The Buy-In
Think about something you’d really like to have or own…a car, an electronic device, a menu item at a restaurant you like, a good new book or anything else. What’s the process to achieving it? There’s usually an awareness of its existence and then imagining yourself happily with it and all the things it might look, feel, taste or sound like that appeal to you. If you are ‘sold,’ then you have a short-term or long-term plan to acquire it in which you’re excited to own or receive it. So how does that relate to golf?
When getting ready to create our next shot, do you Buy-In with the same excitement and imagery as you would for the item you’ve imagined and want or do you worry and imagine the most awful possible result and then keep stressing about it so you can’t produce a smooth swing or motion to create that shot or putt?
Imagining the car in a fender bender, or the favorite menu item coming out burnt or tasting awful, or even not being available, are not the images that make us move forward, yet many golfers keep bringing up the worst possible scenarios before and during a shot. Golfers can train themselves, like the best players do, to focus on the good goal and not the possible failure.
The keys to an effective and enjoyable shot begin in the heart and mind, not in the physical motion (that’s the last step that’s already been set in motion by how you feel or picture it). Believing is Seeing, not the other way around. You need to Attract how things will look if they happen the way you want. You can also Attract the things that you don’t want — it just depends on how you focus and involve your energy. Worrying about if you fail in front of others, seeing a golf ball plop into the water or go out of bounds or yipping a putt will have a great chance of coming to fruition if you focus your energy, emotion and images on that.
You are the captain of your emotional and mental ship, so change the channel and keep your eyes on the final good result, not on what you fear. There is no room for fear or doubt if you are 100 percent enjoying what you’re about to do. Own the emotion and image you want and train yourself to stay attentive to your good intentions and emotions – how it feels it the most important thing.
Buy-in, Plan (not worry) and then get excited about what’s going to happen. I have students start each shot standing behind the ball saying “I can’t want to _________________ (smash it down the fairway, hit it effortlessly, roll it into the hole at 6:30, hear a solid chip…).”
Without a caddy, you need to coach yourself into the shot and then buy into it with your head, heart and gut. A caddy can help talk you into it and help you stay on task, but that’s what makes golf mostly an emotional game (and then mental and then physical)…it’s quite a challenge to manage ourselves for a round of golf. Keep paying attention to your good intention!
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Nicole Weller instructs local area golfers at Compass Pointe Golf Club in Leland. Feel free to submit your question or topic for the Nicole’s Notes column via her website ‘Contact Nicole’ page. For more information on Nicole and her tips / videos, visit www.nicoleweller.com.
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