Playing Your Best Golf
Golf certainly is an individual sport. No one but you can hit the shot, make the 10-foot putt to win the match, or be responsible for your score on any particular day. A golfer’s mastery of the game evolves over a period of time, and of course, is dependent upon the effort put forth. It’s a physical game as well as a mental game, like partners, both being dependent upon one another. Getting good at golf involves listening to the advice of many people along the way, including teachers, coaches, and well-intentioned friends, but ultimately over time, making up your own mind as to what works best for you.
Playing your best golf is also about being comfortable in your own skin – in other words, liking yourself and realizing that your golf performance on any given day is no indication of your self-worth as an individual. Too often, golfers beat themselves up with selfderogating words, visual displays of dissatisfaction, and antics that can have a negative effect on others’ play. Showing emotional immaturity when things aren’t going so well creates a lasting poor impression for playing partners, television viewers, or anyone witnessing the tirade. Playing your best golf demands a consistent level of emotions during great shots, average shots, and poor shots. This is part of the mental aspect of the game: How you treat yourself and others in order to achieve the best out of your game. And of course, the player who has developed better mental skills, like dealing with nerves, fear, doubt, bad luck, embarrassment, inadequate equipment, or even imperfection with their game, has an advantage over those competitors who are continually at odds with these distractions.
Of course, it’s okay to be cocky, quiet, funny, serious, introspective, or easygoing while you’re playing the game. Most great golfers choose the style most compatible with their personality which allows them to play their best. If a player has an easygoing manner off the course, yet an abrasive manner on the course, these are confl icting mental poles and not conducive to long-term great play. A good golf coach can play a huge role in this regard. A golf coach is trained specifi cally in helping those who compete at golf and therefore want to play their very best. In most cases, they can fi nd the one thing neither mentally or mechanically that can provide the golfer the best
improvement for their particular game.
Interestingly, some players, mostly from the old school, are not interested in studying or spending time with the mental aspect of golf. But, with all the research on the subject of sports psychology today, why not take advantage of it? Imagine a professional golfer avoiding information of this kind, including proper nutrition, biomechanics, or physiology as it relates to the golf swing. With the money on tour right now and the tournaments played globally
without any specific season to the game anymore, the player privy to this type of knowledge is definitely giving themselves the best chance at victory.
A golfer’s attitude on the course is so important both in golf and in life. Be your own best friend. Be good to yourself. See the good side of things in life. Missie Berteotti, retired LPGA player, in her book The Mental Mastery Program, says, “How you feel on the inside affects how you play on the outside.” It’s great advice for playing your best golf.
