Why Do I Become a Different Player When I Have a Chance to Win?
You've worked hard to put yourself in this position.
You're playing well.
You're committed to every shot.
You're trusting your process.
One shot at a time.
Then something changes.
You realize where you stand.
Maybe you're near the top of the leaderboard.
Maybe you're leading your flight.
Maybe you're about to qualify.
Maybe you're about to make the cut.
Maybe you're about to win your first tournament.
Maybe you're about to shoot the best tournament round of your life.
Suddenly...
you're no longer doing the same things that got you there.
Instead of freely committing to your target...
you start trying not to make a mistake.
Instead of simply playing the next shot...
you begin thinking about protecting your lead.
Protecting your score.
Protecting the cut.
Protecting your chance to win.
Without realizing it, your intention has changed.
You're no longer trying to produce your best golf.
You're trying to avoid losing what you've worked so hard to earn.
By the end of the round, you're left wondering:
"Why do I always seem to play worse when I'm in contention?"
Most players assume their swing suddenly let them down.
But before changing your swing, ask yourself a different question.
Did your golf swing suddenly disappear...or did the way you approached the next shot begin to change?
Why This Happens
The problem usually isn't that your swing suddenly stops working.
After years of competing on the LPGA Tour and coaching players, I've noticed something much more consistent.
The swings that get players into contention are usually capable of finishing the job.
What changes first is often not the swing itself.
It's the player's intention.
Early in the round, your focus is on executing one shot at a time. You're committed to your target, trusting your routine, and allowing your swing to do what it's been trained to do.
Then you realize what's at stake.
Instead of trying to produce your best golf, you begin trying not to lose what you've earned.
You start protecting your lead.
Protecting your score.
Protecting the cut.
Protecting your opportunity.
That subtle change in intention often changes your behavior.
You may guide the club instead of swinging freely.
You may become more careful with club selection.
You may hesitate over the ball.
You may steer putts instead of rolling them with confidence.
To you, it feels like your swing suddenly disappeared.
The swing usually isn't the first thing that changed.
The process that got you into contention was quietly replaced by one designed to protect the outcome.
What the Research Shows
Research has consistently shown that skilled performance often changes when athletes shift their attention away from executing the task and toward the importance of the outcome. As the consequences of success or failure increase, attention can become directed toward protecting the result rather than simply performing the next action. This shift in attention has been associated with changes in movement execution and decreases in skilled performance under pressure.
Research: Gray, R. (2011). Attending to the Execution of a Complex Sensorimotor Skill: Expertise Differences, Choking, and Slumps. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(2), 104–107. • Schücker, L., Hagemann, N., & Strauss, B. (2013). Attentional Processes and Motor Performance Under Pressure. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. • Exercise & Sports Science Australia. (2026). Position Statement: Performance Under Pressure.
Continue Learning
If this article sounds familiar, you may also benefit from reading:
Why Do I Freeze Over the Golf Ball?
Why Can't I Pull the Trigger?
Why Can't I Finish a Tournament?
Why Do I Become a Different Player Under Pressure?
For a complete explanation of why skilled tournament players experience these changes, read: