Everybody gets stressed. Even the most blissed-out yen master has to deal with that feeling of anxiety – it’s part of being human.
The golf course is – unsurprisingly – one place where stress makes a regular appearance. And not just for big-time PGA Tour players – performance anxiety can strike even the most casual player.
The thing is, stress isn’t always a negative thing. In fact, it’s necessary to have a certain amount of stress to perform at a high level. The key is to learn how to use it to your advantage.
What is stress and how does it affect golf?
At its core, stress is a very primal reaction. It’s our bodies’ way of dealing with a perceived threat or danger. And while it may have helped our ancestors not to get eaten by scary predators many years ago, nowadays stress seems to serve purely as a way to drive us up the wall!
Golf is a beautiful game, for sure. But, as we all know, when things aren’t going well on the course, it can be very stressful too. And it could be said that the stress you experience on the golf course begins in the mind and manifests itself in the body.
These two stages of stress are known as cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety.
Cognitive anxiety
The first stage is how your mind processes a situation. This is where ‘self-talk’ can really make or break your game.
If you start to think about the crowd, to dwell on what people are thinking about your game and to focus on potential negatives, your cognitive anxiety levels will start to rise. Frustration, nervousness and anger, as well as a loss of concentration – all of these are byproducts of not being able to control cognitive anxiety.
And as soon as we start to doubt our own abilities, we open the door to somatic anxiety.
Somatic anxiety
The physical manifestation of stress is known as somatic anxiety. This can be anything from feeling dizzy and nauseous to having sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat.
Once you’re stuck in a somatic anxiety loop on the course, it can be hard to get out of it. Your swing will lose its smoothness, you’ll start to pull up at impact and your entire game, from driving to putting, will fall apart.
So, how can you stop stress ruining your game? Well, in order to control stress and make it work for you rather than against you, you have to first realise when you’re stressed and understand what’s happening.
How to realise when you’re stressed during a round
Increasing your awareness of stress is going to help you control it. First, think about how stress has impacted your game in the past. How did it first materialise? What caused it? And how did it affect your game?
Golfers are taught to constantly assess their lie and always think about how the course plays out. But it’s just as important to regularly assess your own body.
When you’re on the course, make sure you pay attention to what your mind is doing (mindfulness training is great for this – check out some of the great apps online). Once you notice that your thoughts are running away with themselves and heading to a negative place, there are steps you can take to focus.
In the same way, make sure you’re aware of the symptoms of somatic anxiety. Regularly check your muscles for tension and try to notice when your heart is racing, your palms are sweating or when your breathing is becoming slightly erratic.
Reducing the amount of stress you bring onto the course
You can have a million on-the-course techniques, but if you’re turning up to the first tee with a bucket load of stress, you’re going to have a bad game.
There are lots of off-the-course factors that can affect your stress levels on the course. This ranges from things you can control – like diet, alcohol consumption, quality of sleep and amount of exercise, to things that are beyond your control, like… well, life.
Of course, being stressed off the course will affect a lot more than just your golf game. If you do feel like your general stress levels are a problem, talk to someone. Whether it’s a friend, a family member or a therapist, just one conversation could make all the difference.
Harnessing stress on the golf course
The first step to dealing with stress on the golf course is to accept it.
Instead of worrying about being ‘stress-free’ golfers need to accept it as part of the game and use it to their advantage. As Stanford University professor Alia Crumb highlighted with her groundbreaking research on stress, how we think about stress actually changes the impact it has on us.
Let’s say you take the view that stress is only ever detrimental. Your aim is to shut it out completely. Well, when it eventually comes – and it will – it will be detrimental.
If, on the other hand, you view stress as potentially performance-enhancing – sharpening your focus and enabling you to access a more creative thought process, for example – when it does appear, it will enhance your performance.
Using your mind to affect reality – much like with visualisation – is a very powerful tool.
Reducing negative stress on the golf course
Although having a certain amount of stress can be beneficial, it’s about getting a balance. When stress levels start getting too high, there are a few simple techniques you can use to regain control.
The first is simply to just breathe. It’s amazing how unaware we can be of our breathing. Taking the time to inhale and exhale deeply and slowly can calm the mind and body, reducing anxiety levels in an instant.
When we’re stressed, we tend to speed up and rush things. Actively slowing down is a good way to regain control. Also, going back to the basics of golf psychology, try to use positive self-talk in place of negative self-talk. It seems simple, but it’s highly effective.
Also, instead of thinking about the end result, think about the process. It can be overwhelming when we focus on our score and how far from expectations we are. Focus on getting the small things right – the big picture will take care of itself.
Finally, get some perspective. Winning isn’t everything and being perfect is impossible – in fact, the more you stress over perfection, the further away it will be.
Know your own mind and own your stress
The main thing to remember is that stress affects us all in different ways. The key to controlling stress is to understand how it affects you. From the triggers and thought processes to the behaviours and physical effects, knowing where stress comes from and what it does will help you tame it and wear it like a glove.