3balls Golf
Perseverance, determination, fortitude, consistency – these are all character traits that make up mental toughness. Developing your mental toughness can improve your game and make you push harder to become a better golfer. If you learn the right tricks you can power through any obstacle in your way. You just need the grit to get through it.
What is mental toughness?
Mental toughness has several components:
- How well we perform under pressure.
- How to we deal, cope, and handle adversity, setbacks, and roadblocks that come our way.
Mental toughness helps prepare us for life-changing moments. It’s about getting ready for that one event that’s going to make a difference in our lives. It’s going to connect who we are with who we’re going to become. And this can happen when you’re out on the golf course. Let’s look at the 4 rules to mental toughness so you can prepare for your moment.
1. Never give up.
The first rule to mental toughness is to never ever give up. You’ve probably heard this before. When PGA Tour professionals learn they aren’t going to make the top 10, they start going through the motions. And when you start going through the motions, you’re more likely to quit.
Even if you’re not going to win the game, you should energize yourself and push yourself forward. If you end up going through the motions, this will become your new normal and standard operating procedure. You should strive to grow, change, and go after what you want. Becoming a better golfer means making progress. You won’t progress by going through the motions.
2. Turn obstacles into opportunity.
The second rule to mental toughness is to take an obstacle and to turn it into an opportunity. The rough, the hazards, even the wind exist for a reason. They are meant to be there. Overcoming these obstacles are for those golfers who really want to be a better player.
The thing is, all successful athletes have been told the same thing. You can’t do it. You’re not good enough. That’s a bad idea. There will always be negative people around you who will bring you down. Don’t listen to them. If you want to get better, you have to stop listening to the naysayers. Surround yourself with positive people.
3. Focus on the moment.
The third rule to mental toughness is to focus. If you’re paying attention to what other people are doing then your game will suffer. You have to focus on what you’re doing in the moment. This is also called mindfulness. Mindfulness means living in the moment and staying at open attention to the present.
If you’re not practicing mindfulness then you’re probably more concerned with what the competition is doing. This will affect how you play. When it comes to focus, you have to have a goal for everything you’re doing. You have to be hyper-focused on the set of actions you will take to achieve your goal.
4. Maintain a positive attitude.
The fourth rule of mental toughness is maintaining a positive attitude. You’ve heard this your whole life. Be positive and don’t let a negative attitude get you down. To help give you a more positive outlook on your game, you can create excitement around what you’re doing. Remember why you’re playing in the first place. You’re playing golf because you love to do it.
It’s easy to see the world through a negative perspective, focusing on the bad and ignoring the good – especially when things aren’t going the way you had hoped. Remember, golf is about recovery. You’re going to have a lot of bad shots before you have one really good one. And when you do, you’ll feel the excitement of that one euphoric shot that drew you into the game in the first place.
Everybody is getting ready for that one moment that’s going to make a difference in their lives. When the moment hits you, it’ll be too late. Think about these 4 rules to mental toughness before you play so you’re not caught unprepared.
