Why does golf feel so much harder under pressure? It’s a difficult game to begin with but it can feel near impossible when you need to sink a crucial putt, find the fairway or avoid the water. Here are five reasons your swing falls apart when it matters most along with a few ideas on how to fix the issues. The first step is recognizing the problem.
You’re rushing your swing
When you are nervous, everything happens quickly. You start walking faster, move through your pre-shot routine faster and may even make quicker decisions.
All of that translates into a rushed (and sometimes) shortened backswing. Once you’ve done that, it’s really difficult to catch up and get yourself grounded.
Here’s a few tips on how to fix it:
- Slow down your walk and take deep breaths.
- Count to three on the backswing and four on the downswing. Do this on your practice swing and translate the feel into your actual shot.
- A short but deliberate pause at the top of your backswing will slow things down and restore your tempo.
Swinging too hard (or too easy)
Some golfers swing too hard when they get nervous. They try to make sure the ball gets all the distance and travels as far as it can. I’ve also seen golfers get so nervous about hitting shots that they slow down as they approach the ball.
Focus on an 80 percent swing. It’s enough to give you your full distance but you’ll also maintain some accuracy. If you think you may come up short, take an extra club and still swing at 80 percent.
Arms and body sequence out of sync
To hit good golf shots, your arms and body have to work together. When the pressure is on, sometimes your hips race ahead of your hands or they lag behind while the arms take over.
One of the best ways to fix this issue is to add waist-high to waist-high swings to your pre-shot routine. When making this move, make sure your lower and upper body are coordinating.
Using a training aid like The Connector or the Impact Ball in your practice is a good way to work on this motion so you don’t lose it when the pressure is on.
Collin Morikawa uses a glove drill to practice this feeling. It’s a good concept to keep in mind when things fall apart on the course.
You are trying to “guide the ball”
Trying to guide the ball cost me a lot of tournament wins. Instead of trusting what I could do, I would try to “place” the ball, trying to guide it to land in the fairway or on the green or close to the hole. This method just doesn’t work.
If you find yourself doing the same thing, you must learn to swing without fear. Work on your game so that when the pressure is on or the tournament starts, you use what you have practiced.
When you guide or try to place your shots, it slows the club through impact and you lose ball speed and sometimes face angle.
Excess tension in hands, arms and shoulders
When the pressure is on, tension starts to build up. If your forearms and shoulders are tight, it’s hard to have a fluid swing.
To reduce tension, try these things:
- Monitor grip pressure. Keep it in the 4-6 out of 10 range so you have control but not so much that you are tight.
- Waggle or shake your arms to release tension. Many times, it’s part of the pre-shot routine.
- Don’t stop breathing. Breathing relaxes your upper body and promotes a smoother swing tempo.
Final thoughts
If your swing is falling apart under pressure, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s flawed. Some of what you are doing off the course to prepare is not translating. Use the swing you’ve practiced, stop worrying about the score and don’t let tension creep in.
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