 Many young golfers have been exposed to the
mental concept of “trusting” themselves on
the course. The ultimate place to be as a
player is to be so confident in your game
that you can simply “trust your swing”
or “free it up” as many of my fellow mental
game gurus would advocate.
That sounds good in theory, but how do you
trust your swing if you’re struggling? How
do you trust you’re going to make this putt
if you’ve missed four like it previously?
How do you trust that you’ve made the correct
club selection? The answer is that you don’t
need to trust.
I’d like you to trust, and I’d love it if all
the players with whom I work trusted their
games completely. This would make their mind
less cluttered, create less worry, and
probably inspire them to new heights of
confidence. However, virtually 100% of the
players with whom I’ve worked over 18 years
in the field of mental training have times
when they don’t trust one aspect of their
game or another. This includes juniors,
college players, and PGA Tour professionals.
When you don’t have complete trust, that’s
when commitment becomes important.
You see, committing to a plan of action, a
shot selection, or a putting line, and
actually striking the ball with authority
helps develop trust. Without commitment,
there is the tendency to be mentally
distracted, have doubts, and second-guess
yourself prior to executing. While the full
trust that all will be well may not be
achieved, with commitment you give yourself
the best chance for something good to
happen. As the late Payne Stewart was quoted
as saying, “it’s better to commit to the
wrong thing in golf than to be uncommitted to
the correct thing”. So, put in practical
terms, how can you implement this notion into
your game?
1. If you are in between clubs on a shot,
pick one, be decisive, and commit fully to
that choice.
2. If you aren’t sure if the putt breaks
six inches or ten inches left to right,
choose one and make an authoritative stroke.
3. Begin to recognize how many times
you’ve hit a shot without being committed,
and challenge yourself to pull the trigger
only after you’ve eliminated the other
options out of your mind.
Every time you’re on the golf course is an
opportunity for you to get feedback about
yourself as a player. The most accurate
feedback you’ll receive is when you’ve made
full commitments to the shots that you hit,
and then make adjustments for the future.
Without that, you may never trust certain
aspects of your game, no matter how regularly
you practice or play.
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