By: Paul Monahan, Graves Golf Mental Game Coach
Note: Two years ago, following a week at the Alumni Camp in Orlando, I wrote about how we have opportunities all around us to practice tuning-up our mental game. As you get back on the course in more normal settings over the next few weeks – wherever you are – keep in mind that there are LOTS of opportunities to strengthen your mental game:
Just had a great week in Orlando at the GGA 5-Day Alumni Camp.
It was a fun week of learning, instruction, growth, as well as some great conversation about what it takes to perform at a high level.
My job at the camp last week was to help the attendees to expand their awareness of the mental and emotional dynamics that allow them to show up at their best.
Said a little differently, I was there to help them learn how to tune into their energetic presence…the mix of physical, mental emotional and other elements that merge to form what I refer to as performance energy.
I believe that the key to performing at your best consistently over time is to build awareness of self… and a knowledge of how the things around you are impacting your thoughts.
How does the experience of standing on the first tee with an audience of other golfers watching you impact your ability to access your skills? Does it make you feel nervous? And if it does, can you identify the actual thinking that produces that nervousness?
If you can identify the thinking, then you are well on your way toward increased awareness. And then you can do something about thoughts that are unproductive, versus ideas that are supportive of your efforts, goals, objectives…etc.
For example, you might realize that you are nervous because you don’t want to be embarrassed by duffing your tee ball into the woods. You don’t want the harsh judgment of others. Understandable.
But what’s another way to look at that? Perhaps all the guys behind you want nothing better than to see you hit it well. They too are capable of hitting it into the woods – by in their minds, they are behind you, pulling for you to hit a great shot.
Or perhaps, they don’t care that much at all. So then you can forget about all that worry and anxiety. After all, it’s just misplaced energy.
All that is left, then is for you to step up and hit it where you want to. (And accept that you can handle the results…no matter where the ball goes.)
We talked a lot last week about increasing awareness of what is happening on the golf course to play better golf.
But here’s the interesting thing: you can practice increasing your awareness all day long, anywhere you go. In traffic. At work. In your interactions with colleagues or those closest to you. There are opportunities ALL DAY LONG to tune into the thought patterns that are driving how you interpret your experiences.
My message to the group last week is the same message I give you here: if you want to improve how you play on the golf course, practice growing your awareness of self in every moment you can. Not just on the golf course, putting green, or during play, but in every situation you experience.
Try it this week. You will be surprised at how easy it is.
The opportunities are everywhere.
