Ohio Golf Journal May 2020

Positive Attitude = Better Scores Sports psychologists have said for years that, “attitude impacts performance.” I never whole heartedly believed that until I recently reviewed some data on the topic. ShotScope, a world leader in golf GPS and automated performance tracking and analytics, has been studying data they collected. They have the ability to draw information from a very large data pool across the world and their research has been responsible for statistically, contradicting many accepted beliefs of golf. A recent article showed that high handicap golfers who, upon hitting a poor shot, will have a higher probability of hitting the next shot just as poorly. Better golfers with lower handicaps do not have similar behaviors, for they understand the only thing that matters is the next shot they are currently addressing, not the previous one. This is further supported by the number of ‘second shots,’ or mulligans, that land exactly where they were intended to finish initially. When presented with a difficult shot, how often have you experienced a mishit, skull, shank, or sliced attempt, that may have only gone a few yards. A mulligan, however, taken from the exact spot, resulted in a purely struck shot that appeared to be struck by one of golf’s greats? Or, as I like to say in those circumstances, “That first guy is a hack, but the second guy is not too bad.” Do you think this is false news and the statistics are skewed? Professional athletes in all sports understand the importance of a positive mental attitude and mental visualization. You can’t let the previous mistake affect the By Richard Todd Ohio Golf Journal