Ever notice that the thing you focus on becomes reality? Like, on the golf course, chanting in your head, “don’t hit it in the water, don’t hit it in the water”, you actually hit it in the water. “Oooo that bunker is nasty”, hit it in the bunker.
What you think about can become reality and golf is a sport of failures. Consider that Tiger at his prime only won 30% of the time meaning he lost 70% of the time. Tour pros miss 60% of putts from 8 feet. We fail more than we succeed. However, if you’re still playing golf I have good news. You are resilient and strong-willed, you keep coming back to get better at what you want to be better at. This sets us up for the internal reflecting the external.
Next time you’re over a shot think only about the target. Not the swing, not the trees, not the bunker, just the target. Better yet, make the target as small as you can see. Like a leaf on a tree in the distance, or a particular corner of the flag. I always think of snipers training to “aim small, miss small.” If you aim at a big tree and miss by 10% you might be off the fairway. If you aim only at the green and miss, you miss the green. If you aimed at the flagstick and miss by 10% you’d probably still hit the flagstick!!
The point is, think about what you want the ball to do and end up. Never think of things that could go wrong – in golf it’s inevitable and is wasted thought.
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