Fore Thought

The beauty of working on mental skills is that they are easier to develop than physical ones. Not all of us are 6’2”, 220 pounds, and blessed with lightning speed or unusual strength. But improving your mental skills often consists of little more than getting into the habit of making the proper choices. Self-talk, for instance, is a mental skill that can easily be improved this way.

While the popular notion is that quality self-talk is a matter of being positive, in reality quality is based on your choice of words. For example, if you’re standing on the tee of a narrow tree-lined hole where hitting the fairway is a must you could either say: “I wonder where this one will go,” or “What would I have to do to hit the ball down the fairway?” The first sentence gives your mind the job of picturing all the unsuitable options that are not on the fairway, and unfortunately bringing them into focus. The latter, a question that only solicits positive answers, is your preferred choice of words. Your mind, in a quest to answer, will begin looking for solutions that will benefit you.

Jack Nicklaus had a habit of repeatedly asking himself two great questions. They were: “How am I going to win this tournament?” and “How do I want to play this shot?” Fairly innocent, but just think, if Nicklaus had been in the habit of asking two different questions: “Why is my bad shot an over-the-top pull?” and “Why is winning tournaments such a struggle?” we might never have heard of the man who was voted the greatest golfer of the 20th century.

You’re not Jack Nicklaus but you don’t need to be to improve you game. Like him you have the ability to make good choices for yourself. Now that you know the technique behind quality self-talk all you have to do is choose to practice it.  Bob Skura is author of the award-winning book, How Great Golfers Think – Perfecting Your Mental Game. For more information visit: www.howgreatgolfersthink.com