Chapter 17: Emotion Control
We have talked about arousal control. Although emotions can be part of arousal, I like to treat emotion control as a separate topic.
Get your emotions out of the way, and let it happen.
Butch Harmon.
At the 1982 World Series of Golf, Jerry Pate, the 1976 U.S. Open champion had reached the par-5 2nd hole in two. He had a 50-footer for eagle. His lag putt rolled 5 feet past the hole. His comeback putt went 3 feet past the cup. Angry at himself, he carelessly stroked the 3-footer and it lipped out. Now furious, he made a backhand slap at the tap-in. It missed the cup but hit his foot for a 2-stroke penalty. Instead of an eagle, he ended up with a quadruple-bogey 9.
Problems with emotions can take many forms. Strong emotions that cause problems are usually negative. They are anger, fear, worry, disappointment, doubt, frustration, irritation, guilt, or sadness. Our brain is wired in such a way that when we experience strong negative emotions, we tend to remember the incident that triggered the emotion and avoid it in the future.