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Article: Finding Your Mojo
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Have you ever sat there at the end of a round wondering why your score doesn't seem to improve?
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Your swing is pretty solid and your short game isn't all that bad.
You did the research to
find the right equipment, so your drives are longer and your iron game is a little better. You even feel more confident and comfortable over your putts.
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And yet, every time you add it up it's the same old thing. You seem to be doing a lot of things right but wonder if you'll ever see results.
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Well, if you're truly looking for improvement there's good news and bad news, but luckily it's mostly good.
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On the positive side, you won't need to worry about spending more time honing your swing, worrying about picking up the latest new driver, or taking another rigorous series of lessons.
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And that's because what you probably need to focus on is the gray matter between your ears; the mental game. What Timothy Gallwey calls
The Inner Game of Golf.
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The downside?
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Modifying ingrained habits can take a little time and focus. Ever try sticking to a new resolution like waking up earlier? Establishing a new pattern can seem like a difficult chore. As a Zen practitioner might say, “says easy, does hard”.
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I'll admit that for some of us, the thought of waking up at 4:45 AM can seem like a daunting task. But golf is different. It's fun. And that should make it a little easier to develop a reasonable improvement plan to make it more enjoyable.
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So let's set up some basic guidelines that serve as a road map for that improvement.
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Establishing realistic, achievable goals...
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Raise your hand if you're the kind of person that establishes goals and actually writes them down.
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If your hand is raised you're about 1/3 of way there, so this part should be fairly easy.
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The rest of us not only don't write our goals down, we don't have clear-cut goals.
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If you resist the thought of taking pen to paper and writing down your golf related goals, you really need to change your thinking.
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Writing down your goals is one of the most powerful things you can do to improve your golf game, or any area of your life for that matter.
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The easiest way I've found to make goal setting work is to choose specific, achievable goals that can be quantified easily so it's easy to see progress on paper.
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Review some your recent rounds; if you're looking to improve your putting, take the average over a few rounds. If it was 36, 38 or 40, why not keep track and see if you can better that average by one or maybe two strokes over three rounds. When you achieve that, see if you can better that new average by one more stroke over another three or four round period.
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Maybe you want to hit more fairways, make more sand saves, or hit more greens in regulation. Use the same approach and keep those scorecards to mark your progress.
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In short order you can permanently lower your score by 3 strokes. Not bad considering that most players don't improve their average score at all during the course of a season.
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It's important to make your goals achievable; success breeds success. What you want to do is establish a pattern of success and keep yourself on that positive, upward spiral.
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Replacing old habits...
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The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
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~ Albert Einstein
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Most of us like to think of ourselves as rational beings. Our decisions are based on a cool examination of the facts, so setting reasonable goals and sticking with them should be a slam dunk, right?
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Well, not really. When you come right down to it we're emotional beings that have habitual ways of doing things, some good, some bad.
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Think about it. Anyone that has consistent trouble with three foot putts, or getting a decent drive off the first tee, or becoming a fairly decent bunker player most likely engages in a form of self-sabotage. If you know you have trouble hitting a driver off the first tee, why keep using it? Why not use a three wood or hybrid instead?
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That's not very rational, but I'll admit I've been guilty of the same thoughtless club selection myself. So in order to set some reasonable goals and actually achieve them, a little behavior modification is usually needed.
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Most of us react to certain situations predictably, as if a computer program were running things. Stand on the first tee and that program kicks in. You reach for your driver. That's habit, and habits are done without thinking or pausing to reflect.
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Breaking bad habits may not be easy, but having achievable goals in writing will help you attain small victories over your old conditioning. Once you attain a goal and make sure it sticks, you're in a position to move on.
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Accomplishing specific goals gets you more comfortable with the process breeding confidence and the desire to keep moving froward.
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Consistency and persistence...
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Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence... persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
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~ Calvin Coolidge
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Persistence is the most important, and perhaps only, skill you'll need to make your goals a reality. Without that consistency, old habits take over and your progress stops dead in its tracks.
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Remember, habitual thinking is repetitive behavior. On the course, that habitual thinking usually generates fear. On the first tee, rather then standing there petrified holding your driver, give yourself a break and use a club that instills confidence. Sounds easy, but I see players trying to hit driver all the time with results that aren't pretty.
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With this process, you are establishing new patterns that are repetitive, but patterns you have conscious control over. When you exercise some control, you eliminate negativity, and that removes some fear.
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If you focus on goal setting in a strategic way, you'll take control of your progress and your intended results have a good chance of working themselves out. Since writing your goals down is so important, look for ways to make sure you keep a written record of your progress; it's the cornerstone of your improvement plan.
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It takes some work and focus, but that effort will make you a better, more confident player.
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