advice.  Make whatever you do on the golf course is very unique — so that your mind is in no doubt when it’s time to concentrate on the shot at hand and nothing else.

For example, you could give your left ear lobe a light tug or you could squeeze your nostrils together. I don’t know what will work for you.  You’ll have to experiment with this on the golf course.  But the key is that you find something unique to start off your pre-shot sequence.  If you do this you’ll find that your next shot after a bad one is better.

Another good way to reduce frustration on the golf course is to have no expectations.  Expect nothing from your shots and see the results.  Don’t set any pre-conceived goals as to where you expect your ball to go.  It’s good to set a goal of where you want your ball to finish but it’s not good to expect it to finish there.  If you have such high goals you’ll be continually let down.  And yes, you will feel frustrated.

So here’s a summary of what you can do to reduce your frustration and play the next shot better on the golf course…

1. Setup a physical trigger before each shot so you train your mind to only focus on the shot at hand.

2. Play a game of golf and expect nothing from your shots.  Pick a target of where you want your ball to finish, but simply swing and the closer your ball finishes to your target the more successful the shot is.

Do these two things and your frustrations on the golf course will reduce.

Now for some golfers they find after doing this they are too relaxed when they get to the golf course.  So if that’s you then you may be better to listen to some rock or dance music to get you going.

Try playing different music on the way to the golf course and notice your reaction to it when you arrive at the course and also notice how your rounds go as a result.  There’s no right or wrong, only results so try listening to different music and notice the outcome and change the music until you find something that gives you better and more consistent results on the golf course.