Do You Fear Making Mistakes When Your Golf Mindset Isn’t Correct When Putting?

If you fear making big mistakes in playing golf then your not alone. Tiger Woods and other great superstars who stand to win big paychecks from making or losing on short putts have this same fear as a weekend golfer.  Taking the safe route has its own costs and rewards.

I had just made a great third shot to within 2ft of the hole on the 15′th hole, it was a par 5 on my home golf course.  I made the no brainer putt to put me two under par for the round. It dawned on me waiting on the 16′th tee that I must be leading the club championship,  and I had the greatest opportunity of my lifetime to break 70,  which I’ve never done before.  It was a realization moment that woke me up out of my dream state that I was in.

You see everything I hit was nearly perfect that day, and I was dropping 40ft bombs from all over the place.  I hit another great shot down the middle of the fairway on 16. I only had a 7 iron in about 165 yards. It comes up 5 yards short of the green, and of course I over chip on my next shot for bogey.

Now, I’m only one under par and need to make up a shot. Another great tee shot and short iron to about 20ft from the hole on 17.  However, this putt was a down hill slider that picks up a lot of speed when it goes past the hole.  My golf  mindset wasn’t on the golf tournament, but making this putt to put me back to where I was at two under par.

So, you guessed it!  I over hit the putt and you can see my chances disappear with it.  It causes me another bogey or dropped stroke to par.  I go on and finish 18 with par.  To lose to another player by one stroke didn’t hurt me emotionally, as much as I lost my chances to break par. When I was over the putt on 17,  I was only thinking about making birdie rather than par.  I still shot even par 71 for the day, and it was my greatest round in my life ever. I still reflect back on the decision I made to go for it.  For me the risk-reward didn’t pay off.  It still is a round that I will always cherish.

Even the best golfers will miss the opportunity to make birdies by taking the safer shot to put themselves in best position to not make bogeys. This is done out of fear, because the agony of having to lose a stroke to par outweighs the thrill of a birdie.  Researchers who keeps statistics calculates this type of decision making can cost the average professional golfer about one stroke during a 72 hole tournament.  For the top 20 golfers this can be as much as $1.2 million in prize money lost for the year.  The analysis shows that all golfers will avoid the possibility of loss by playing conservatively when they have the opportunity to score big by taking the gamble or risk.

How to bounce back from failure? It’s based upon your perceptions and golf mindset when making the decision to go for it or not.  Most people will avoid temptations in order to avoid losing.  However, when it comes to competition and the stakes are much higher it’s best to build your decision making on experience. Where to place the ball on the green, what is the best club to hit, adjust for wind, rain or temperatures. These are all decisions that have to be made before you can commit to your next shot.

For most golfers overconfidence and nervousness plays a major factor in the psyche of a players game. After hitting a well-placed shot most average golfers will become overconfident and cocky in a way that harms their performance for their next shot.  When it comes to nervousness golfers tend to value making birdie putts more than they value shooting par. That is why most golfers become very nervous and choke when aiming for a birdie.

Even though amateur golfers infrequently take birdie putts, most professional golfers attempt nearly as many putts for birdies as they do for par.  We tend to find that golfers hit birdie putts less hard than they would hit par putts, and are more likely to leave birdie putts short of the hole than par putts.  Whether a golfer was playing it safe by making a putt that would end up just in front of the hole, in order to set up a sure next shot.  It does demonstrate that players sacrifice success when putting for birdie to avoid difficult follow-up putts.  It does decrease the rewards satisfaction for the golfer who isn’t willing to gamble and take the risk.

The par number creates a reference point that clearly distinguishes a loss from a gain. On their scorecards, golfers circle holes they score under par. If they shoot over par, the score is framed in a dreaded square.  Even though golfers should only care about their overall tournament scores, golfers may be influenced by the risk-reward decision making, but it’s an irrelevant reference point to par when they attempt putts.

First golfers will hit their birdie putts shorter than they hit otherwise similar par putts. Second, we demonstrate that even the best golfers, including Tiger Woods exhibits this bias in early rounds of tournaments. Third, the difference between par and birdie putts diminishes across rounds.  Nervousness cannot explain these short comings, but rather the mindset of the golfer when the pressure is on.

Finally, in addition to the quantitative analysis, you will find evidence of this even from Tiger Woods himself.  After playing a round in 2007, the PGA’s most winning active player said: “Any time you make big par putts, I believe it’s even more important to make than those birdie putts. You don’t ever want to drop a stroke to par. The psychological difference between dropping a stroke and making a birdie–I just think it’s bigger to make a par putt.”

Precision or Pressure Pointing for most golfers of all skill levels is one of the key components to making up any golf score on a given round. There are more 2 to 3 ft putts missed, because of lack of confidence, focus or failure to pressure. Be it a $2 Nassau game or putting for 1/2 million dollars, more money is lost on the very last putt.  If you have trouble staying focused or get the yips due to pressure, then this DVD is good for your golf  video collection. Go ahead and change your golf mindset by clicking on the following link: Golf Tips On How To Putt At Your Best!

A missed 2ft pressure putt is one of the hardest strokes to overcome with one's golf mindset!

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