Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course – the distance between your ears. ~Bobby Jones
The game of golf, just like in the game of life, has a huge mental aspect at play in the way that we see ourselves playing and performing. If you look around and see the things that people do like become lawyers, become authors, etc, you’ll find that everyone who has done something great has had some sort of positive thought that they “CAN” do what they are doing. And, if you want to improve your golf game it’s the best place to start.
In order for you to understand the mental aspect of golf, you will really need to see how you and others have accomplished anything in the past. Think about the last time that you fixed something in your home, that you made something out of nothing, or that you did anything that was out of the normal. I’m pretty sure that in your mind you were motivated to do it and you saw yourself being able to accomplish it. Well, this is the same thing that you have to do in the game of golf.
Visualize, Visualize Visualize…
The mental aspect of golf is just like the mental aspect of anything else that we decide to do, so you should do this with your golf game. You need to visualize yourself improving your golf skills, you need to visualize yourself playing better and scoring the way you want to. Start conditioning your mind to believe that you will be a great golfer and you can do it all. No doubt you have a lot of things going on in your life right now, who doesn’t? But you’ll need to put those things aside and visualize yourself playing the way you know that you can. Any distractions that we have can definitely affect us in our game. If we can’t push those things aside we’ll have that in the forefront of our mind and it will not let us visualize playing at the top of our game.
Even Tiger…
Take a look at Tiger Woods; he was definitely affected by his circumstances in his life. Although he is the best golfer in the game, he had to put his game on hold until he was able to see himself playing golf again. He’s back now and playing in the US Open but is he the same golfer that he was before? He’s still dealing with a lot of issues and I’m not sure that he’s able to focus the way he needs to in order to compete with the greatest players on earth.
Think Positive…
So, it’s vital that you are able to clear your mind and really visualize yourself making the shot. Even when you are not on the golf course, play a practice round in your head. It will definately help you the next time you’re on the course. When you are on the course and getting ready to swing, visualize yourself making the shot and sending the ball right where you need it. Although it is extremely important to focus on your golf swing, it is more important to focus on the shot. Position your body, relax your arms, and concentrate on the shot and try not to dwell on anything negative while you are out on the course.
