Do
you let negativity get to you when playing? If you’re like some of the golfers
in our golf instructions sessions,
you can remember times when you let your negativity get to you… and it cost
you. Many golfers can. That’s because we’ve all done it. Letting negativity
prevail is costly in golf. If only we could play better, we could eliminate the
negativity.
But
eliminating the negativity associated with golf isn’t possible. Golf is hard.
That means there’s going to be a lot of negativity involved. When you miss an
easy shot, you’re going get frustrated, you’re going to feel disgusted with
yourself, maybe even angry. It’s only natural. It’s the agony and the ecstasy
of the sport. It’s something we have to live with if we want to play golf.
To
play your best, then, you must control both the physical AND the mental sides
of your game. Below are 7 ways to solidify your mental game.
1.
Play
instinctively—Thinking
about your
mechanics during your swing is bad. But we all do it. Some of us, however,
do it more than others. Here’s a proven golf
tip for you: Forget about your grip, your arms, your shoulders, and so
on. You can’t think about your swing and swing correctly at the same time.
Instead, play instinctively.
2.
Manage
negative emotions—you
need to manage your negative emotions as much as you need to manage the
course—maybe more. It would be nice if we could eliminate all our negative
emotions but we can’t. So instead we need to control them as best we can. In
other words, you need to forget about the two-footer you missed on the last hole
and hone in on the shot you have now.
3.
Control
your focus—Thinking
about the outcomes of shots only gets you in trouble. It promotes anxiety and
anxiety causes tension. Tension can cause you to mis-hit shots. Instead, focus
on the things you can control, like your pre-shot routine. It will keep you
relaxed.
4.
Trust
your body—you
want to approach each shot with the belief that your body will correct itself
for any mistakes you make. To build self-trust, you need to increase your
awareness by working on staying in the moment and by deciding on your mental
focus for each shot before swinging.
5.
Manage
your attitude—don’t
expect to be positive and confident all the time. No one is—at least not in
golf. It's too hard a sport. So when you find your confidence slipping away,
work hard to get it back. Wallowing in negativity can cost you dozens of
strokes and turn good rounds into bad ones.
6.
Stop
fighting yourself emotionally —when we try to resist something
emotionally, it only makes it worse. In other words, what you resist only
persists. When you try to resist negative emotions, which are a form of energy,
they only intensify. Instead, accept the fact that you will feel things like
fear some of the time while playing golf.
7.
Rehearse
success in advance—Use
emotional visualization techniques to build confidence. Visualization is the
technical term for mentally rehearsing success in advance. See yourself making
that tough putt before actually making it. Doing so not only boosts confidence,
it banishes negativity—the greatest barrier to playing better golf.
These
7 golf tips are just some of the
mental strategies out there. Dozens more exist. While some may work better for
you than others, they are all designed to help you combat the negativity that
comes along with playing golf.
Since you can’t eliminate negativity completely in golf, your best
option is to work hard at controlling it. It’s called managing the mental game.
Savvy golfers know that they need to manage both the course AND the mental game
to play their best. Managing both well can help you cut strokes from both your
average score per round and your golf
handicap. For more information about “swing
plane best aids” and “golf swing
for beginners with drills”
please visit our site no1golfresource.com
