5 Ways to Evaluate the Quality of Your Golf Mindset

Perhaps you’ve been struggling with scores that are good one day and not so good the next. The great news is that there is a solution to the ups and downs you’re experiencing. An inconsistent mindset can be a significant contributor to the inconsistency you’re battling on the course. In this article I share 5 ways to evaluate the quality of your golf mindset so you know whether or not an investment in it could make a difference for you.

Most of my clients don’t require a major mental game overhaul. Amateur golfers usually need to make some perspective shifts, increase their self-awareness and management around their thought habits, and develop a solid understanding of how to use their mind to enhance their game.

This level of investment in your mental game doesn’t necessitate large amounts of time, money, or effort for you to play better. Your success will depend on the consistency of your improved approach. So let’s examine the basic elements of a solid golf mindset so you know where you might require some change.

Evaluate the Quality of Your Golf Mindset

You’re probably doing a lot of things right when it comes to your current golf mindset. Perhaps even 80% of your thought habits are good. But a little bit of negative, unfocused, or skewed thinking can cost you a lot of shots.

I’m fairly certain that your goal is not to play golf well just some of the time, but most of the time. Refining your mental game will make that possible. There are 5 basic questions you want to ask yourself to determine whether your current golf mindset is adding or subtracting from your overall performance.

1. Are you consistently reproducing your good range shots on the course?
2. Are you able to consistently follow a poor shot or hole with a strong one?
3. Is your performance similar whether you’re playing a friendly or serious round?
4. Are your scores similar from the front to the back nine?
5. Is your game steadily improving in proportion to the time and effort you’re investing?

How you answer each of these questions says a lot about the quality and consistency of your golf mindset. Let’s do a deep dive into each:

 

• Taking Your Best Swing from the Range to the Course

Nothing is more frustrating than feeling like you have a great technical swing but can’t rely on it to materialize when you’re on the course. If you’re experiencing a gap in your game between the range and the course then your mindset, not your mechanics, is to blame.

If the shots you hit on the range are not as important to you as those you hit on the course your thought habits are inconsistent. If you respond differently to a miss on the course than you do when you hit one on the range then your thought habits are inconsistent. If it’s more important for you to hit a high quality shot on the course than on the range then your thought habits are inconsistent. What this means is that the mindset you are reinforcing on the range is doing very little to help you play with a great mindset on the course.

• Quickly Bouncing Back After a Disappointing Shot or Hole

The quality of your mindset after every shot is just as important as it is before every shot. But many times golfers try to just forget about a bad shot or hole and move on. If you are finding it difficult to follow a poor shot with a good one then you aren’t playing with a quality golf mindset.

I teach golfers how to maintain consistently positive thoughts no matter how they are playing by relying on both a pre- and a post-shot routine. You cannot manage your thoughts well without being disciplined with how you think before and after every shot. Every mental shot cycle has a beginning, middle, and end that must be approached with discipline and consistency to avoid giving shots away.

• Bringing Your “A” Game to Every Round

If you find it’s a lot easier to play a friendly round than to have teammates counting on your score then you are playing with an inconsistent golf mindset. With the right mental approach you can play with anyone and in any format without feeling the intense pressure to perform.

When you train yourself to treat every day like a tournament day you are able to maintain even composure. The solution is preventing yourself from getting distracted by the parts of the game you cannot control.

• Starting and Playing Strong for 18 Holes

Have you ever played great on the front, only to have things really unravel on the back, or vice versa? If yes, then you are dealing with an inconsistent mindset. Your ability to play doesn’t change; the rules don’t change; you are playing the same game and even using the same equipment. The one variable that remains is your mindset.

You can learn how to get your head into play mode during your warm-up to start strong and then stick to your process for a full 18 holes. By doing so you’ll avoid chasing your score so that you can finish as well as you started.

• Consistently Moving the Performance Needle in Your Game

If you are putting in a lot of time and effort but don’t feel that you’re seeing the results you think you deserve then something may be wrong with your mindset. You’ve probably seen your swing coach. Perhaps you’ve purchased new clubs. Maybe you’ve even started investing more time in the gym. But if all those things combined still aren’t helping you reach your goals then it’s time to improve the quality of your mindset.

When you discover the simple way to leverage the power of your mind you can effectively and consistently free all that talent you’ve been developing. If you neglect your thought management, your mindset will continue to hold you back.

Consistency Improves the Quality of Your Golf Mindset

Much of what I teach my clients is grounded in common sense. Usually knowing WHAT to do is not the problem. Understanding HOW to play with a consistently solid mindset  may be where you are getting stuck.

To play great you need simple, repeatable processes that help you stay on top of your thoughts throughout a round. With a quality golf mindset you’re able to step into every shot with a quiet, focused, confident mind. The goal is not be on auto-pilot, but to follow a mindful routine over and over. The higher the quality of your mindset, the lower the quantity of shots you will hit in any round.

If you’re interested in learning how to improve the quality of your golf mindset there are a few ways you can do that — work with my privately, train with a friend, or work with me in my new online course that’s launching in January 2020. To know which option is the best fit for you, I invite you CLICK HERE to schedule a free consult call with me.

Until next time…PLAY GREAT!