Lowerhandicaps.com Mental Game Instruction

Lowerhandicaps.com

The Mental Game

"When the will and the imagination are in conflict, it is the imagination that always wins." - Émille Coué.

My "second guy" always plays better. 9 out of 10 times if I hit an errant shot and then play another from the same place, the second shot is better. My "second guy shot" is better.

How can this be? Same shot, same spot, same player but different results. It is because my second shot is no longer dominated by my imagination.

With the first attempt my will wants to execute the shot, it wants to hit the ball to the target. My will knows that my golf skills are capable of executing the shot. And this is further confirmed with the second attempt.

But my imagination sees everything that can go wrong. It sees all the trouble, it remembers every one of my past mistakes, and it fears embarrassment and losing. My imagination cannot predict the future anymore than my will can. It cannot be assured that my ball will be topped, snap hooked or sent O.B., but it still fears these. My imagination knows fear, my will knows winning.

When these two thoughts come into conflict, the imagination always wins. In my opinion this is the root source of all “choking” in sports. If the athlete has gained the necessary skills, yet still “chokes” when its game time, the athlete’s imagination is winning. If you can hit ball after ball to your target at the driving range, but not on the course, your imagination is winning.

I don’t believe it is possible to fully control one’s imagination at will. That has been the life long endeavor of psychologists, neuroscientists, sociologists, gurus, shaman, and monks for thousands of years. I believe hypnosis is considered the closest we can get to actually controlling our imagination, but it’s not really on demand control.

When I’m standing on the first tee or looking at a 175 yard carry over water, my imagination can take over quite suddenly and without any conscious thought or recognition of the take over.

The goal then becomes to try and manage your thoughts, moods or emotions. And there are many theories and methods to accomplish this. Too many for this article.

The easiest that I have found is visualization. For some this may come easy, others will need to learn how. It is a skill that is learned, just like all other skills. It is a skill that requires practice, just like all other skills.

This is the reason most hypnotists always tell you to visualize, picture or imagine. When you control what you see and feel, you can control imagination, thus hypnosis occurs. You can learn to control your imagination through visualization, just like you learned how to swing a golf club.

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