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the golf course it means that however well
we are playing, it puts us all within one
shot of insanity.
The first key to beating thought chains is
to be aware of them, and nip them in the
bud when you feel yourself creating one.
But the second key is to understand that
these thoughts are all just interpretations,
based on opinion and not fact. Once you
turn that around, you can start to break
the chain.
Consider these two reactions to a shot:
1: “That was a dreadful shot.”
2: “I hit that shot heavy.”
The first is an opinion, loaded with
emotion and ripe for that first link of the
chain. High emotion is no friend of good
golf. It creates an increase in tension,o you begin the round in a great
frame of mind – happy to be out
there, enjoying the course and
company, playing half decent. And then
that one shot you thought you’d
eradicated comes out of nowhere...
and it all unravels.
It usually starts with an annoyed mutter
along the lines of “there’s that damn shot
again.” Then that thought is replaced by
“All that practice was a waste of time
then,” followed by “why can’t I just sort
this out?” which leads to “why do I find
golf so difficult?” before you decide “I’m
just rubbish at this game.”
Just one shot has been enough to take
you from a happy golfer to one considering
your future in the game. Four holes into
the round, and you’re on another planet.
This scenario, played out by hundreds of
club golfers every weekend, is an example
of what’s called a ‘thought chain’. It’s the
nature of our minds to link one thought to
another and draw interpretations as we go,
and we do it in all walks of life. For a
simple example, think back to the last time
you couldn’t find your wallet. It doesn’t
take long for a simple search to turn
into a frantic retracing of steps, a
fevered berating of yourself,
accusations, visions of your bank
account being drained... before you
remember it was in your jacket
pocket. Thought chains are dangerous
because they introduce elements of
interpretation, opinion and emotion.
Which each new thought, you move
further away from reality and deeper
into a virtual world of worry, fear
or paranoia. That’s not helpful
in any walk of life, but ondetrimental to flow and rhythm; it
effectively renders you stupid, promoting
poor choices and decision-making. But
most of all it allows the previous shot to
contaminate the next one; you start trying
to play golf that counters the negative
opinion you’ve created of yourself; and
every golfer knows what happens when
they try too hard.
In contrast, the second is a simple
statement of fact, which draws a line
under the shot. Draw back into the facts –
“I hit it off the toe/heavy/thin, the ball
curved right” etc – and things become
simple; you bring yourself back into reality,
and once you’ve announced the facts
there’s nothing more to be said.
Yes, a simple statement of fact can stop
the descent into chaos.
You can make it either overtly to your
partner or covertly to yourself – but one
interesting example here is Jordan Spieth.
Spieth’s ball-talk is legendary, but if a
shot goes awry you will often hear him
explain what went wrong to his caddie.
His account is invariably factual, and does
a great job of diffusing the frustration he
is feeling.
Of course, when that irritating shot
crops up it can be hard not to react
emotively. So to help you, make it part of
your post-shot routine to ask the right
question. Good questions prompt effective
answers, and “What happened there?”
invites a solid, factual response. Ask
yourself “what am I?” and it’s unlikely
you’ll like the answer!
Finally, remind yourself of a phrase I
often use in this column – that no shot has
any meaning or value except the one
you give it. You have the power to
make that one bad shot ruin your
day; or you can see it for what it is- one miscue in a tough game –
and move on. All you have to do
is make sure your account of
the shot is based on cold fact,
and not hot opinion.
ISSUE 367 TODAYSGOLFER.CO.UKHow you can avoid getting tangled up in ‘thought chains’ during a round
One shot from insanity!
MIND GAMES
S
Karl has
worked with
major winners
including
McDowell and
Oosthuizen.TG TOP 50
KARL MORRIS
WWW.THEMINDFACTOR.COM‘Jordan Spieth does a
great job of diffusing
the frustration he
is feeling’
Fault
Fixer