Frustration is Getting in the Way of Your Game
How can you rid yourself of frustration in your golf game and regain positive momentum?
Many emotions can fuel performance. However, frustration is not one of them.
Frustration is an energy-zapper and provides zero benefit to performance.
Feeling frustrated and mentally drained will affect your confidence and focus, preventing you from being consistently on top of your game. Frustration and underperformance cause you to feel like you are stuck in a black hole.
A golfer who responded to our Golf Mental Game Survey expressed his frustration with a streak of underperformance over the course of a month:
“I’ve been stuck in a rut for over a month. I feel like I will never shoot a low score ever again. How can I regain my focus, motivation, and momentum, especially when I lose heart and stop trying?”
Many golfers see frustration as a response to a bad shot. They tell themselves, “Just get over it,” and hope for the best.
However, frustration can be invasive. Frustration becomes a mental distraction that pulls your attention away from playing your best in the moment.
Instead, you may dwell on previous mistakes, the last round you tanked, and yesterday’s ineffective practice, making you feel stuck. Frustration causes you to be overcritical and, sometimes, just to stop caring about your game.
Frustration undermines confidence and fosters long-term self-doubt. Eventually, you become emotionally exhausted, leading to staleness and burnout.
Sometimes, stepping back can help refresh your mind and rekindle your motivation. You don’t necessarily need to take a month away from playing golf, but you need a mental break.
A mental break can be:
- Building a life outside of golf.
- Pursuing a new hobby.
- Leaving your thoughts about golf on the golf course before you get into your car to drive home.
- Learning relaxation strategies so you are not so stressed when not playing.
Taking a step back can alleviate long-term frustration and help you regain your previous passion for the game.
At the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship, Kevin Yu and Beau Hossler both finished 23-under 265, forcing a playoff hole. Yu birdied the playoff hole to earn the victory and win his first PGA Tour title.
After his victory, Yu opened up about his feelings of staleness, waning motivation, and the need to take a mental break.
YU: “I feel like I took a little break from last month, (it) really helped me. I feel like I was playing great, and just mentally, I was just kind of tired, frustrated, and just feel like momentum [wasn’t] going anywhere in the last maybe six months.”
Frustration is a common experience in golf due to its challenging nature, but managing it effectively is key to improving your performance, motivation, and enjoyment of the game.
Prolonged frustration can drain your motivation and mental energy. Mentally refueling requires a mental reset and a step back to put the game of golf in perspective.
It is important to remind yourself that golf is a game, not the end-all, be-all of life.
Related Golf Psychology Articles
- How to Overcome Frustration on the Golf Course
- How to Recover After a Poor Round
- Are Your Expectations too High in Golf
- Subscribe to The Golf Psychology Podcast on iTunes
- Subscribe to The Golf Psychology Podcast on Spotify
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