Tips to Play Better Golf – and Get Through the Coronavirus Pandemic

Golf provides an abundance of life lessons.

One of golf’s best gifts is that whatever you learn on the course, you can apply off it. There are so many mental hurdles to overcome in this game, and you can take those newfound skills and practices to your work (or to any stressful situation - like a pandemic).

Before I started my current job in marketing, I was a professional golfer for five years, teeing it up everywhere from Australia and Morocco to Florida and California. I learned a few lessons along the way, and below are some of the highlights. My hope is that these tips help bring a sense of calm and confidence into your daily routine during the COVID-19 crisis.

1. Preparing for Your Round

Before a golf tournament, everyone typically plays a practice round. During that time, golfers collect notes in order to plan a strategy for the tournament. Each hole has its own plan, and developing this vision helps you feel confident and prepared for the challenge ahead.

Of course, if every round of golf went as planned, we would shoot a perfect 54 every time and be dreadfully bored. However, we know golf is anything but boring.

How do we deal with the inevitable bumps in the road? Create a foolproof plan: stick to your vision but commit to staying open to new experiences. It is just as important to have a plan as it is to be flexible after you act on it. Don’t hit the fairway off the tee? That’s ok, take a deep breath, use your creativity to find a new solution and go through your routine. More often than not, positivity will put you right back on the green.

Coronavirus Application

Everyone has questions surrounding the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis. When will it end? Will my loved ones and I stay healthy? Will I have a job at the end of this? Plan ahead as best as you can but understand there will be unexpected detours. Be resourceful, feel optimistic and stay present through those challenges. This will help you maintain low anxiety levels about the future while also increasing confidence in your own resilience.

2. Celebrating Everyone’s Victories

Whether we mean to or not, we find many ways to compare ourselves to our golf buddies and their games. Tallying scores at the end of the round makes it too easy.

Golf is an individual game, just as life is an individual journey; we have support from others throughout both, but we are the protagonists of our own stories. Therefore, it is important to understand that each person has his or her own vision and struggle.

If we lose a match and feel envious of others’ success that day, try to remember to celebrate their win and yours. What win, you may ask? Search for them in your round. You can start with golf-related victories: you made a birdie, you hit a solid 5-iron, you drove 12 fairways, you implemented your pre-shot routine the entire round, etc. You will always find some good when you review the last few hours. Other victories to celebrate can be facts like you were healthy enough to golf today or you were able to spend time outside with friends. When you look for the positives, you’ll see tons!

These “mini-victories,” as I like to call them, will propel you forward in the face of adversity.

Coronavirus Application

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Some people have a solid stash of toilet paper while others have a constant flow of fresh water. Celebrate each other’s victories and acknowledge the positives: you are both prepared in different ways. View this seemingly win-lose situation as a win-win; by collaborating and seeing the bigger picture, both parties can alleviate envy and tension throughout this pandemic.

3. Focusing on Your Target

Have you ever tried wearing a dryer sheet in your golf visor to keep the gnats away while you’re putting? The gnats can be so distracting that you temporarily lose focus of your primary goal: sinking the putt. What if I told you I have a dryer sheet to protect your mind from debilitating thoughts?

You can only think one thought at a time. Therefore, put your brain power behind the one that is going to lead you to successfully hitting your target. Make that thought dependable and repeatable by creating a trigger action or word for it.

How do you form that target-focused trigger? Just like with forming a new habit, it is easiest to change a thought by attaching it to an action you do regularly. For example, if you are trying to improve your flossing consistency, you will start flossing immediately after you brush your teeth; brushing your teeth is now the trigger. You can go an extra step and tape a reminder note to your bathroom mirror.

You can do the same in golf. Many people use putting on their golf glove as an indicator to themselves that they are ready to hit the shot. I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I chose a word that notifies my brain and body that it’s game time. I also have this word written in my yardage book cover, which I open before every shot.

Whatever you choose, this action or word will pull yourself out of all your anxious thoughts and help you concentrate on the task at hand. Focusing on your target makes all your other concerns fade away, allowing you to have a clear head and relaxed body. After all, don’t you hit your best golf shots when you’re feeling loose?

Coronavirus Application 

My word is “target.” It’s not inspired by the store, but by the actual target from my pre-shot routine (I can be quite literal). Let’s say we do have to run to Target to grab more groceries. With the COVID-19 peak hitting the U.S. this month, this is a daunting and stressful task. Write your trigger reminder on a note in your car or on your gloves; before you enter the store or even while you are running around inside, use it to center your thoughts and re-focus your energy towards the task at hand: getting in, grabbing what you need and getting out. Just like in golf, we are better suited to handle any situation with a quiet mind and an earnest determination.

Stay present, stay positive and stay focused: this pandemic will end, and you and your golf game will come out stronger on the other side. Please share your golf story and let us know if any of these tips worked for you.

Originally published on Golf News Hub, a Buffalo Groupe property.