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The Dirty Words of Golf

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Shank. Hook. Duff. Yips.

Slice. Out of Bounds. Water. Choke.

Now, before you close the post and once again run away from these “dirty words,” I’d like to bring some clarity to the subject.

The truth is, most golfers can’t handle these words. They evoke fear, anxiety, and general disgust within our bodies, and as a collective golfing community, we learn early on that we must never say them in public.

If standing on the 18th tee box, and I told you not to hook it into the water on the left, I can (with reasonable accuracy) guarantee that the ball is either going in the water or WAYYYYYY RIGHT. If I’m wrong, then maybe you don’t need to read this post 🙂

We clearly understand that words are just ways of communicating right? If I started rambling off these profane golf words to a non-golfer, would it evoke any sort of emotional response in their bodies?

No!

Heck, someone who doesn’t play golf may not even recognize that these words are “bad.”

So why can saying these short words have such a profound effect on how you play golf? Why is your mind so fragile that I can simply say “hook,” and cause your final hole to be a disaster?

Oh, and even further-why can YOUR OWN BRAIN start thinking about these words when nobody is forcing you to think about them?

In this post, I will be talking about the dirty words of golf, why they cause us so much distress, and how we can escape the tyranny of them forever.

Why is this happening to me?!?

The simple yet complex answer that nobody wants to read: In academia, there are thousands and thousands of little internal processes going on in your head when you feel a physiological response from the thought, sight, or sound of one of these “dirty words.” More specifically, thought (a picture in your head, a word in your head, etc.) sends electrical impulses to the amygdala (emotional control center), which then converts the thoughts into emotion, which then relays them down through the spine/nervous system, which finally causes physiological reactions that ruin our rounds.

The human explanation of why this happens: I’m sure that everyone reading this has had a moment of nostalgia at some point in their lives. It is that wonderful feeling that you get when you remember all of your wonderful past experiences, and ponder over them for a significant moment in time.

Likewise, you have probably experienced a time where you started to think of all the tasks on your to do list, which then caused you to think of all your recent failures at work, which then caused you to think about your relationship issues with your spouse, which then caused you to think about how the world is stupid, which then caused you to think about…

The point is-thoughts have this scary way of evoking physiological responses (emotion) in our bodies.

 

But as I mentioned earlier, thoughts without prior experience have no power over us. We are only vulnerable to thoughts which are associated with past experiences.

So looking at the topic objectively, the only reason you don’t like the words at the beginning of this post is because you have associated them with a prior experience that caused you emotional pain. In addition, these prior emotional pains are re-ignited upon the thoughts that initially caused them. And going even further-we begin to form an identity around these thoughts as a golfer! We actually begin to welcome them in our heads as if they were friendly!!

It may seem like a hopeless situation, especially considering all of the emotional baggage and complementary thought patterns that are ingrained in your golfing brain already.

Unfortunately, golf psychology is such an abstract topic, that you may have heard about this problem in about 20 different ways, from 20 different “psychologists.” Instead of fixing the problem, you keep reading slightly different “fixes,” and don’t really understand the core problem behind the madness.

I was recently re-reading a golf psychology book, and stumbled upon this bit of advice for curing the yips: “I reply, ‘Good. Then there’s nothing wrong with your body. If there was, it would affect all your putts, not just the short ones. Your problem is you’re scared out of your mind.'”

I don’t like dropping names, but this came directly from a book that many golfers read as if it was scripture.

I think most average golfers can understand that “yips” (I put in parenthesis because this word is simply a way of communicating an idea that is entirely formed inside the mind of a golfer, and is not actually real) are caused by the mind.

This is a classic example of how mainstream golf psychology beats around the bush in a sense (gotta fill the pages somehow). Sure, there are a thousand different ways to think better on the golf course, but in the end, to be an effective golfer, you only need to remember one thing, and that is to be present.

The only way your mind can get the best of you is when you venture into past memories, or future projections. In the present moment, there is nothing to be feared, and the mind is clear, ready to rely on all the practice that you’ve put into your game.

Furthermore, you might hear that your subconscious mind is the real culprit behind all this, and that there is no other way to fix this than saying affirmations to yourself each night and trying to develop this thing we call “confidence” (as if we really understand what confidence means).

This, along with all the other golf psychology that you might find in a book or online are just indirect ways of getting you to play golf in the present moment; to be alert, focused, and concentrated on the shot at hand.

Once again, there is nothing wrong with contemporary golf psychology books. They work wonders for some golfers. They simply didn’t work wonders for me (although I did benefit from this one).

It wasn’t until I ventured outside of golf psychology, and into the broader world of psychology that I was able to truly dissociate my emotional responses from the “dirty words of golf.”

So if you are analytical like me, you may find some of the solutions helpful to your own game! If not, I still suggest reading through them, and finding some personal applications in your own life (not just golf).

Please tell me how to fix this

As I have gotten a bit side-tracked, let me come back to the original problem:

You hate the words mentioned at the top of this post, are affected by them, and want them to become meaningless again.

Dissociating your mind from these words will take a while, but certainly can be done with enough practice and discipline.

The first step in curing the yips, the shanks, or getting out of a slump is to stop constantly reminding yourself that they are a part of you as a golfer.

Just think about it. Is it really the words themselves that cause you trouble? Or is it the result of constantly repeating and resisting these words as they ping pong back and forth between your ears? What if you could hear or see one of these words, accept them, and then move on with your round without ever thinking about them again? That would be pretty nice huh?

In my opinion, the way to do this isn’t to replace these thoughts with positive ones (affirmations – “I’m going to hit it straight”), but to form an entirely new relationship with the thoughts altogether.

Once you realize that the dirty words of golf are simply labels for a mental construct that golfers irrationally believe in, you are on your first step to eliminating your association with them.

The Labeling Technique: This is a technique that I use every single time I play golf, as well as off the course. It sounds extremely simple, yet 99.99% of people on this earth can’t do it consistently without practice (I’ve been practicing it nearly every day for 2 years).

To start, just sit in a chair without distraction for 2 minutes. During these two minutes, try not to think about anything. If something does pop up in the mind, your only job is to label it as either a “thought” or “emotion.” Then, once you have labeled it, classify it as “pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant.”

If you are familiar with the concept of mindfulness, this exercise shouldn’t be all that foreign.

If not, you may find how much of a slave you really are to your own thoughts and emotions.

Just imagine how much of an effect this has on your golf game! If you can’t stop thinking for more than 1 second during a two minute interval, then how on earth will you be able to quiet your mind when it is time to hit a good golf shot?! How are you going to be able to stay mentally strong despite all the trash talk dished out by your playing partners?

The good thing is, you can use this labeling technique on the golf course. Whenever someone mentions something that causes you anxiety, come back to the present, and label it as either thought/emotion, and either pleasant/neutral/unpleasant.

You will find that by doing this more consistently, the words “yip,” “shank,” and “water” won’t effect your mind or body anymore.

It might take a few months or even years (depending on how much you practice it) before you see any significant change in your state of mind on the course, but it is well worth the effort.

Instead of relying on golf psychology books to boost your confidence, you will have the power to manage and direct your mind into a positive state whenever need be.

 

I apologize to all of you who thought this post was going to save you from your mind during the next round of golf, but if you haven’t realized yet, NOTHING WILL.

Having a strong mind in golf requires many years of disciplined and intentional practice. Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, etc. did not get their unflappable confidence by reading one blog post, or by spending 20 minutes for a week saying affirmations to themselves. They spent decades preparing their mind to be where it is now.

So do me a favor, and work on your mind. And if you can’t put in the work, don’t expect results.

This game is HARD.


Cover Photo via Flickr

Zach, otherwise known as "The DIY Golfer" has a passion for many things, but none quite live up to his enthusiasm for golf.  In his High School District tournament freshman year, he fired a 103.  Since that humbling moment, Zach has been on a perpetual search for the underlying truths of golf.  Thanks to this unending search for a better golf game, he has managed a personal best of 64, and has gained a new sense of understanding for the game of golf. In his time away from the course, Zach enjoys reading, writing for Golficity (and his personal golf blog), traveling, and spending time with friends and family.  He also loves meeting new golfers, so be sure to drop a comment below!

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