Successful athletes, including successful golfers, are confident. Confidence is developed over time through a combination of positive thinking and success experiences. Confident golfers consistently use constructive thinking to hang on to and benefit from their successes and to minimize their less successful experiences. Confidence is what allows us to let go and trust our swing.

 

The game of golf involves setbacks, obstacles, and disappointments – to which the successful golfer learns to respond optimistically to retain confidence. Errors should be treated as temporary and tied to that one shot, one hole, or one round, and as atypical of your potential. View successes as permanent and indicative of your true ability.

 

Confident golfers think they can. They use positive self-talk and positive imagery to focus on positive performance rather than worrying about past or future poor performance or the possible negative outcome of a poor shot. The hallmark of the successful golfer is a focus on the positive aspects of his/her game even in the face of setbacks. This builds confidence, which, in turn, programs the golfer for success on the course.  For example, few golfers enjoy playing in the rain. If it is raining, rather than telling yourself how poorly you play in the rain, think to yourself that you can hit the ball in the rain as well as the next guy/gal.

 

Golfers can control their thoughts. They can use positive self-talk to build confidence and enhance performance. Successful golfers learn to replace negative self-defeating thoughts with positive, confident ones, and with expectations for success. Building confidence requires a conscious effort to stop negative self-talk and negative memories, and to replace these with positive self-talk focusing on what the golfer can do and what is right about the situation.  Next time you are out for a round of golf, put 15-20 tees (or ball markers) in your right pocket. Each time you catch yourself engaging in a negative thought (e.g., “What a terrible lie.” “I can’t hit out of the sand.” “That shot blew the whole round.”), move a tee to the left pocket. At the end of the round, the number of tees in the left pocket will let you know how often these destructive thoughts are hindering your game.  Learn to recognize this negative self-talk and replace it with positive self-talk. For example, “ I don’t like to hit out of the sand, but I have done it before and I can do it now.”

 

Golfers do think about their game. Successful golfers learn to control their self-talk and eliminate negative thoughts that disrupt their performance. It is not thinking that disrupts performance, but negative thinking. Doubt and negativity lead to hesitation and an inability to trust your swing. Virtually every teaching pro will tell you that after you set up and complete your pre-shot routing, you need to stop thinking and trust your swing. Positive self-talk will build the confidence that will enable you to have that trust. Learn to replace negative thoughts with positive self-talk to build confidence and improve your game.

 

© Dr. Betsy Shoenfelt, a Professor of Psychology at Western Kentucky University, is a Certified Sport Psychology Consultant, a Member of the United States Olympic Registry of Sport Psychologists, and a member of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association. Her previous Golfer’s Tee Times columns (e.g., Self-Talk) may be found on her web page in the WKU website: www.wku.edu