Handy Tips for Handling Anxiety on the Golf Course

All golfers get nervous from time to time, especially if they're playing in an important competition.

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What exactly is "anxiety" and how can we learn to cope with it on the golf course? Anxiety is a reaction to fear, which affects how we feel, think and play. It generates tension and negative thinking and also makes us play at a faster pace than usual. So, to counteract anxiety we need to work on our feelings thoughts and behaviour.

Anxiety is not necessarily a bad thing. It means is that we care enough about the result of what we're doing. However - we need to make sure that we care about the right thing, what lies within our control, not what other people might think of us or whether or not we win a golf competition.

How can we prevent ourselves from becoming too anxious on the course?

Focus on the challenge - not the threat - Anxiety- is a fear response which we interpret as posing a threat to us in some way. But instead of focusing on what might go wrong in the feared situation, we should focus on the challenge it poses for us - in other words, what we have to do (for example "chip the ball high over the bunker").

When you feel yourself getting nervous, slow down, relax your shoulders and breath out gently. Tell yourself to "stay loose".

A good way to overcome anxiety is to focus on each step of your pre-shot routine. You can only think of one thing at a time, so make sure to focus on positive actions rather than negative thoughts.