Stop and Think Before Assessing Your Round
by Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.

What do most golfers do when they walk off the golf course and look back on the round? They go over the round and think about the shots squandered or the mistakes that caused lost shots. “If only I didn’t miss those two short putts it would have been a good round," you say to yourself after the round. "Those two double bogeys I made really hurt my score today," a playing partner says after the round. I guess it’s partly human nature that we look back and scold ourselves for making errors and mistakes during the round or maybe it’s the nature of the game that causes golfers to think about the should have, could have, and would haves.

This is especially true for golfers who have strict expectations when playing a round of golf and then find is hard to play up to their high expectations. In addition, this holds true for golfer who compare every new round to the best round they have every shot or the best ball-striking round they have had. Ultimately, it is not healthy for golfers to assess the round with critical eyes all the time. If confidence is the name of the game, golfers need to evaluate how they evaluate a round of golf.

Therefore, the goal is assess your round so you can improve your game and gain confidence from what you are doing well instead of beating yourself on the head for mistakes and missed opportunities. What is the best way to assess your round after you get off the course?

Your first job after the round is to get a drink, cool off, and try to remain unemotional about the round. Take your mind off the round for a few minutes and let your mind air out. Negative emotions can cloud your judgment about cause you to be harsher on yourself. After you take a break, you are in a better position to assess the round with a cool head.

The second task is to ask yourself a simple question about the round: “What are two things I did well today or am proud about?” This could be anything positive about your golf round such as a part of your game that was working, a part of your mental game that you are proud about, a good shot you hit, or a long putt you sank. Focus first on anything that is positive about the round regardless of the score you shot. If you shot a good score, then you are already happy about your performance and you can move to step three.

Your third task is to check at your statistics for the round. Why are statistics about your round important? So you can objectively assess what parts of your game need to improve. Here are some basic stats you can assess for each round:

Fairways hit in regulation—this is a measure of driving accuracy, which you can determine as a percentage. This stat can be misleading depending on the width of the fairways, what clubs you hit off the tees, and how far you hit the ball. For the most part, the more fairways you hit, the better chance you will have at hitting the green in regulation.

Greens hit in regulation—measures your ability to hit accurate irons. This statistic depends on how many fairways you hit, the length of the rough, and any penalty shots (hitting the ball out of play) you had during rounds.

Up and down percentage—also called up and down greenside percentage. This is the percent of time that a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better.
Sand saves—is a measure of your sand game greenside and is the percent of time a player was able to get 'up and down' from a bunker greenside.

Putts per round—putts per round is the average number of putts per round played. This is a general measure of your putting performance.

The above statistics about your game will help you to objectively assess your round and then determine a plan of action for how to improve for the next round. For example, if you hit 9 greens in regulation and your have 36 putts, this is a good indication that your putting needs to improve. For the next round, you can set positive goals for what you want to accomplish with your putting such as five one-putts.

Based on your objective assessment, decide on two goals you want to work on that will make you a better player the next time you play. For example, you might decide to work on your touch on the greens for a half hour a day. Maybe you decide to enhance a part of your mental game in putting such as making better decisions about the line and seeing a line for each putt before you approach the ball.

Finally, leave the golf on the golf course. Do not dwell on the round or take it home with you. No one wants to hear you berate yourself about the shots that got away on the course. Now is the time to switch roles in your life and become the student, mother, father, son, friend or whatever the other roles you have in your life. Above all, do not let your level of performance in golf influence how you feel about yourself the rest of the day!

Need help in other areas of your mental game? Check out Dr. Cohn's Golf Psychology programs.