The secret to winning golf

Okay — I admit it the title sounds corny! But now that I have your undivided attention I want you to at least think about what I’m writing here.

And I really mean that!

Please don’t take anything I’m saying for granted and think to yourself:

“Oh yeah I know that stuff I heard that before — been there done that!”

With that said let’s dive right into building a winning golf mindset.

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The information age

Again nice title, ey? but bear with me these things actually have to do with golf (and pretty much anything in life).

I think we are currently not living in the information age but in times of over information. Just think about it.

Never before in history was so much information so easily available to the public.

Moreover we are bombarded with information every day all the time. And we have to consider all the time whether the information is relevant for us or not.

So we are using a lot of our focus and mental energy about relevance before we begin to think about the information itself. That isn’t necessarily good or bad.

We just have to keep these facts in mind when we are learning new things or when we are growing in general.

Which leads us right to…

The right mindset to winning golf (the magic pill)

The abundance of information and things to do leads a lot of people to some kind of snacking behavior.

What I mean by that is that they jump from one thing to another to another without really focusing on one thing at a time.

They want instant gratification without putting in any amount of work.

They’re looking for the magic pill!

Let’s say if someone would actually come around the corner and offer you a magic pill.

If you swallowed it you’d automatically become the best golfer on earth.

You would shoot an 18 on every round without even trying.

No strings attached it’d just be that way. Would you take the pill? I doubt it!

Yet I have the feeling that most golfers are looking for just that pill.

Even when they are saying that they just want to become a little better you get immediately the feeling that they are just looking for the magic pill.

But they wouldn’t take it if you’d offered it to them.

So what are they really looking for? And most importantly what are you looking for?

Having a plan for winning golf (what to look for and where to look)

So before you go to the practice tee the next time ask yourself what you want to achieve.

In fact thinking about the following questions could be an even better training than going to the practice tee.

• Why do I play golf? What do I enjoy about it?
• How and why did I start to play golf?
• What defines success golf for me?
• What do I want to achieve in golf?

I seriously mean that! Take the time to answer these questions for yourself.

Write your answers down if you can!

That should give you some insight of where you want to go, the starting point of your plan.

So with that in mind try to formulate a clear set of goals you want to achieve with your practice sessions.

Try to include a measurable outcome and a realistic timeframe.

For example:

• I want to improve my long game and hit at least 70% of my fairways in a full 18 hole round by the end of this season.
• I want to win at least two tournaments until the end of this season.
• I want to be able to enjoy a full round of golf without being frustrated no matter how good or bad I play by the end of this year.

Your goals can be anything but choose a realistic time-frame and make them attainable.

That means that you should have a feeling in your gut that you could achieve them if you worked towards them.

Finally make a step-by-step plan with actions you can take.

If you have a local Pro show him your plan and talk to him about the goals you’ve set for yourself. Which leads us to the last step — taking actions.

Taking action (walk your talk)

The single most important tip I can give you here is to spend two hours of practice for each hour of reading or planning.

I for myself have spent so much time with gathering information and accumulating knowledge that my actual skills are way behind the things that I know.

So go play more and read one article on my blog or one book less!