Top 5 Ways The Olympics Have Helped My Golf Game

Like so many people, I have enjoyed watching the Olympic Games for the past 17 days. I have enjoyed viewing them for many reasons, with a primary one being that it helps my golf game. Even though golf is not part of the Olympics at this time, there are still a lot of beneficial things to be learned from a mental and athletic standpoint that can be applied to golf. The ideas and inspiration from athletes in a variety of sports can successfully be applied to golf, and many other aspects of life for that matter. Here are the top five ideas that stood out for me in the past couple of weeks and served as valuable reminders and motivators for my mental golf mindset and golf improvement activities:

1. Look forward, not backward. Let go of misses and mistakes and look forward to positive possibilities and outcomes. Don't dwell on what went wrong because that will hold you back. The past is the past, period.

2. Take responsibility - don't blame. It comes down to you on the course, the court, the track, the pool, or wherever. Blaming mistakes or poor performance on other people or conditions (i.e. heat) does not help anything, because while you are blaming and complaining other competitors are not - they are focusing on things that help their performance instead, and it shows.

3. Don't get affected by limiting ideas about "age." Don't buy into common ideas and beliefs that you can't do certain things once you reach a "certain age." There were several shining examples of athletes past what is traditionally considered "prime competitive age" who blew people out of the water (no pun intended) with their attitudes and performances. These athletes weren't "superhuman," but they each had a super attitude that did not focus on what are "supposed" to be the "limitations" of age (i.e. You're old and stiff and "over-the-hill" past 40.) They really get the idea that "You're as old as you think."

4. Believe that you can do it. Time and again, the athletes who surprised with their performances, did the seemingly "impossible," or just stuck with it and went on to win expressed this can-do attitude in follow-up interviews. They showed us the supreme value of believing in yourself and knowing that, yes, you can do what you put your mind to when you absolutely believe in yourself. This applies just as much to achieving a goal in golf as it does to achieving an Olympics medal.

5. Always strive to improve. Here again, those shining stars on the court, the track, and in the pool make frequent reference to their continual efforts to improve, whether it be their form, their time, or their strength. Their years of preparation, out of the public eye of the Olympics, are filled with days and days of dedication to improvement. And they fully embrace the idea of improvement - watching videos, seeking feedback, building their bodies and their minds. They strive for practice that is positive and productive, not merely repetition. And yes, this approach is just as beneficial for golf improvement for the recreational golfer as it is for the Olympic athlete! Take the open, receptive, and persistent approach to improvement and stick with it!

These are the "Olympic ideas" that have re-charged me and my game. I would like to learn about the ideas that helped others. Feel free to add a comment to the blog...

Here's to great golf!

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

The Path to a Repeatable Swing

Starting in January, I have been making posts about my Positive Golf Improvement Projects for 2008 for both the physical and mental aspects of my game. For the physical game, I have chosen to focus on "increasing the repeatability of my swing by more consistently accessing the feeling of my positive golf swing motion."

Ah yes, the repeatable swing. What a lot of people don't realize is that the successful path to a repeatable golf swing is not just filled with hitting buckets and buckets of balls while trying every mechanical swing tip in the book. It actually starts with letting go of some old beliefs and thoughts about the golf swing, as well as some negative habits and tendencies, all of which block the smooth, natural flow of what really helps lead to a repeatable swing. And what is that? Here are a couple of remarks from the great teacher Fred Shoemaker in his book Extraordinary Golf that will give you a clue: "The ability to experience - to be aware and to feel - is what creates trust"..."You can never really trust your swing if you can't feel it." In the same way that awareness and feeling are essential to building trust, they are also essential to developing a repeatable swing. How? By enabling you to tune in to the instincts, images, and motions that are natural and dependable and essentially "want" to repeat themselves.

A pure, unrestricted swinging motion wants to repeat time after time. You just need to "get out of the way" of this natural, repeating motion by letting go of ideas and actions (like fear, tension, and over-effort) that get in the way.

So, what are some restrictive, inhibiting things that I have practiced to "let go of" on my path to a repeatable swing? Here are a few:

- the misconception I needed to try to hit the ball hard to make it go farther
- self-doubt in my abilities
- fear I would hit another poor shot
- continuing judgement of every aspect of my swing
- pressure on myself to stay "up to date" on trying all of the latest swing tips

Letting go of these things helped to "free up" my mindset to the flow of awareness and feeling and allowed my mind to focus instead on repeatable swing ideas and actions, such as:

- the idea and motion of the "no effort" golf swing
- the feel of the timing and acceleration of the natural swing motion
- allowing the body to take maximum advantage of natural forces that create power and speed

Embracing this approach to developing a repeatable swing has been a powerful and positive experience for me that has led to much success. So much so that at The Heart of Golf we have published two e-books on the subject this year, Goodbye Hit, Hello Swing Parts I and II, with Part III being released in the next month. The path to a repeatable swing, like the path to all golf improvement, is one that I continue to tread, with new ideas, developments, and evolution happening all the time. I look forward to sharing the ideas and experiences that have helped me and welcome hearing about how these ideas have helped others to have more positive, repeatable golf swing experiences. Please share your comments here on the blog!

Here's to great golf!

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

Small Changes Can Make A World of Difference

Two factors contributed greatly to Greg Norman's magnificent showing at last month's British Open. One of them he candidly stated when asked about leading after 54 holes. "Obviously I played well enough to put myself in this position," said Norman. "That comes from a good, safe, happy mind in a lot of ways. I'm very content in my mind..."

Naturally one needs to have the ability (which Norman had), but how we perform with our ability, at any level, is determined by our state of mind, which in turn determines our flow of thoughts. Sometimes we can use a little "reminder" of just how powerful and influential our minds are in our golf game. Norman's performance at Royal Birkdale was a shining example of this fact.

The other interesting factor was the small change Norman made in his set up. Moving closer to the ball wasn't something "new." It was a return to the way he set up in his "heyday." Another good lesson for the rest of us. With all the "swing information" floating around out there, we often tend (knowingly or unknowingly) to move away from things that have worked well in the past, in search of something better. A wiser choice, in many instances, is to return to the fundamentals and reunite with the ideas and feelings which inspired confidence and nice shot making on our "good days."

With a bit of mental effort, almost all of us can recall that, When I drove it well, I used to do this, or During those great putting rounds, I felt a certain way. Well, what are we waiting for? These things used to work, and they still will!

Small changes, even so small as a couple of inches this way or that, can make a world of difference - in our mind. We change the way we feel, and the feeling is directly impressed on our golf game. Keep this in mind when you are starting to think you need to do a "major overhaul" to fix your swing. Remember - small changes can make a world of difference!

Here's to great golf!

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