How You Think About Your Golf Swing Has Great Impact The words you use to describe something cause distinctly different visual images to pop into your mind. They also create associations with different feelings. Therefore in Hamburg Golf, it is vitally important that you select the correct words to describe elements of your swing. You might like to try out several different descriptive terms for yourself. For example, do you draw your club back, pull it back or do you sweep it back? Do you sweep through the ball, swing through the ball, or hit the ball? I hope you can see what I mean now when I say that each word creates a different image and a different feeling. For some, the variation might be subtle, but for others, it can make the world of difference. Each thought you have transmits energy and it is very obvious in golf when you are on the wrong wavelength. Your ball ventures off upon a frolic of its own and leaves you feeling less than happy with your pursuant shot choices.
Few golfers pay sufficient heed to the fact that every thought triggers some sort of visual image in your creative mind and that this visualization is what drives your
actions. You probably only notice this when the thing you don’t want to happen pops into your mind. For example, if you think to yourself “I must avoid the water on the left”, you might be aware of a tendency to send your ball towards the water that you really intended to avoid. You thought about the lake and an image of the lake popped into your mind and you sent the ball there. Thus when you want to avoid an obstacle on the course, be it a bunker, trees, or lake, you have to change your focus of attention. You have to move your mind away from the obstacle and focus tightly on where you do want the ball to go. By focusing your laser-sharp attention upon your real target, your subconscious mind creates a visual image of it, and your energy will send the ball there. Another example of the impact of your thoughts on your game is when you think that you have “lost your swing”. This is probably the most debilitating thought in golf. It’s also rather ridiculous. How can you lose your swing? Every swing you make is different and unique. You might have lost rhythm or timing, become sloppy with your alignment, lost your confidence, or forgotten to focus clearly on your target, but you have not lost your swing! It is vitally important to realize what really happened when a shot went awry. To simply think “I lost my swing” serves to create a barrier between you and understanding what really happened. Thus next time you find yourself thinking, “I lost my swing”, try to wipe that thought away and instead ask yourself “what really happened there?” There are many, many ways in which your thoughts about your swing impact your game of golf. I’m sure you can think of a few yourself!