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Recreational golfers’ performance on the course worsens when they use their smartphones for work-related activities but their devices don’t affect their game when used for personal reasons, a study showed.
The findings are contained in a peer-reviewed study by the Cognition and Technology Research Group at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, which tallied responses from 186 recreational golfers at five different clubs in the nation who played in mid-week competitions.
The study gauged players’ performance, enjoyment of the round, and smartphone usage during play.
It attributed the different outcomes to attention residue, or how the content of an email or a conversation remains in people’s minds even after they put their phones away.
“It is likely that these lingering thoughts make it difficult for golfers to focus clearly during shot routines,” said Daniël le Roux, the lead researcher on the study.
“Work-related communications seem to generate more attention residue than other forms of smartphone use,”
To avoid such distractions, the study suggests golfers should identify which smartphone activities disrupt their focus during shots and generate high levels of attention residue and develop strategies that can help avoid them such as blocking certain notifications or setting their phones to silent mode.
Still, the researchers were hesitant to propose that recreational golfers can enhance their performance by abstaining from using their phones when they play.
