Your Inner Golfer

A friend of mine told me this story and was then kind enough to write it up for posting. I hope you all enjoy it. GK.

There is nothing that will throw a golfer out of their rhythm like incessantly waiting for ten (or more) minutes to tee off on each hole. Even with the sportiest of rangers and the scientific spacing of groups, it only takes one slow player to disturb the pace for everyone unfortunate enough to get stuck behind the train wreck. I’ll try to limit my use of expletives, so let’s just say that waiting on each tee makes me a bit ‘agitated’, and my score almost always takes a nosedive when conditions are slow. Considering the fact that crowding on the golf course is not likely to improve, I knew I needed a way to turn my frustrations from waiting into something positive, but what was I to do?

Luckily for me, fate intervened and answered my question. I was partnered up with an eccentric teenage player for an excessively slow round on a suburban Chicago course, and he has come up with a unique way to keep himself in the right frame of mind during waits on every tee. Whenever we got stuck near a pond or lake, he would break out this telescopic fishing rod and make some casts. He had permission from the course staff, although they found it quite an odd request. At first, I thought that this kid was just going through the motions, but on the fifth tee, I realized that he was more serious about fishing than he was about golf.

Continue reading Fishing on the Golf Course: A diversion worth consideration? »»

It always amazes me when I think about the different emotions I experience at the end of a round of golf. Most days, I am in a celebratory mood when I enter the “19th Hole” for a cold beer and camaraderie, as I just successfully made it through another 18 holes. Still, there are the times when I really feel down or downright angry after a round of golf, and overall bad play isn’t usually the cause of my disdain – I am used to floundering. Rather, I just cannot stand it when I don’t take advantage of chances to reach personal benchmarks.

Many years ago, just about the time I came to grips with the fact that professional golf was not in my future, I can recall a round that still burns me to this day. Perhaps there was something ‘extra’ in my morning Cheerios, because I was hitting irons flush all day. Never have I felt in such control, and I was nailing every shot under 150 yards to within five to ten feet of the pin. You would think that I would have been thrilled to taste just a bit of greatness, but instead, I could not take my mind off of the fact that my driving was atrocious, and I only made one putt after an approach all afternoon. By the 18th hole, I knew I would most likely make another bogey, which I did, and by the 19th Hole, I was ready to drown my frustrations.

Continue reading The 19th Hole: Celebration or Commiseration? »»

Do you remember the joy you felt when you first made the green of a long par 5 with your second shot? I can clearly remember that moment as it happened after I had spent about 10 minutes searching for my ball in the rough around the green—where I expected my ball would be based on past experience.

I was just about to call my ball lost when I noticed my golf partner pointing and laughing to himself. I was on the green in 2. It was a great moment for me. I don’t know about you, but the only thing better than that feeling would be the ability to make shots like that expecting them to end up on the green rather than anyplace but.

Continue reading The Golfer of Your Dreams: Can It Be…You? »»

To understand how visualization actually works in the mind, it is important to get a solid grasp on how the mind uses images. Visualization creates a connection between the mental world, the physical world and the emotional world. A person’s mind is extremely powerful and complex, but it is not critical to have a high level of biological training to get visualization to work. Rather, visualization and the use of guided imagery evens out natural imbalances in the brain that allow us to feel in complete control of our mental being.

The mind processes every behavior, memory, or action in terms of images. If we want to remember a vacation that was taken as a child, the mind replays, through images, the sequence of events that we are wanting to recall. A person almost never recounts anything through the use of words. When someone dwells on the causes of certain actions, there is a cumulative effect in the way that the mind reacts and that can lead to negative responses. Visualization effectively ends this cycle and allows someone to gain positive reinforcement based on those images.

Continue reading How Does Visualization Work? »»

University studies conclusively prove that visualization works on several levels, and the fact that many of the world’s top athletes espouse the benefits of visualization further displays its enormous power. The reason that visualization used in conjunction with self-hypnosis and guided imagery is so popular amongst today’s athletes is because the techniques produce the desired results.

Visualization is not only effective at preparing an athlete mentally to be their best; it is also very useful at confronting specific shortcomings in one’s performance and provides a way for them to improve. Because the game of golf is more of a mental than physical pursuit, visualization is an extremely effective tool for professional golfers who are seemingly always at the top of their game.

 Tiger Woods world-wide fame can be compared to that of Michael Jordan’s during his hey-day, and this is because his accomplishments are nothing short of spectacular. He started his pro career with an unprecedented 12-stroke win at The Masters, and more than ten years later he continues to reach new heights.

Continue reading Why Use Visualization? »»