05 Jan Positive Thoughts Equals Better Results
When golfers come to me for instruction, the first thing I always find out is what their intention/focus is during our time together. Once that is established, I also find out what the strong points are to their game as well.
Let’s say you don’t hit your fairway woods like you want, but you hit your irons great. I will ask you to hit your irons first so that I can see what it is you do well with them. I can then compare your fairway wood swing to see if there are differences.
Sometimes there are no differences; the setup, the grip, the alignment and even the swing are all the same. Then why can you hit the irons so well and the fairway woods not so good?
I was listening to Joel Olsteen on TV the other day and he mentioned that many of us don’t remember our strengths but instead we dwell on our defeats. I took this a step further and decided to apply this to golf.
In the above scenario, the memories of good shots are all related to your irons and the memories of your bad shots are related to your fairway woods. Even when there are no distinguishable differences between shots, your focus is on the shots you cannot hit.
Great golfers, when they practice, always start with the shots they do well. This creates a level of confidence that will transfer to the shots they struggle with. They then go back and forth between clubs until they build up their confidence with all shots.
The other thing you must change in your golf game is your voice. I hear many students say “I can’t hit my fairway woods”. When you keep acknowledging out loud that you cannot do something you will keep struggling with those shots. Change your voice. Be more positive and realize your game is not defined by your struggles.
I remember an interview I heard one time with Jack Nicklaus after a round of golf where he had “shanked” a shot during the round. He was asked about the shot and he replied that he did not remember what they were talking about. He had already erased that memory and replaced it with talking about what he did well.
That is a valuable lesson to learn from one of the greatest players to ever play the game of golf!