How Long Does It Take For Mental Golf Techniques to Work?
In my work with Positive Golf, I get a lot of questions about the hows and whys and the nuts and bolts of using positive mental techniques for golf improvement. It's great to receive these questions because it tells me that a person is taking an extra step to get insight and guidance into techniques that can help their game. We have started to include coverage of these questions in our Positive Golf newsletter in a periodic column titled "Positive Golf Q & A." When we started running this column, even more questions started pouring in! Occasionally, I will include some of these questions and answers in this blog because the topics are universal to so many players and so vital to success with the mental game. If you would like the benefit of seeing Positive Golf questions and answers more often, as well as other real-life insight, tips, and drills to promote positive golf improvement, then check out the details about our free Positive Golf Newsletter. I also invite you to submit a question by posting it on this blog or sending me an email through our website at TheHeartofGolf.com. In the meantime, here's a question from a golfer in Illinois who voices what a lot of other players have wondered about:
Q: Last summer, I started working on my mental game by trying visualization, but it didn't work. How long should it take for mental game techniques to make a difference in improving my game?
A. The short answer to this question is that it takes as long as it takes. It is going to be different for everyone because everyone's mindset, with all of its habits and tendencies, is different. Everyone's belief and acceptance of new ideas and techniques is also different, and this will also affect the speed and effectiveness of change. The good news is that it is possible for positive change in your physical game to begin with just a few rounds of using new mental game techniques. You may start to experience more consistency, better tempo, less frequent slicing of the ball, or better putting, for example, with continual game improvement as you continue to practice new mental techniques more consistently and effectively.
It may be the case, however, that improvement in your physical game is slow to occur or does not seem to happen at all as a result of changing your mental practices, leading you to think that the mental techniques don't work or that mental golf is "just not for you." A delay or total lack of results with mental techniques like visualization doesn't mean they don't work, but it does mean that something is interfering or getting in the way of their effectiveness. Some common things that get in the way of mental golf techniques "doing their job" and producing results include the following:
1. Inconsistency in using the techniques, i.e. trying them here and there, such as just when "the going gets tough," OR using one technique such as visualization in a positive way while at the same time using another technique such as self-talk in a negative way.
2. Incorrectly using the techniques, i.e. visualizing the results you do want to experience while also still mixing in visualizing the results you do not want to experience. (Even if you don't mean to do this or aren't doing it "on purpose," it still has an impact.)
3. Impatience at not experiencing better or faster results, thereby leading to mental tension, frustration, or even anger.
4. Lack of total belief or trust in the potential benefits of mental golf practices, thus sowing the seeds of doubt that detract from the effectiveness of such practices.
5. Doing too much at once, i.e. trying too hard to boost your mental game by changing or improving too many mental golf practices all at once which can dilute their effectiveness compared to improving them step-by-step one or two at a time.
Tuning in to your tendency to do one or more of these practices can help you nip some things in the bud and get you on a mental golf pathway that is more positive and productive in yielding the changes in your physical game that you have been hoping to see.
Here's to great golf!
Rick Semple
Positive Golfer and
Co-Founder
TheHeartofGolf.com
Q: Last summer, I started working on my mental game by trying visualization, but it didn't work. How long should it take for mental game techniques to make a difference in improving my game?
A. The short answer to this question is that it takes as long as it takes. It is going to be different for everyone because everyone's mindset, with all of its habits and tendencies, is different. Everyone's belief and acceptance of new ideas and techniques is also different, and this will also affect the speed and effectiveness of change. The good news is that it is possible for positive change in your physical game to begin with just a few rounds of using new mental game techniques. You may start to experience more consistency, better tempo, less frequent slicing of the ball, or better putting, for example, with continual game improvement as you continue to practice new mental techniques more consistently and effectively.
It may be the case, however, that improvement in your physical game is slow to occur or does not seem to happen at all as a result of changing your mental practices, leading you to think that the mental techniques don't work or that mental golf is "just not for you." A delay or total lack of results with mental techniques like visualization doesn't mean they don't work, but it does mean that something is interfering or getting in the way of their effectiveness. Some common things that get in the way of mental golf techniques "doing their job" and producing results include the following:
1. Inconsistency in using the techniques, i.e. trying them here and there, such as just when "the going gets tough," OR using one technique such as visualization in a positive way while at the same time using another technique such as self-talk in a negative way.
2. Incorrectly using the techniques, i.e. visualizing the results you do want to experience while also still mixing in visualizing the results you do not want to experience. (Even if you don't mean to do this or aren't doing it "on purpose," it still has an impact.)
3. Impatience at not experiencing better or faster results, thereby leading to mental tension, frustration, or even anger.
4. Lack of total belief or trust in the potential benefits of mental golf practices, thus sowing the seeds of doubt that detract from the effectiveness of such practices.
5. Doing too much at once, i.e. trying too hard to boost your mental game by changing or improving too many mental golf practices all at once which can dilute their effectiveness compared to improving them step-by-step one or two at a time.
Tuning in to your tendency to do one or more of these practices can help you nip some things in the bud and get you on a mental golf pathway that is more positive and productive in yielding the changes in your physical game that you have been hoping to see.
Here's to great golf!
Rick Semple
Positive Golfer and
Co-Founder
TheHeartofGolf.com
Labels: golf improvement, mental golf, positive mental habits
posted by Rick Semple at 10:30 PM
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