How? I hear you say. Well it is possible. My coaching is all about developing Relaxed Concentration as you swing the golf club. This leads to a quiet mind, less thinking. In turn this develops self Trust. You can begin by making a decision to go to the range and hit far fewer balls but hit each one with full focus and concentration. Resist the urge to correct your swing. Trust your body, it knows what to do. You may be surprised at how good your body reacts if you stop doubting it.

It is your mind that needs the work not your body.

Here are two questions for you.

 How do you know when you are really concentrating your mind well?

 How would you go about improving your concentration?

     How do you play in competitions? Does your game stay as free as in rounds with your friends? I’m guessing not. Do you ever play poorly in competitions and head straight for the driving range only to find that you are hitting it fine. Or do you hit it fine on the range before a competition and then lose your swing when it matters? Do you then scratch your head and not know where to look for the answers? Well perhaps you should look inside yourself for the answers.

       Whenever the golf your playing matters more than a casual round, you will have some nervous tension, first in your thoughts, then in your body. Thoughts such as “I need to get off to a good start” or “don’t blow it”. You know what I mean. In response to these thoughts, your body gets tense. Maybe not a lot. Maybe it’s so little that you are unaware of it and this leaves you scratching your head wondering why you cannot swing the golf club the same way as you did on the range earlier. So what creates this tension that can ruin your game? Thoughts. Thoughts from your Ego about wanting to look good, not wanting to mess up, keeping out of trouble, not blowing up, not three putting and on and on. There are two types of destructive thoughts. Craving and Aversion.

  When you really want to play well it is easy to forget that you play your best when you are relaxed and prepared to go for your shots and enjoy yourself. When you obsess over the score some of the enjoyment goes.

So how do you break this stranglehold the Ego’s thoughts can have over you? You can try to be as positive as you like, if you are unaware of the tension then it will control your game. So the best way to play to your potential when you notice tension is to pay more attention to it. I would guess that this is the last thing you are inclined to do but ask yourself if trying to ignore it works? It doesn’t.

Pay attention. Pay attention to the tension in your swing or stroke. Be more aware of what you are experiencing. Listen out for the Ego’s worrisome thoughts. Be aware of how you are playing the game.

        Are you being more defensive or tensing up? Maybe just a little bit? If so smile and let go. In order to win you have to be prepared to raise the bar but also you must be prepared to lower the floor. By that I mean that you must be willing to shoot a high score in order for you to shoot a low score. Accept the possibility of playing poorly to enable yourself to be free enough to play well.

   An indication of tension in the body is the breath. Your breath provides you with a gauge of how tense you are. So pay attention to your breathing. I do not advocate trying to breath correctly or deep breathing. This is just one more thing to try to remember. Simply noticing your breath will allow your body to adjust it. Pay attention to your breath and if it is shallow ask yourself what am I worried about? or what am I craving?

           Being more aware of your nerves allows you to notice how they affect you. If you are angry or disappointed at yourself because you feel nervous then you will be much more affected than if you remain aware and non-judgmental. So you experience the nerves and notice how strong they are, what thoughts go with them how your breathing is and so on. The nerves may not disappear, especially if you are in the mix at the end of a tournament, but you can learn to manage them with your awareness.

 “I think the most important thing to realize about playing under pressure is it doesn’t mean you’re going to play badly; the day I realized that, especially with putting, you know, even though you’re shaking over a putt, doesn’t mean you’re going to hit a bad putt. So it’s nice to feel that heat. It’s what we practice for, you want to be in these situations and it’s important to remember that.”

Justin Rose before his  winning last round at the WGC at Doral last weekend.

When golfers go to the range or practice green and look for something that they can trust in their swing that tells me that they do not trust their swing and since it is them swinging the golf club, they are really saying that they do not trust themselves. Well if you don’t trust yourself on the golf course, who can you trust?

 When you swing the golf club you can practice trusting your swing and yourself. How? By refusing to get into mechanical thinking and focusing your mind on something simple, you are trusting that there is a part of you that knows how to play this shot really well. Call it your intuition, your gut, your True Self, whatever you call it, when you trust yourself to play without accepting your fearful thoughts you have a much better chance of a successful outcome. However, there is a risk involved. Maybe not every shot will come off. But the more you can practice trusting your swing and just playing, the more you allow yourself to enjoy the game and to express yourself. In my experience this leads to good performance.

 You do know that there is a part of you that is perfectly capable of playing the shot don’t you?

  Most of your bad swings occur because you doubt your swing while you are making it. With multiple swing thoughts or any kind of self doubt, you cannot focus your mind and concentrate well and so bad shots occur as a consequence.

  You know you can hit the ball sweetly so why make it complicated. Why not make it simple and stay with it?

  Decide what one thing you will focus on during your swing and stay with it for the entire round come hell or high water. Trust it.

 The amount you are able to trust your swing relates directly to how relaxed you can become on the golf course. When you are relaxed then you can concentrate even better and this is when you reach high levels of performance. 

The alternative is to stand over a shot and to try and remember lots of things in order to swing the club well. In my experience you have already set yourself up for a swing that is surrounded with doubt, anxiety and uncertainty. Playing this way can be very frustrating. Your mind is unsettled and so your body will react accordingly.

 Another way of developing trust in yourself and your golf game is by taking responsibility for your own swing. Many players will have a swing coach tell them what it is that they are doing right and wrong for a lot of the time. There is nothing wrong with this occasionally, however many players start relying on this external feedback and in doing so they become detached from their own swing. Why not spend more time playing around with your own swing, feeling what it is like when you hit it low or high or right or left. You can learn to trust yourself more and learn by your mistakes. This learning is the foundation for trust since it comes from your own direct experience.  

  One thing I know for sure. To play to your potential you must trust yourself. Trust your swing and trust yourself to handle whatever the game of golf throws at you.

  Scientific Studies have been made of random groups of people. The groups consist of worriers and people who are more trusting. The studies found that the trusting people lived happier, healthier and longer lives. It’s a fact, trusting is good for your game and for your life.

What would you have liked to have done differently and why?

What do you need to do to make things happen so that you are successful?

Awareness and Action

Like a blindfolded man who has never learned to drive, sitting behind the wheel of a speeding car on a busy road. He is unlikely to reach his destination without mishap. He may think that he is driving the car, but actually the car is driving him. If he wants to avoid an accident, let alone arrive at his goal, he should remove the blindfold, learn how to operate the vehicle, and steer it out of danger as quickly as possible. Similarly, we must become aware of what we do and then learn to perform actions that will lead us where we really wish to go.

Common sense will tell you that for things to change you would be wise to do something different. Working with me as your Coach for a season is more affordable than you think and may well change the way you practice and play the game, for the better.