 Believing is Seeing by Dr. Paul Callaway One of the key concepts to achieving
your optimal golf performance potential is to understand that ‘lower scores’ is
not the goal. That's right, I said, ‘lower scores’ is not the goal! Frequently my golf fitness and performance clients, when identifying their golf performance goals, will tell me that they want to get better scores. However, I know it is not ‘lower scores’ they are really after. It is the things the ‘lower scores’ will provide for them in their life. The ‘lower scores’ will provide them with the improved ‘feelings’ emotionally that produce more fun when they play golf, the enhanced quality of life they are looking for and, most importantly, an enhanced sense of self worth/increased identity. While you may think this is an insignificant difference, it is actually the reason so many people never become as successful at golf as they would like. Most of us were taught throughout our early years in golf that the whole point of playing golf was to shoot low scores. We think that the lower we shoot defines us as people – and everyone will like us better! However, we must instead understand that golf performance is an ongoing journey of growth and if growth is stopped, then the ‘success’ process – “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal” ceases. While it may seem that there are many roadblocks on your journey to lower golf scores and the goal of optimal golf performance, the only real obstacle is what you believe, think, and feel about your ability as a golfer. Most of us were raised with the cliché "Seeing is Believing" which is a skeptical and negative view of life. Still, we hear it our whole lives until it becomes a part of our thought process without our even realizing it. The most successful golfers understand that this cliché is exactly backward - you must believe in what you can achieve before you will see it happen in your game. They know that "Believing is Seeing." The only thing that separates an expert golfer from you right now is an ‘expert’ golfer mindset and the foundation of that mindset is belief. Does this mean that top golfers have some special skill or knowledge? No - but they do possess some key characteristics that help them become so successful. The first of these characteristics is a willingness to listen to their own heart. If you could become a great golfer by listening to the masses, then the masses would be great golfers – and clearly they are not! It is a natural tendency to ask the opinions of those we love or respect. Unfortunately, we listen to their comments and biases not taking into account the results in their own lives. We make a decision to listen based on our emotional attachment rather than by looking at what they have achieved. How can anyone who has not become a top golfer and/or helped other golfers to become great advise you on how to do it? They can't! A second characteristic of top performing golfers is the ability to act when opportunities present themselves. Opportunity is often imagined to be something that you can't miss or pass up. However, I know from personal experience that opportunity is often only a whisper that comes during some of the most trying times of life. If you read the life stories of very successful golfers, you will frequently find they had many personal and golf-related ‘failures’ that other people would view as devastating. Instead, they viewed the challenges as opportunities and prospered. Great golfers also understand that optimal golf performance is an ongoing process. It is not a destination you arrive at one day and then stop. It is also rarely accomplished overnight - although it can occur in a short period of time. However, if you achieve low golf scores before you have gained an expert golfer mindset then you are in danger of losing that top performance level forever. We have all heard of junior golfers that have great early success in life only to burn out and fall completely off the charts a few years later. Since they were never taught to think like and have the true identity of a top golfer, they have very little chance of achieving lasting performance levels. Those with a true golf ‘expert’ mindset do what they love - and realize extraordinary golf performance. Often I see golfers who are seeking lower golf scores like it's something outside that they have to search for. In reality, great scoring exists within you. The golfers who become most successful do so because they are doing something they love. The low scores follow and is just a logical result of them realizing their dream. Low scoring is not the dream. Whether you grow up in the worst circumstance or have every advantage, you have the exact same potential inside of you to create the total golf performance you want. No matter how many times you read or hear someone talk about how to become a great golfer, your performance results will never change until you ‘believe’ that it can - Believing is Seeing! You partner in success, Paul Callaway, PT, PhD |
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CategoriesGolf fitness and performanceGolf Injuries Golf Nutrition Health and Wellness Personal Enhancement |
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