How Do You Deal With Bad Golf Day - Dealing with Disappointment

How you deal with stress and what you do when you let yourself down is important to character building.  The easy part of the game of golf is when you are playing well and everything goes your way.  The scores are excellent and all your shots have the right bounce.  You don't have to think about feeling good it just happens.  You express yourself in a positive well mannered way.

I always want to be in the situation above because it feels so good.  But, the game of golf has a funny way of bringing the bad bounces, short puts, missed shots which bring you to feeling not so good, anger, disappointed, and flat out annoyed of the game you love.

As I stated above it is easy to deal with stress in life and golf when everything is going your way.  What do you do when it isn't.

Well in the last tournament I played I witnessed some professional golfers on how not to react.  I have also seen in the years of playing golf how the average golfers react.  During the tournament last weekend one of the players was frustrated enough that he threw his putter across the green.  Another player cursed and expressed himself very loudly in a negative manner.  This led to the golfers continuing to play bad the rest of the game and not score very well.  Doesn't mean if they didn't do that they would score better, but they would have a better chance of changing the outcome.

Every golfer expresses themselves differently.  It is the ones that don't let the game and the bad shots get to them that helps motivate the average golfers to see that the game is a pleasant game and not as Mark Twain once stated 'Golf is a great walk ruined'.

Don't get me wrong, I have moments in golf that are stressful and full of missed shots, short putts, and bad scores.  It is the attitude you bring that helps you get through.  The past weekend tournament nothing would go right.  I couldn't figure it out, but accepted the fact that nothing was going my way.  The more I tried the more it went array.  With four holes left I realized the key was to start taking it a shot at a time instead of a hole at a time and I was able to par out.   A little late, but I was proud that I was finally able to work out the issues and get the game on track even though the round was over and the score I shot wasn't good enough to win the tournament.  I was disappointed, upset at myself for allowing me to play badly, but the positive was at the end I figured it out.  I try to look at golf and life as positively as I can.   This allows me to enjoy myself even when things don't go my way.






I enjoy playing with any level of golfer except the ones that throw clubs, get angry and blame everything but themselves.   I think the worst golfer is the best golfer that shows his......

Ways you can work through the bad times during the round and after the round (you can use this for life also):

• Acceptance of how things are going.  Remember acceptance is the answer to all our prayers.
• Get out of your own way.  Quit putting yourself down.
• Remember this too shall pass.  After the shot is hit, it is over.
• Find the good in the shot, even though you might not see it.
• Be positive and show enjoyment.  Someone might be watching and that might keep them away from the game.

Everyone has bad days, sometimes they go on for a while.  Remember that through the help of Jesus Christ the waters will calm down and the streams will flow right.  Then you will have the game of your life. 

Until next time, keep your dreams alive by continuing to go forward even though sometimes you go backwards
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