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The Power Of Positive Thinking

Diane

Diane

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Last night after sinking a couple of very long putts, one of the women in my group said that she had been telling herself that she was going to make the putt before she hit each one. That got me thinking about the power of positive thought. I'm a firm believer in it. Are you? Do you walk up to the ball and tell yourself that you're going to make the shot?
 
Diane said:
Do you walk up to the ball and tell yourself that you're going to make the shot?
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All the time,then i walk away cursing myself for having missed it.
 
I find that it helps me to visualize each shot before I make my stroke.
 
I go into any shot thinking "here's what I'm doing and here's how it's going to look" I don';t always get the results I want but it's a part of my routine and it helps
 
I always try to approach each shot with a purpose and a positive mental image. I think it does help to keep bad thoughts out my mind, such as “don’t hit it in the water”. :D
 
I call it "Imagineering". If I cannot get an image in my head of the ball flight heading to the target, I just don't hit it yet. Especially on putts, I need to see the ball rolling and breaking into the hole before I pull the trigger. If there is a hazard, I try to look past or beside it instead of looking directly at it before I swing. My way of ignoring any negative thoughts about "not" hitting it somewhere.
 
Diane said:
Last night after sinking a couple of very long putts, one of the women in my group said that she had been telling herself that she was going to make the putt before she hit each one. That got me thinking about the power of positive thought. I'm a firm believer in it. Are you? Do you walk up to the ball and tell yourself that you're going to make the shot?
Click to expand...

It definitely helps as long as you genuinely believe it. If you just say it, but your inner voice is saying something like "ha, you don't have a snowball's chance from here", it won't work.
 
I approach almost every putt with the expectation that I'm going to make it. I'm not deluding myself, nor are my expectations unrealistic. Am I going to make every one? Of course not. But I make them often enough, and I lip out or barely slide past the hole often enough that my confidence level is always high, so my expectations are also high. :D
 
Absolutly. it's amazing what Positive thinking does for you on the course.
 
Positive thinking while playing golf will save strokes. Too many players will throw positive thinking to the side after a poor shot. They will allow that poor shot to cause another poor shot. Positive thinking, and a good pre & post shot routine never hurt a golfer's score card.:clapp:


Note: Google "major nesmith golf" for good read on positive thinking
 
Read "Your 15th Club" by Dr. Bob Rotella sometime...or you can just let me tell you. 90% of that book, probably even more actually, is about the power of positive thinking and getting your mind to think like a champion. He talks about how your conscience and your sub-conscience mind work and how your positive thoughts control your results.

I'm a firm believer in it, I wish I followed it more, but I know when I do it helps a lot!
 
I wonder if Grogger is reading this thread. :angel:
 
Diane said:
one of the women in my group said that she had been telling herself that she was going to make the putt before she hit each one...Do you walk up to the ball and tell yourself that you're going to make the shot?
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I frankly don't. One, I find it doesn't work (same with saying, "I'm going to sell something today"...what, does your effort into your work change this day over last? It's great to be positive and all, since it makes you cheerful, but I always put in 100%, so saying it doesn't help).

Second, though, I find it makes me cocky. There are many putts I know I'm not going to sink, but if I try then I'll hit it too hard and overshoot if I think it's going into the hole, rather than a strategic lag. I don't aim every shot for the hole, I aim it with the big picture in mind.
 
provisional said:
Positive thinking while playing golf will save strokes. Too many players will throw positive thinking to the side after a poor shot. They will allow that poor shot to cause another poor shot. Positive thinking, and a good pre & post shot routine never hurt a golfer's score card.:clapp:


Note: Google "major nesmith golf" for good read on positive thinking
Click to expand...


What about the folks who step on a tee box and say " ****, there is water here"
They are finished.
Or Hope I don't hit it into the water or that trap. You will never improve with those thoughts
 
julie_m said:
I frankly don't. One, I find it doesn't work (same with saying, "I'm going to sell something today"...what, does your effort into your work change this day over last? It's great to be positive and all, since it makes you cheerful, but I always put in 100%, so saying it doesn't help).

Second, though, I find it makes me cocky. There are many putts I know I'm not going to sink, but if I try then I'll hit it too hard and overshoot if I think it's going into the hole, rather than a strategic lag. I don't aim every shot for the hole, I aim it with the big picture in mind.
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I've never even heard of a "strategic lag". :confused2: In my head that sounds like "intentional miss". It's completely contrary to the way I approach the game. I will lay up on a long approach shot if that seems to be the correct strategic maneuver, but when I'm putting, the hole is always going to be my target. I feel that I have a better chance of getting close by aiming at a 4.25" circle than I do by aiming at a 3 foot or 4 foot or 6 foot circle. And if I'm aiming at and trying to hit the hole, it might just go in. :D

I simply can't play any differently.
 
Fourputt said:
I've never even heard of a "strategic lag". :confused2: In my head that sounds like "intentional miss". It's completely contrary to the way I approach the game. I will lay up on a long approach shot if that seems to be the correct strategic maneuver, but when I'm putting, the hole is always going to be my target. I feel that I have a better chance of getting close by aiming at a 4.25" circle than I do by aiming at a 3 foot or 4 foot or 6 foot circle. And if I'm aiming at and trying to hit the hole, it might just go in. :D

I simply can't play any differently.
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I suspect we're talking about a similar thing...a lag putt is meant to just get close to the hole, but not go in. Here's a good description from Azinger.

I guess to some it might be an "intentional miss," if you're trying on every putt to hole it. I personally find I putt better and have a better score card if I think, "first one close, second one in." But that's me, personally.
 
Fourputt said:
I've never even heard of a "strategic lag". :confused2: In my head that sounds like "intentional miss". It's completely contrary to the way I approach the game. I will lay up on a long approach shot if that seems to be the correct strategic maneuver, but when I'm putting, the hole is always going to be my target. I feel that I have a better chance of getting close by aiming at a 4.25" circle than I do by aiming at a 3 foot or 4 foot or 6 foot circle. And if I'm aiming at and trying to hit the hole, it might just go in. :D

I simply can't play any differently.
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Amen to that!

Besides, it's a lot less complicated to aim at the hole than it is to be drawing imaginary circles on the green.


-JP
 
Diane said:
Last night after sinking a couple of very long putts, one of the women in my group said that she had been telling herself that she was going to make the putt before she hit each one. That got me thinking about the power of positive thought. I'm a firm believer in it. Are you? Do you walk up to the ball and tell yourself that you're going to make the shot?
Click to expand...

I would like to take this a bit further. Most of us agree that positive thinking helps but, my question is, how do you maintain positive thinking when you are having a really bad day on the course? Or how do you discount a bad day (at work, etc) and not let it bother you on the course?
 
tksullivan said:
I would like to take this a bit further. Most of us agree that positive thinking helps but, my question is, how do you maintain positive thinking when you are having a really bad day on the course? Or how do you discount a bad day (at work, etc) and not let it bother you on the course?
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Course management 101. Every hole is a new beginining. Heck, every shot is a new beginning. I like the idea of using my club to tap the last bad shot into the ground, so the next one is a new start.

Before I took up golf, I played tournament bridge and was pretty good at it. It's the same idea--you have a blowup, but you go on to the next board (or hole). One blowup won't kill you; you just have get past it. If you let it affect you going forward, you're sunk.
 
julie_m said:
I frankly don't. One, I find it doesn't work (same with saying, "I'm going to sell something today"...what, does your effort into your work change this day over last? It's great to be positive and all, since it makes you cheerful, but I always put in 100%, so saying it doesn't help).

Second, though, I find it makes me cocky. There are many putts I know I'm not going to sink, but if I try then I'll hit it too hard and overshoot if I think it's going into the hole, rather than a strategic lag. I don't aim every shot for the hole, I aim it with the big picture in mind.
Click to expand...

I don't think positive thinking means "I'm going to sell something today", I think it is, "I am going to make as professional a presentation as I can today." Positive thinking is more about controlling how you approach what you are doing rather than focusing on the outcome. I try to positively believe and imagine my ball clearing the bunker and landing near the hole. The outcome may be that I hit the lip of the bunker and drop back in the bunker. Still, I made my best effort and did not defeat myself with my mind before I even made the swing.
 
While positive thinking is obviously about focusing on success and all that, I think a big part of it is beginning with realistic goals.

If, for example, you know that on your best day you can hit a driver maybe 240 yards in the air, no matter how positive your thoughts may be, you're simply not going to clear the long side of a water hazard that requires a 265 yard carry. That's not to say that you can never develop the swing needed to do that, but for now, the whole concept is out of the question.

Course management plays a big role in successful outcomes as does an honest assessment of your true abilities. Anger management is necessary to a point but since anger is a natural reaction to poor shots or poor execution, it's best to let it happen and get it over with and then focus on the next thing you need to do.

So considering all of this, when faced with a situation out on the course, taking a realistic view of what needs to be done is first, followed by a realistic assessment of what you're capable of doing and then making a realistic choice of how to proceed. Thinking in such terms almost always produces a positive result, which builds confidence and promotes a more positive outlook overall.

As many positive results build up, your confidence grows along with it as does a better self-image, not just as a golfer but also as a person capable of success. As these successes mount, you may be more inclined to try to enhance your present skills, whether by practicing more or perhaps taking some lessons and as your skills improve, so too do your options when you're out on the course so that one day, that 265 yd. carry over the water won't be a risk or an egotistical pipe dream, but rather a viable and very realistic option.

So basically, realistic thinking breeds successful outcomes, successful outcomes breed positive thinking, positive thinking leads to improvement, improvement leads to more choices and more choices leads to lower scores. The trick is to begin by thinking about what you CAN do rather than trying to force yourself to attempt shots that you simply don't have in your bag.


-JP
 
Duey - I think it's more about your attitude than your hat.
 
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