Resetting

Even if you work hard on your mental game you will continue to encounter and be affected by distraction and frustration. After all, you are only human.

The important thing is to be able to recognise the fact that your thought process has become derailed. Do not regard such an event as failure, indeed the fact you have noticed means you are still in control. You simply need to know what to do.

STOP – RELEASE – RESET

Call a halt to your corrupted mindset. Release the emotions causing you the problem. Reset your mental program to your original game plan.

This is a simple way to fix what can develop into a game-wrecking issue. The trick is being able to spot the problem early and being prepared to deal with it effectively.

The reward for practicing this procedure is threefold:

1. As you let go of the tension you will experience a sensation rather like a spring unwinding, which is satisfying.

2. The fact you have identified and dealt with the problem will give your confidence a boost with the knowledge you are strong and in control.

3. Your mind is back on track and your game will reap the benefit.

Putting problems behind you

A very common reason for your attitude to become derailed is the inability to cope if something goes wrong. You must firstly accept that golf (your chosen sport) is a game of misses. Acknowledge this and you're on your way to better things. The individual who wins at golf is the one who misses the least. So get practicing!

Having said that, and conceding that perfection is impossible, we come back to dealing with adverse situations. You must learn to develop an attitude that allows an undesirable event to disappear quickly - like water off a duck's back. Of course you will be disappointed when you miss that birdie putt, or a double bogey darkens your card - maybe even angry with yourself for playing the hole in such a poor manner, but you must learn to let it go or you risk wrecking the remainder of your round.

To try not being annoyed is commendable and desirable, but in the heat of serious competition it might be considered understandable that the desire to win can manifest itself as anger when mistakes are made. Being angry with yourself can be used as a method of psyching up, so to say 'simply don't do it' can be unrealistic. You do however need to stay in control and identify exactly what you are getting cross about. You must ensure that your previous hole or shot does not affect the rest of your game or you're doomed!

Some top professionals use what has been referred to as the Ten Yard Rule. If you find yourself rattled, cross or confused over the outcome of an event then get annoyed (if you really must), but don't dwell on it. You have got the time it takes you to walk ten paces to think about what happened, work out why it happened and what to do to prevent it happening again, then you must put the whole event out of your mind, center your thoughts and move on. Failure to clear your mind will affect the game to follow. Put another way....

Get angry, get over it, then get on with the rest of the game!

Remember though, you have only got ten paces. Once you cross the ten yard line the event has gone and play resumes. You must not revisit the event at any time during the game that follows.