This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect" by Bob Rotella. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Is your fear controlling you while you golf? How is your fear messing up your game?
Many golfers have a fear of failing, which puts them in a bad mental state out on the green. But a part of building confidence as a golfer is learning how to overcome fear.
Below we’ll discuss how to overcome common fears in sports, according to Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella.
Overcoming Fear
You must learn to overcome the fear in sports. When it comes to golf, the fear is usually about hitting bad shots and playing bad rounds, because such fear can have a disastrous effect on your golf game. According to Rotella, fear disrupts your muscle memory, leading you to hit bad shots. In response to hitting these bad shots, your fear deepens, leading you to hit even more bad shots, and launching a vicious cycle that can ruin a round of golf.
Rotella notes that fear is distinct from nervous excitement. While fear is a mental struggle, nervous excitement refers to your body’s natural response to stressful situations. When you enter these situations, your body increases your heart rate and releases adrenaline in preparation for you to exert yourself. In some cases, the physical characteristics of nervous excitement can actually improve your game.
(Shortform note: While Rotella argues that fear is a mental experience and not a physiological one, many in the scientific community disagree. According to experts, fear is associated with a host of physiological symptoms often referred to as the fight-or-flight response, including elevated heart rate and blood pressure, elevated blood glucose levels, and dilated pupils. This response is your body’s way of preparing to deal with dangerous situations. Some authors suggest that the physiological effects of fear may temporarily boost your physical capabilities, though Rotella might argue that the mental disadvantages outweigh the physical benefits.)
To avoid succumbing to fear during your rounds, Rotella recommends focusing on the processes of playing and improving and not the results of individual shots and rounds. When you’re focused too narrowly on the results of your shots, bad shots and round scores feel exceptionally demoralizing. However, when you zoom out and focus on your overall commitment to improving your game, bad shots will feel less significant and less painful when considered in the context of your overall upward trajectory.
(Shortform note: Similar to Rotella’s recommendation not to focus on short-term results, in Atomic Habits, James Clear contends that instead of focusing on the goals you’d like to achieve, you should focus on the person you’d like to become. Clear argues that by building habits around who you’d like to be, you’ll set yourself up for continual success, whereas focusing on individual goals may not lead to long-term change.)
For many golfers, the pressure of competing against others can be a source of fear and anxiety. The fear of being outperformed by a competitor can make it difficult to play well. The key to mitigating fear of competition is, once again, focusing on process and not results. Rotella notes that while your opponents in the context of a single round are the other golfers, in the long term, you compete against yourself.
Manage Your Social Fears on the Course
Fear is especially common when performing in front of a group, as you do when you’re competing in a tournament. The fear that wells up when you have to perform a skill in front of others is known as performance anxiety. To manage performance anxiety, experts recommend mindfulness practices such as deep breathing and meditation, as well as avoiding caffeine, sugar, and any other stimulating substances.
It’s also common to become anxious when you compare yourself unfavorably to your fellow competitors. If you struggle with this, there are two strategies you can use to shift your mindset. First, experts recommend documenting your achievements, which can help mitigate feelings of insecurity that lead you to negatively compare yourself to others. Second, get to know your competitors by asking them for advice or talking shop, which can help you see them more positively.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect summary:
- A framework for improving the mental side of your gold game
- Why thoughts, confidence, and strategy are more important than your swing
- Techniques for choosing the right thoughts, goals, and shots
