How to Correct a Bad Start
Your A-game isn’t with you this weekend despite all the practice you put in right after work. It’s extremely frustrating to think that all those hours you’ve spent perfecting your shots just go down the drain. But your form, technique and skill aren’t the only things affecting your golf. It’s also your mindset.
Dr. Brett has made clear that the mental game makes up about 70% of the golf game. If your mind isn’t ready for the game, you’re going to find trouble. Make sure you are on the right mindset by knowing where your mental game gets flawed.
Your Bad Round Started With High Expectations
Let’s continue the story. This week, you put in time in the course to perfect your golf swing. You found you’ve resolved the issue this week with a winning swing that your peers cheered you on about. That can make anybody anticipate that they’re going to do well for the upcoming game this week.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Instead of being able to help you concentrate, it frustrates you. When you have high expectations from yourself, we all know that’s not going to help.
Be Aware of Self Talk
You see self-talk happening even with pro-PGA players. You see Tiger Woods calling out his name with a frustrating shot. Off-microphone, even Rory McIlroy tells himself that he just needs to birdie one golf ball to win the round.
While in some instances self-talk does succeed, oftentimes, it’s also frustrating. Expecting something out of your skill makes you forget about how to do your skill. This also paralyzes and unintentionally refreshes your muscle memory, which tend to forget the perfect form you need to make a swing for your desired shot.
Call Your Shots
When calling your shot, tell yourself this is what you need to do. Focus on the action and not the goal of earning a birdie. Set yourself for a lower score expectation when making your shot. The more loose and open your mind along with your focus on your skill, you can create a winning shot. It is a shot that is purely skill because you focused on skill and not the outcome.
Calling the shots just means you should just enjoy the game rather than worrying about the outcome. After all, golf should be fun.
