Juniors Only

How to Keep the Past From Repeating Itself

 "I always make a bogey or worse on this hole." "I hate the way this hole is laid out." "I always play terribly on this course." These are but a few of the hundreds of comments that I have heard from players with whom I've worked as they speak about particular golf holes or golf courses.

It can sometimes be difficult to get out of one's head the past failures and struggles on a particular hole or at a particular course. How can you improve on those holes or courses that have historically been a challenge?

There may be some benefit to making sure that the course management strategies utilized for the hole are a good fit for your game. It is astounding to me how many players hit the same type of shot over and over again on certain holes despite having had little success with their strategy. Once those adjustments are made (if necessary) then it's back to the thinking about the task at hand. Past hole "troubles" is just one form of outcome thinking. If you're thinking about how you played previously, and you fear how you might play it the next time, you're thinking about result or outcome. Shifting your attention to what the shot requires - "Ok, I'll hit a driver toward that chimney in the distance so that the ball ends up on the right side of the fairway"- may fill your mind in such a way as to overcome the negative thoughts and pictures from previous trials in that circumstance. It can be helpful to remember similar golf shots (drivers hit to particular targets) that will fill your mind with positive pictures of having been successful with these types of shots.

Another thing to keep in mind is that our past does not have to repeat itself. In other words, simply because you have not had success on a particular hole or at a particular course previously, this does not have to have anything to do with playing that hole (or course) today. What challenges most players in this situation is not the hole itself, but the memories of playing poorly historically. Recognize that this is nothing more than your own thinking- which you are generating in your own head!

Every shot, every hole, and every round of golf is an opportunity to produce something new. Pay attention to the prospect of creating something positive and productive and give less "power" to the thoughts and pictures of your previous misfortunes!

Jeff Troesch's biography and past articles