How to Stop Overthinking

November, 2021

Are you  Calm, Confident and Focused when you play or are you negative and critical? If you play golf in a calm, confident and focused state you will have a lot more fun on the course and score better.

1. Do you think about what you want to happen with every shot.

Or

2. Do you think about you don’t want to happen with each shot. Eg: I don’t want to miss this green to the left because it is a difficult up and down. There is OB on the left here so I need to play down the right hand side. Your mind only recognises the key words. Aim high with this putt as it has no chance of going in if I miss it low. Don’t leave this short

Confidence comes from within, you create confidence then in return that creates good golf shots.

Confidence must come before each shot you play, do you let the shot you play effect your mood or your confidence?

Do you have a way to combat self doubt and negative thoughts that enter your head before, during and after your round? 

 Can you turn a negative situation into a positive? Eg: Poor putting surfaces, poor playing conditions, obnoxious playing partners, pressure or nerves. Please give examples.

Shot storage, when ever you attach emotion to a shot you will store that shot in memory, this is great if you are attaching positive emotions to positive shots as it means when that you stay positive throughout your round and find it very easy to recall positive experiences when you find your self under pressure.

Unfortunately this is the same if you use negative emotions when you play such as swearing, club throwing, club slamming, yelling or any bad tempered emotion, all you are doing is storing negative shots and negative experiences in you mind so the next time you are in the a similar situation or you are under pressure your mind will recall what it has stored which is poor negative shots. 

You must start to fill your mind full of positive experiences.

"My creative mind is my greatest weapon. It is a kind of inner vision that enables me to see things that others might not, like a certain way to play a shot. The psychology of golf can be complicated as it does entail mental toughness, self-confidence, conquering inner demons, instant recall of past successes and being able to purge failures. It is the game within the game, I developed my mental strength early and I cannot emphasise the importance of you developing yours now!" Tiger Woods.