To play great golf you need a lot of things to go your way. The game is scientifically quite difficult – it’s so complicated that it is impossible to control every part of your golf swing. You only need to be a little out and the ball will miss its target by a long way.
The good news is your natural learning system is perfectly capable of performing a golf swing. Compared to many other things we do day to day, the golf swing is actually quite easy.
Mental interruptions are the learning system’s short circuit. By getting in the way you destroy any chance of letting your system do what it does best.
If you don’t know which interruptions are holding you back then the game really does become impossible. Here are three interruptions that you may need to deal with if you want to improve your play.
Self-doubt
Self-doubt is horrible. It kills confidence and enthusiasm and makes the game harder than it needs to be.
A golfer that doubts himself will make poor decisions and never fully express himself. His game will be stuck in second gear and rarely will it leave it.
Self-doubt can be difficult to diagnose. Its effects are subtle and can feel quite normal after playing this way for some time. A golfer that doubts himself will;
- Get overly nervous
- Make poor decisions
- Will lack conviction in decision making
- Have trouble taking his game from the practice tee to the first tee
- Will play worse under pressure, not better
- Think golf is difficult and hard work
Self-doubt is a sure game wrecker and needs to be hit on the head early. The best golf game can be ruined and stifled by a dose of self-doubt. Self-doubt is not as bad as fear, but it often leads down this path if it isn’t addressed.
Noise
Noise can come in two ways. You can be distracted by internal or external noise. Although external noise can be distracting (like someone talking) it’s the internal noise that’s the big problem.
Continual internal chatter is not a good thing. Whether it’s your inner voice telling you how to play (like swing slowly) or making sure you understand how bad you are (after you’ve just made your fifth mistake in a row), it has no positive effect on your game.
Internal noise distracts you from the job at hand and keeps your mind spinning. The plethora of golf instruction only adds to the noise. Golfers need a way of reducing noise, not adding to it.
A clear mind is a powerful thing. When you understand the clarity and conviction that comes from a “noise free” zone, you’ll get better, not worse.
Fear
Fear is the big daddy. It ruins golf and rarely can anyone play decent golf when their mind has been invaded by fear.
I’ve seen grown men riddled with fear and seen their golf game reduced to nothing more than a distressing hit and hope affair.
Fear is the next progression from self-doubt – similar but only much worse. A golfer playing with fear can only display a fraction of his true potential. Success will be rare and golf becomes some sort of weird obsession that probably does more harm than good.
You know you’re playing with fear when you experience some, or all of the following;
- Extreme nervousness
- Nausea
- Major anxiety
- The yips
- Complete helplessness
- Find golf exhausting
- Always waiting for a bad shot to happen
- Shaking
- Dreading the opening tee shot – or the last
- Thoughts dominated by golf problems
- Rarely enjoy a game of golf
- Playing on the edge – always a few shots away from losing the plot
Fear is obviously not good. But it can be beaten and a fun, friendly and successful game restored.
Seven Golden Nuggets To Help You Blast Away Interruptions – Starting Right Now!
In the next section we’re going to go deeper:
I’m going to give you seven golden nuggets – powerful lessons that I have used to eliminate distractions in my game and those of my clients.
I’ll just say that this is an overview. There’s not enough room to cover everything that I use to help golfers unlock their potential and remove those hideous distractions.
So this is just the first step – the beginning of some huge breakthroughs in learning, playing better golf and finding the most fun possible on the golf course.
Finally, in the next few pages I’m going to show you how to vaporize these interruptions and plant a seed of success that will ultimately give you the results you know you deserve.
Let’s go!