|
It never
ceases to amaze me how many of my students arrive for their
lesson and the first thing out of their mouth is a woeful
tale about how bad they played the other day. They just couldn't
quit hitting a certain shot - a chunk or shank or some such
horror. As if I don't believe it could be that bad, they proceed
to demonstrate for me the very same thing, one shot after
another. I stand in awe of the power of the mind in those
circumstances. They are so focused on their little nightmare
shot that they just make it happen seemingly at will.
I call
this a self-fulfilling prophecy and we humans pepper our lives
with this behavior, on and off the course. We worry about
something to the extent that we cause it to happen. Think
about it, have you ever been playing along, minding your own
business and somebody mentions the s-word; you know shank?
The next thing you know, out of the blue you shank one. There's
no mistaking that sickening thud of the ball as it scoots
sideways off the hosel of the club. It has happened to every
golfer in existence. The amusing thing is we are so afraid
of this nauseating shot that we won't even say the word shank.
Instead we refer to it as the s-word. As if saying "S"
instead of shank will ward off the evil power that overtakes
us and causes us to hit that shot.
Self-fulfilling
prophecy - dwell on something and it magically appears. Did
it ever occur to us that we could dwell on something good
and have it magically appear too?
Many of
you are familiar with my little saying "busy yourself
with what you want to do, not what you don't want to do."
There is absolutely nothing constructive in worrying about
all the things that can go wrong. Doesn't it make more sense
to focus on creating something that pleases us rather than
aggravates us? I'm not just talking about positive thinking
here. This is active involvement in building the kind of golf
game and life that you want to have. It really is very simple,
but it takes discipline and practice to quit thinking about
the stuff we worry about on a day to day basis and replace
it with productive thoughts and actions.
So the
next time you stand on the tee and start worrying about all
the things that could go wrong or somebody mentions the s-word,
just laugh about how fickle you are and tell yourself you
are not going to fall into the same old trap this time. Then
use the power of your mind to your advantage not your downfall.
I promise you; it works. Good Luck and have fun!
©
Melissa Whitmire - Golf Instruction Simplified
Other
Articles by Melissa Whitmire
The
Best Golf Season of Your Life
How
to Get What You Want For Your Game
If
you enjoyed these articles and would like to read more, The
Collection of Golf Articles by Melissa Whitmire
is available for sale.
Learn
about Happiness in Golf
and Positive Strokes
opportunities for you!
|
