Author Archives: Joan

Concentration is a skill that you can develop as well as any professional. Concentration is not thinking. It is not an analytical process where you think about what is going on, what has happened in the past or what will … Continue reading →

Tension is the most common physical cause of making mistakes in the golf swing. Unlike other sports, the harder you swing at the golf ball in an attempt to hit it further, the shorter it goes due to improper impact. … Continue reading →

Control of your emotions is the most important mental ingredient in your golf game. Emotions indicate what you are thinking about yourself and your golf game. The way you communicate with yourself is more important to your brain than your … Continue reading →

What do the pros do when they shoot a round in the 80’s in a tournament? This means, of course, that they have “shot themselves in the foot” and are out of the tournament. Pros understand that golf is an … Continue reading →

There will be many opportunities to feel nervous on the golf course. Each golf shot and round of golf is a new experience. It is normal to feel anxious in a situation you haven’t encountered before. Playing golf with a … Continue reading →

There is an old adage that “golf is 90% mental.” Golf is a mental game because we have so much time in-between shots to think. We spend our days thinking, planning and solving problems. To play well on the golf … Continue reading →

Before the golf season is in full swing, why don’t you take the time to analyze the holes at your home golf course? Developing a strategy to play each hole is a sure-fire way to lower your score. The golf … Continue reading →

A friend of mine called yesterday to tell me that he had just shot 75 which was his lowest career round. He said he wasn’t keeping score and although he knew he was playing well, he wasn’t aware of the … Continue reading →

Distractions such as noises on the golf course are common place. There are also the distractions of the self-talk in your head that can bring up interfering negative thoughts. If inner thoughts or outer noises distract you, you have not … Continue reading →

Golfers around the world watched with shock as Jordan Spieth hit his second consecutive ball into Rae’s Creek on the short 150-yard par 3, 12th hole at Augusta National on Sunday with his 9-iron. How could that happen? How did “the wheels come off” when he just birdied four holes in a row on the front nine for a five shot lead? We all want to know so we can learn from his experience.

Jordan has honestly told us that he didn’t have his “A” game all week and was struggling to maintain his swing. He described his game through the green as B-minus. His magically hot putter kept him in the lead. 10-11-12 are the pivotal holes at Augusta. To play them well you need to have complete confidence in your swing. He didn’t have it. Jordan didn’t take his usual time to prepare and it was noticeable that his swing on those holes was a bit faster and rushed. “I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12,” he said. “Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”

Every golfer in the world has had the experience of “shooting themselves in the foot” by hitting the same bad shot twice in succession. But for Jordan Spieth who epitomizes sound on-course decision making, it was unthinkable. We don’t know what was going through Jordan’s mind during that stretch of holes and it may be awhile before he figures it out. Golf is an inner game and he will have to look at what he was thinking and feeling that changed his swing pattern.

What was apparent to the viewers was Spieth’s slow play when he backed off his ball time after time. Did he over-analyze his situation? Was he indecisive about his course management? Was his insecurity about his golf swing causing anxiety and a rushed swing?

Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, agreed that a draw was the right shot to hit into the 12th green. As he stood over the ball, Jordan decided to hit a cut shot. “And that’s what I did in 2014,” Spieth said, “and it cost me the tournament then, too.”

The Mental Golf Lesson

When you make mistakes and don’t play well there is always something to learn about yourself and your golf game. The lesson here is to learn how to forgive yourself so you don’t repeat the same scenario. Like all mental issues it is not easy to do and takes time.

Spieth needs to acknowledge the emotions of hurt and disappointment in himself and let them go. When he is able to let go of the devastating feelings, he can then replace them with the confident feelings that he has exhibited in his career. Trust doesn’t happen without experience. Jordan has had the experience of being the best and he needs to focus on that now to recover from his loss.

If Jordan doesn’t forgive himself for being human and making a big mistake in front of the whole world, it will plague him for the rest of his golf career. If instead he learns to forgive himself, he will have a clear field to win many more majors after releasing this potential block. He is very intelligent and insightful and surely will be able to do this and not carry it over to future tournaments.

There is nothing more I want to feel about this experience.

We can all relate to remembering our most devastating loss and how we relived it over and over in our minds, talked about it and kept it alive in our consciousness. It is only when you let go of the feelings, see it as a learned lesson for what you need to know, and forgive yourself for allowing it to happen that you can move forward to create your peak performances.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Easily improve your confidence in your mental golf game today by listening to PMI self-hypnosis CDs in the privacy of your own home. Available now at www.pmi4.com/cart

If this weekly blog has been helpful to you, please forward it to your friends so they can have more fun playing the game of golf while lowering their scores. Previous issues can be downloaded at www.pmi4.com/blog

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