Your
Greatest Enemy
On The Course
One
of the most frustratingly
powerful negative forces
in golf is unconscious
sabotage. Unconscious
sabotage (in golf psychology),
is caused by the mind
sending negative 'signals'
for the body to follow
during the swing on particular
shots.
This
is caused by negative beliefs
(brought on by a regularly
dwelled-upon negative
thought) which can cause
a golfer to 'self-destruct'
during the pressure of
a round, through making
a host of major and uncharacteristic
errors that may never
happen during
practice. A negative belief
often causes recurring
problems which
can often last long periods
of time if not overcome
quickly (eg. first tee
nerves, yips, shot difficulties,
etc) - and these can be
anything within the realms
of golf - from a recurring
slice or draw, to losing
concentration on the back
nine. When
this happens, there is
very little you can consciously
do to overcome it during
the actual round,
as this problem is not
conscious, it's sub-conscious
(or below our normal conscious
awareness).
Generally
the best way to prevent
it is to stop
it happening in the first
place.
Self-sabotage occurs when
your subconscious mind
has accepted a negative
thought, which creates
a new mental 'blueprint'
for your body to follow
on particular shots from
then on. For instance,
one particularly bad 1st
tee shot - if dwelled
upon for
too long - can create a
mental program which will
ensure the player repeats
this problem over and over
again, regardless of the
course. This can go on
until the mental program
is finally overcome and
reversed.
This
is unconscious sabotage,
and it can become a recurring
habit over
time if not watched carefully. I
have come across many
golfers who had been
going through this for
years, before we made
the mental changes necessary
to break the pattern.
Classic
signs of this can also
be a severe
loss of confidence in
your own ability (which
is often especially localised
to particular shots).
This sabotage is generally
brought about if you allow
your mind to focus for
too long upon failure and
all the things that can go
wrong - as this sets up
a powerful blueprint for
the body to follow, especially
during the pressure of
competition.
The
good news is that your
subconscious mind is
programmed by your everyday
conscious thoughts -
so this mean that you
actually have control
over what goes IN to
your subconscious. You
have the right to CHOOSE
whether you are going
to dwell
upon your
successes or your failures
- and this choice separates
the winners from the
rest.
Probably
the most effective way
to avoid self-sabotage
is to generally avoid negative
thoughts in the first place
- which prevents negative
beliefs from forming in
the first place. Choose
to completely disregard
momentary doubts and negative
thoughts (permit them,
but ignore them),
and focus purely on what
you want to do - or better
still, what you are GOING
to do.
Remember
- what you choose to
focus upon, expands. Ensure
you choose every thought
wisely during your round
- choose thoughts of
strength, confidence,
consistency and motivation.
Your thoughts become
your habits, and your
habits become your results.
If
you are experiencing regular
self-sabotage, it takes
a steady diet of daily
visualization, affirmations
and positive thoughts on
a daily basis until the
results begin to turn around
- for more info on this
you can also go to Visualization
, Affirmations and Handling
Negative Thoughts.
Otherwise, remember that
prevention is always the
best cure when on the course!
"The
Mind controls the body,
and the mind is unlimited".
The best of success, Craig Townsend
