Power of the Next Shot

Golf has a wonderful way of reminding us that we cannot change what has already happened.

You stripe a beautiful drive down the middle of the fairway and then miss the green. You hit a terrific approach shot and three-putt.

It happens to every golfer.

Even the best players in the world hit bad shots, make poor decisions and miss putts they expected to make. The difference is often not the mistake itself. It is what happens afterward.

The question isn’t whether you will hit a bad shot. The question is what you will do next.

That is where your real power begins.

The Last Shot Is Over

Think about how much energy golfers spend on shots that are already finished.

“I can’t believe I did that.”

“Why did I use that club?”

“I knew I was going to miss that putt.”

“I always do this on this hole.”

Sound familiar?

The problem is that while you’re replaying the last shot, your ball is sitting there waiting for you to hit the next one.

One poor swing can quickly become two or three. A double bogey can affect the next hole. Before you know it, you’re telling yourself that the entire round is ruined.

Not because your golf swing suddenly disappeared, but because you carried the last shot with you.

You cannot replay it. You cannot erase it from the scorecard.

But you absolutely get to choose what happens next.

Catch Yourself Before the Spiral

One of the greatest mental skills a golfer can develop is recognizing when frustration is starting to take over.

Maybe you start walking faster. Your shoulders slump. You grip the club harder. You stop talking to your playing partners. Or that little voice in your head starts telling you everything that’s going wrong.

This is the moment to catch yourself.

You don’t need to pretend the shot was good. Positive thinking isn’t about ignoring reality.

The shot happened.

You simply don’t have to give it any more power than it deserves.

This is where my BLAB philosophy can be such a useful reset: Body Language, Language, Appreciation and Breathe.

These are four things you can influence immediately, no matter what number you just wrote on the scorecard.

Start With Your Body

Pay attention to your body language after a disappointing shot.

Is your head down? Are your shoulders slumped? Are you dragging your feet toward the next shot?

Change it.

Stand tall. Put your shoulders back. Pick your head up and walk confidently.

Your reset can begin before you ever reach your ball.

Walk like the golfer you want to be on the next shot.

Listen to Your Language

Next, pay attention to your language, especially the things you say when nobody else can hear you.

Golfers can say some pretty terrible things to themselves!

Imagine talking to your playing partner the way you sometimes talk to yourself.

“You always mess this up.”

“That was terrible.”

“You can’t make this putt.”

Would that help your friend play better?

Probably not.

So why would it help you?

Replace language that keeps you trapped in the past with language that moves you forward.

“That’s over.”

“I’m okay.”

“Let’s make a good decision here.”

“I can hit this shot.”

Your words don’t have to be complicated. They simply need to point you toward what you want instead of constantly reminding you of what went wrong.

Find Something to Appreciate

Then shift into appreciation.

Golf can become so score-focused that we sometimes forget where we are and what we’re doing.

Look around.

Maybe you’re playing on a beautiful morning. Maybe you’re spending a few hours with friends.

And yes, maybe you just made a double bogey.

Both things can be true!

Appreciation doesn’t change the number on your scorecard. It changes where you place your attention.

And where your attention goes, your energy tends to follow.

Instead of feeding frustration, give your mind something positive to work with.

Breathe and Come Back to Now

Finally, breathe.

Not a rushed breath while you’re standing over the ball.

Take a deliberate breath before you begin preparing for the next shot.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Let some of that tension leave your shoulders and hands.

Your breath is always available to you. You don’t need special equipment. You don’t need extra time. And nobody in your group even needs to know you’re doing it.

It’s simply your signal:

That shot is finished. I’m here now.

Give Every Shot a Fresh Start

Once you’ve reset, ask yourself one simple question:

What does this shot need from me?

Not what the last shot needed.

Not what you need to shoot 79.

Not what might happen three holes from now.

This shot.

Maybe you need to take your medicine and punch out sideways instead of attempting the miracle shot through the trees.

Maybe you need to aim for the center of the green instead of attacking a tucked pin.

Or maybe you simply need to trust the club in your hand and make a confident swing.

Choose your target. See the shot you want to hit. Commit to your decision.

Then swing.

Golf becomes much simpler when we stop trying to play several holes at once.

Don’t Give One Shot More Power Than It Deserves

Here’s something I want you to remember the next time you play:

A bad shot is one shot.

Don’t turn it into a bad hole.

Don’t turn a bad hole into a bad nine.

And definitely don’t turn a difficult round into a story about what kind of golfer you are.

You are always one shot away from changing your momentum.

Those small wins matter.

Recognize them. Appreciate them. Build on them.

Golf Positive. Live Positive.

One of the things I love most about golf is how often the lessons we learn on the course show up in the rest of our lives.

We all hit the equivalent of bad shots.

A conversation doesn’t go the way we wanted. We make a mistake at work. Something we planned falls apart. Someone disappoints us. We disappoint ourselves.

We can’t always control what happens.

But we can become much better at controlling what we carry forward.

That’s the real lesson of the next shot.

You don’t need to deny what happened. Learn from it if there’s something to learn. Then give yourself permission to move forward.

Put your attention on what’s in front of you.

Whether you’re standing in the middle of the fairway or starting another day, you don’t have to be defined by what happened five minutes ago.

The last shot has already been played.

Your next shot is still yours to create.

Now go make it a good one.

Golf Positive! Live Positive!