Positive Thinking in Golf
20th June, 2009
Your mind does not need to be your biggest handicap. There are many mental skills relating to golf which everybody can learn with a little bit of help from golf hypnosis.
Your mind doesn't need to be your biggest handicap! In my last article post I discussed the power of suggestion and how we can unintentionally use suggestion in a negative way. Once you work out how to control your thoughts, and overcome sometimes unconscious negative thought patterns, your golf will reach a far higher level. As well as removing negative thoughts, you can also choose to fill your mind with positive expectations, as demonstrated by this Jack Nicklaus quote:-
"I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in focus picture of it in my head. It's like a color movie. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade out and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality."
This quote, from one of the greatest golfers, sums up the mental focus and consistent attitude necessary to play great golf. I'd like to outline some of the basic mental golf skills that can be learned by EVERY golfer, so as to ensure that your mind is not your biggest handicap. It has been shown that the link between confidence and performance is a direct relationship - the greater the confidence, the greater the performance. It is all too easy to dwell on past failures. But this creates a negative performance next time. You can learn how to remember successes, to recall and relive them and to feel the confidence and drive from these times and to draw upon the components of success and transfer them to your future performance.
"The prime causes of error are within the mind - doubt, tension and a lack of concentration cause more errors than ignorance of mechanics" MICHAEL MURPHY 1975
Some golfer's problem may be that they perform well in practice, but get too nervous in competition. The difference between anxiety and excitement is very slight and you can be shown ways of channeling any anxiety into positive motivation and energy, so as to lift performance up to a higher level.
"To control the ball - a golfer must first learn to control himself" JOHN STUART MARTIN
Many people are distracted by some aspect of the environment in which they perform. You can be assisted in learning how to focus, really focus, to achieve a tunnel of concentration and mental fixation, so that any unnecessary element takes a back seat and no longer interferes with performance.
"The busier you keep yourself with the particulars of the shot at hand – the less room there is for negative thoughts" JACK NICKLAUS 1979
Some people don't achieve their maximum potential simply because they don't set goals for themselves. They just turn up and "see how it goes". With this type of approach the result is, needless to say, haphazard! It is hugely important in sport to set realistic goals for yourself and stage goals between now and the end goal. But just thinking about that goal is not enough. You can learn how to visualize your goal, to really feel it happening now and to program it into your future reality.
"Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the only thing that insures the outcome of our ventures - both successful and unsuccessful" WILLIAM JONES
Visualization is a hugely important part of successful sport. If someone is truly visualizing themselves in some physical activity, research has shown that the brain impulses to the muscles involved actually take place and some minute stimuli of the muscles occurs during visualization. Hence one is not only communicating mentally but establishing a physical "memory" too (Richardson "Psycho Neuromuscular Theory" 1967), a memory which is drawn upon when you are next on the golf course.
"The one influence most likely to assure a satisfactory progression of the swing is the clear visualization in the players mind of movements. This can do more for a player than anything else he can possibly do" BOBBY JONES
You can learn ways to change patterns of negative self-talk, so that you not only overcome their limiting effect, but replace it with hugely positive and motivating inner dialogue. Additionally you can learn how to create connections between "trigger words" and a desired state of concentration and focus, so as to anchor that feeling and employ it whenever you want to. Even if someone has reached a feeling of “burn out” this too can be overcome.
"When you walk to your ball between shots keep your head up, look around and be observant. In the jungle animals who keep their heads down get eaten" JACKIE BURKE jnr.
Golf is an incredibly "mental" game. Thus any serious golfer must learn how the mind works, how to focus, how to overcome self-doubt, how to change destructive habits and patterns of behavior...in short, how to overcome mental obstacles and to succeed, to win; to put your knowledge and ability into practice with consistency and to push past internal barriers.
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are probably right" HENRY FORD
At the very least, every golfer should be aware of certain basic mental skills that they can learn so as to make the game easier - the skills of belief, trust and focus, the ability to access a state of relaxed concentration at will, to overcome worries and fears. I’m sure everyone would agree that golf becomes significantly easier when you believe in yourself and your ability, when you have confidence rather than just trying, when you’re able to narrow your focus and concentrate on the task in hand and avoid lapses of concentration and negative thoughts.
"Fears have no place in the now. They can only exist in the future, yet when we arrive in the future it simply becomes the now. Fears have no place in the now..." RICHARD WILKINS
Any golfer can learn to overcome the negative effects of tension, distraction, negative flashbacks, over-thinking, over-analyzing their swing, thinking about what others are thinking and worrying in general.
"A golfer cannot score as well as possible if he is thinking about swing mechanics as he plays" BOB ROTELLA
In golf, the slow pace of the game provides time to worry, to interfere with the smooth automatic processing of your swing, to think about what you don't want to happen, rather than what you are meant to be doing. And the most basic, most essential thing in this game is to keep your mind focused on what you want to happen, not on what you don’t. Whatever you focus on will happen. The most essential thing in golf is your mental game.
"The psychology of golf goes a step further than course management. It entails mental toughness, self confidence, intimidation, gamesmanship, conquering inner demons, instant recall of past successes and being able to quickly purge failures. It is the game within the game". TIGER WOODS
Golf is a game, and should be fun. No-one plays golf perfectly, not even Tiger Woods or Ernie Els or whoever else is, or has been, at the top of the game. It's a game where mistakes are made, frequently...and no wonder...when you think about the size of the ball, length of club, and the distance the ball travels...just a whisker of a change in club face application can create a massive difference in where and how the ball travels. So this game is also a game of accepting mistakes and errors. And a mistake is only a mistake if you see it that way. It could alternatively be seen as an opportunity to learn.
"Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you" ALDOUS HUXLEY
All golfers may have beliefs about whether they are good or not at sport, or golf, or good or not at learning - but these are just beliefs, nothing more. There is no need to be held back by limiting beliefs. You can choose to change beliefs no matter how deep rooted they are. Everyone has a body and a mind that has a similar physiology and neurology to the best golfers in the world. Athletic literature is full of examples of athletes who have excelled because of their internal desire, rather than the physical attributes such as size, strength, power or speed. There are tall golfers and short golfers, male and female golfers, young and old golfers. It is not age or body shape that prescribes ability. It is your mind that makes the difference.
"Your thoughts create your actions. You create your thoughts" RICHARD WILKINS
Everybody has the ability to play golf well. How good they get will depend on their commitment. When one scrutinizes the training and preparation habits of great golfers, and all great athletes, it is clear that what is required is a combination of physical ability and a desire to be the very best. It all depends on personal choice - each person can be as good as they want to be.
"Our life is what our thoughts make it" MARCUS AURELIUS
How many times have you heard it said that good golf is 90% in the mind? How many times have you described a golfing problem as a "mental block"? If you yourself recognize it as a mental block then the first step is to learn how to think about your problem in a different way. Remember thoughts create emotions, which in turn direct your actions.
Everything in life depends on how you think about it, not just your golf. You can learn to choose your thoughts, and therefore control the outcome of them. It just takes a little time and practice - but the results will be truly AMAZING.
"All the difference will not make the way you think; yet the way you think will make all the difference" RICHARD WILKINS
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