Build Your Self-Belief to Improve Your Golf


If you watched the Sony Open in Hawaii over the weekend, you know there was a lot of excitement and a close finish. At one point, Nick Faldo made an interesting comment about Charles Howell III - He has a strong self-belief. It got me to thinking that self-belief is really one of the cornerstones of playing good golf. That's why we make it one of the fundamentals of Positive Golf. What is self-belief? It is a belief in our own ability and potential. It is the belief that we are going to be successful in a task or endeavor. It is a can-do attitude.


So how do you assess your self-belief? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:


-Do I consistently think or say positive, encouraging things about my golf?
-Do I consistently believe that I have the ability and potential to play good golf?
-Do I consistently feel confident when I step up to address the ball?
-Do I consistently picture a good outcome when I drive, chip, or putt?


If you answered "no" to one or more of these questions, you can take some steps to build your self-belief. For me, it helps to begin taking mental note of my words, thoughts, and ideas that I think and say as I prepare for my game or my shot. In essence, I catch myself in the act of thinking negative thoughts and I replace them with positive, encouraging thoughts. I get the worry, fear, anxiety, and discouragement about myself and my abilities out of my mind and keep it filled with supportive, confident, and positive thoughts. Repeating affirmations is one of way retraining your mind, getting into new habits of thinking, and building your self-belief. I use them alot. Here are some examples:


-Today I will be calm and confident.
-I expect a good session on the practice range.
-I can succeed at improving my swing (or my drives, my chips, or my putting).
-I can swing with the perfect tempo.
-I have the ability to draw the ball.
-I enjoy seeing the ball land exactly where I want it to land.


For more help, you can go to our HeartofGolf website and check out our golf improvement books and our Can-Do Golf Program for kids. Here is another website I found that has good books and tips: selfgrowth.com.


Here's to good golf thoughts!


Rick Semple
Positive Golfer
Co-Founder, TheHeartofGolf.com
http://www.TheHeartofGolf.com

Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2007

As promised in my message of January 4, 2007, I'll be posting regularly about my Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2007. While I practice using mental golf techniques and other Positive Golf ideas in all aspects of my game, I have picked one area for particular focus as my Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2007. My wife, a beginning golfer, has picked one as well. Here they are:

• My project is to consistently hit short wedge and pitch shots within 10 feet of the hole.
• My wife's project is to consistently hit straight drives approaching 200 yards

We'll share updates on our progress and the mental golf ideas we are using along the way. Do you have a Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2007? Let us know...

Here's to great golf!

Rick Semple
Positive Golfer
http://www.TheHeartofGolf.com

Positive Golf Tip - Pick One Thing to Improve

Any golfer with the desire to improve knows that there are dozens of aspects to the game. And there are hundreds, even thousands, more tips and ideas that can help to improve each of these areas. It is easy to feel overwheled, particularly if you are new to golf or just learning about a new concept like mental golf or the mental approach to the game. Feeling overwhelmed generally leads to negativity, which does not help your game. To help make your approach to golf improvement more positive, and ultimately more successful, it helps to pick one thing to improve and focus on that.

When I first tried out mental golf concepts, I started with curing my slice rather than trying to change my entire game all at once. I began by identifying and changing a couple of my habitual negative thought patterns related to my slice, like I fear hitting out of bounds on this hole, or I can't see to change this slice motion no matter how hard I try. Instead of the negative talk I made a conscious effort to practice saying, feeling, and believing that I am learning to draw the ball, and I am enjoying that sweet draw feeling. By blending this simple mental golf technique with my physical practice, I began to see positive changes in my swing and I did learn to more consistently draw the ball. I found the simple, focused approach to be really do-able so I could get comfortable with the new ideas and experience success rather than feel overloaded and burned out with trying to fix everything at once. As you think of the season ahead, pick one thing that you can improve by applying affirmations and other positive golf ideas along with your physical practice.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of my Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2007. Let's hear about yours...

Here's to good golf thoughts!

Rick Semple
Positive Golfer
Co-Founder, TheHeartofGolf.com
http://www.TheHeartofGolf.com

Positive Golf Inspiring Story - A 59 at 59

Inspiring stories are one of the many great things about this time of year. Through magazines, books, and movies we learn stories about people who have overcome odds, stayed committed, and given their all to reach achievements that surprise and inspire. These stories often motivate us to stick with something, reach higher, try harder, or believe in ourselves in a greater way. They are a great way to start out the new year with a stronger sense of purpose.

With this inspiration in mind, we thought it was a great time to introduce our first in an ongoing series of Positive Golf Inspiring Stories. These stories are about people who have achieved something extraordinary in golf by using the type of positive mental ideas and attitudes that we promote through TheHeartofGolf.com. Our first story is a real zinger. Watch for more in the future. We welcome stories from our readers...

It was a hot afternoon this past August in the first round of the Tri-State PGA's Christopher J. Seretti Memorial Classic at Montour Heights Country Club in Coraopolis, PA. The golfers had been playing for nearly six hours. Former Champions Tour player Roy Vucinich was 13-under with two holes two play. Stay focused on the fairways and greens, he kept saying to himself. You can shoot your age. He would not allow fear, and "what ifs" to creep in to his thoughts. Sure enough, Roy finished the round with a 13-under 59, just four months after his 59th birthday. A 59 at 59! It was the first time a local professional shot 59 in a Tri-State section event and maybe the only time a professional at any level has matched his age of 59 in competition.

Roy was the former head professional at Allegheny Country Club, in Sewickley Heights, PA, which is where I got to know him, and he played the Champions Tour full-time from 2000-2002. I was thrilled and impressed to hear about Roy's round of 59, which included nine birdies and two eagles at the 6350 yards, par-72 course. I was equally impressed to hear about Roy's mental approach. These were some of his thoughts as he played: I stayed focused on picking the target and hitting it; I didn't put other things in my head; I didn't let myself get overly nervous, and I didn't allow the negativity. A good approach to play and live by, indeed! This is a classic example of Positive Golf thinking and playing. It epitomizes the power of blending positive "inner golf communication" with poised "outer golf technique," which is what we encourage. We salute Roy's mental approach and superb mechanical skill and share his story as an inspiration to everyone as to what is possible with focus and positivity.

Here's to great golf!

Rick Semple
Positive Golfer
Co-Founder, TheHeartofGolf.com
http://www.TheHeartofGolf.com