{"id":15555565,"date":"2025-01-04T12:12:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T17:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&p=15555565"},"modified":"2025-01-04T12:12:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T17:12:20","slug":"how-self-handicapping-can-help-your-game","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/how-self-handicapping-can-help-your-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you a self-handicapper? Here’s how it can help \u2014 and hurt \u2014 your game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s your golf handicap? No, not your current playing index<\/a>. I\u2019m talking about your self-handicap, defined as your favorite excuse after a sub-par shot or a way- over-par round \u2014 and unlike what\u2019s next to your name in the GHIN, it has nothing to do with how you compete. Instead, it\u2019s all about how you compete against yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-handicapping is a psychological term for the rationalizations we make to protect our self-esteem. We don\u2019t like to fail, so we preemptively and defensively identify a reason why we might. Two summers ago, in fact, this magazine ranked the most common first-tee excuses<\/a> \u2014 alibis like \u201cI didn\u2019t have a chance to warm up,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve never played this course before\u201d or the leader of the lamest line list: \u201cI haven\u2019t played in a while.\u201d How many of these have you heard \u2014 or said \u2014 this season?<\/p>\n\n\n

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I do it too. On a recent, rainy Saturday, I was playing poorly. Shot after shot, I heard myself complain. \u201cMy grips are wet,\u201d I said. Then, after the rain stopped, \u201cThese grips are old.\u201d On the back nine it was: \u201cI didn\u2019t bring another glove.\u201d I kept finding reasons to make myself feel better about the missed shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional golfers issue their own versions of these self-handicapping excuses. At a recent PGA Tour event, the co-leader chunked his wedge in the water on 18. He stared at his clubface as if faulty grooves had ruined the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s happening here? Justifications serve a productive purpose in that they protect us from seeing our mistakes as personal failures. But, as academic researchers on self-handicapping have found, there is also another benefit to this tactic: It actually helps us enjoy the game more because it helps us discount unfavorable results. As most commentators on the mental game of golf suggest, we usually play better when we stop obsessing about our score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors of an important study on this corner of sports psychology found that pinball players who used excuses like those golfers rely on \u2014 \u201cI didn\u2019t practice,\u201d for example \u2014 were much more present in their games. Excuses, the research suggests, create less anxiety, lower stakes, more space to have fun and permission to be imperfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excuses can even be a reflection of a participant\u2019s passion. We care about how golf makes us feel. That love of the game and the desire to succeed was a big part of what I was experiencing during my waterlogged round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But self-handicapping is not always the best strategy for every golfer \u2014 certainly not my PGA pros. Tour players depend on high performance and are paid for results. Excuses that deflect accountability also stunt learning, inhibit growth and restrict resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n News <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \"Golfer <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Are your on-course frustrations mental or technical? Why it pays to know the difference<\/a><\/blockquote>\n By:<\/span>\n \n \n Julie Elion <\/a>\n \n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

Learn from 2024 Olympic gold medalist Scottie Scheffler<\/a>. On the 7th hole of his second round, Scottie found himself hacking out of a terrible lie in the tall grass. He took a big swing that advanced his divot farther than his ball. The next shot\u2019s lie wasn\u2019t much better. About that frustratingly relatable sequence, Scheffler said: \u201cI know if I stay patient around this golf course and play well, I can shoot a low score. It\u2019s just a matter if I start freaking out and start forcing things, you\u2019re going to get in trouble really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scheffler didn\u2019t dwell on the bad shot that got him into trouble nor the unsatisfying attempt to get out of it. Instead of self-handicapping, he stayed focused and positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the difference between an amateur like me griping about my grips and the pro who blames the bug on his ball<\/a>. For all the side benefits of excuses, they still set a negative tone. After all, how many start with \u201cI didn\u2019t\u201d or \u201cI haven\u2019t\u201d? At the professional level, negativity is kryptonite for concentration and diminishing energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my clients was recently comparing his range game to his real game and made an astute observation: \u201cI hit it too good in practice to not realize that when I am playing in the tournament, I am more likely to lose my rhythm or start to feel tension and not swing freely.\u201d In competition, swing coaches say, pressure changes a player\u2019s physical movements, compromising everything from swing planes to wrist tension to tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golf is hard; assessing ourselves honestly is even harder. For the amateur, the self-awareness you\u2019ve previously read about in this column remains a key to success. If self-handicapping helps you enjoy your time out there, that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s important to have fun. Just be conscious of what your excuses are and are not \u2014 and when you hear them from your playing partners, no need to roll your eyes. Understand their frustrations, stay focused on your game and move on to your next shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excuses are like cholesterol: There\u2019s a good kind and a bad kind. But there are no good excuses for being unaware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie Elion has worked with half of the top 10 earners of all time, representing over $500 million in career earnings, 150 PGA Tour wins and 25 major championship wins.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Self-handicapping is a psychological term for the rationalizations we make to protect our self-esteem. Here’s how it can both help and hurt you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15555567,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-01-04T17:12:17Z","apple_news_api_id":"f99f3d0e-753b-4419-bace-a3bd39e3b279","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-01-04T17:12:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A-Z89DnU7RBm6zqO9OeOyeQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[42],"tags":[61404,63355],"class_list":["post-15555565","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-golfmagazine","tag-mindgames"],"acf":{"art_author":[{"ID":15541826,"post_author":"39","post_date":"2024-05-22 07:48:51","post_date_gmt":"2024-05-22 11:48:51","post_content":"","post_title":"Julie Elion","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"julie-elion","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-05-22 07:48:51","post_modified_gmt":"2024-05-22 11:48:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=contributor&p=15541826","menu_order":0,"post_type":"contributor","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"art_source":"None","tee_time_button_status":false,"article_template":"standard","featured_image_caption":"Self-handicapping can be a good thing \u2014 sometimes.","featured_image_credits":"Getty Images","wsum-gated-content":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"allow_instaread_integration":false,"ad_meta":false},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow self-handicapping can help \u2014 and hurt \u2014 your game<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self-handicapping is a psychological term for the rationalizations we make to protect our self-esteem. 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