The mental game in golf is often underestimated, yet mastering it can unlock your full potential on the course. Hall of Famer Yogi Berra said, “90% of the game is mental, and the other 10% is in your head.” (Maybe more so in golf).
How does a golfer make the final summit in the quest to shoot par? It won’t happen without an excellent understanding of the mind, body, swing, emotions, and most of all, the limiting (shadow) beliefs we all have. How does a golfer silence that little voice within who always speaks at the wrong time?
The Role of Mindset in the Mental Game in Golf
“What am I pretending not to know?” is a good question to ask to help reveal limiting beliefs for all golfers. It is true that golf is better learned while we are young. Besides the body aging, the older we get, the more fixed we become in our ways, especially our mind. It loves its comfort zone and runs on autopilot the majority of the time.
Research says we have ~60-80,000 thoughts per day and make ~20,000 decisions per day, mostly automatic. Research also shows that by the time we hit 35, our decision-making patterns, the lens we look at life through, have been firmly established and are predictable for the rest of our days. That is, unless we do ‘The Work.’
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs to Master the Mental Game in Golf
Here’s where sports psychologists, qualified life coaches, and therapists come in. They help us get ‘The Work’ done so we can navigate our way to releasing the scratch (or better) golfer within. Rest assured; this is no DIY job. As Albert Einstein said, “You won’t solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it.”
If you have made it to single-digit golf and want to go lower, periodic examination of all your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) is a great move. The key is to be honest and to hear your real truth. You want your decision-making to be powerful, not predictable. A great time for this is before spring arrives, before golf gets in high gear.
Emotional Management: The Key to the Mental Game in Golf
Mindset has everything to do with great golf. Gone are the hot-headed golfers hurling clubs into trees and stomping off the golf course in fits of anger. Lynn Marriott, a mentor of mine and legendary coach, is famous for saying “Anger makes you dumb.” Emotional management ranks as high as a solid repeatable swing.
The set of limiting beliefs we carry around with us were picked up in childhood, and they impact us until we learn how to recognize them and take steps to neutralize or dissolve them. It’s like carrying around a 50-pound backpack full of old and outdated beliefs on our back.
Breaking Free from Shadow Beliefs
Our limiting beliefs (shadow beliefs) act up when we are threatened, revealing our underlying commitment to safety, avoiding conflict, unworthiness, or being an imposter. When we’re golfing, we produce abnormal amounts of adrenaline and cortisol, our heart races, our breath shortens, we tense up, and our round is ruined.
The mental game in golf requires recognizing these patterns and consciously choosing to react differently. A great tip for reclaiming our healthy state of being is to think of something funny and say something like “I’m not falling for that old outdated stinky fear response.”
Mindset Practices for a Better Mental Game in Golf
Repeat a favorite affirmation to yourself like “I love golf, and golf loves me. I am happy right here, right now.” Change your energy by skipping a bit instead of walking, and take several slow mindful breaths focusing on equanimity before your next shot. Beating up on ourselves doesn’t help.
Pretending not to know can be replaced with remembering who you are—whole and complete, deserving of finishing in first place in whatever you do. If the idea of winning or finishing first triggers you, you can be assured there is a shadow belief and an underlying commitment in play.
Mastering the Mental Game in Golf with Professional Help
A PGA or LPGA Golf Professional is essential for developing the physical and technical sides of your game. Nowadays, many will admit that having a mental coach, qualified life coach, or therapist can help all golfers recognize and illuminate underlying commitments and shadow beliefs.
Escaping the impact of fear and feeling great about crossing the finish line in first position is very fulfilling indeed.
Ready to Master the Mental Game in Golf?
What’s stopping you from playing better? Hint, you just heard a shadow belief.
Be clear, be brave, and play!
Coach Karyn
