In episode 3 of Season 2 of the “Full Swing” on Netflix, Wyndham Clark talked about some of his strategies for managing emotions during the 2023 US Open (that he won).
He spoke of creating an internal state which is “the opposite of anger”, which clearly helped him deal with the moments in the round where he would have felt that emotion (there is a lot at the US Open). In this week’s lesson, we’ll explore some ways that you can do it too.
The unpredictable tapestry of emotions that we get to experience in a round of golf is one of the reasons the game has such appeal. We simply don’t know what we’re going to get and how we will feel.
We can experience the thrill and excitement of hitting a great drive, or seeing a 20-footer go in.We can experience the satisfaction of a good score or a sense of pride and achievement from winning.We can experience the sinking disappointment of seeing a short putt lip out.We can experience the frustration and anger of hitting a ball out of bounds and adding 2 shots to our score when we are in a good position.
Tennis legend, Novak Djokovic says:
“The biggest battle is always within. You can’t be positive all the time. You are a human being [you will feel negative emotion and doubts]. The biggest difference between champions and the ones who struggle to get to the highest level, is the ability to not stay in those emotions for too long.”