Playing
in the Present
One of the hardest
things to communicate to a golfer is the importance of changing
their world view from outcome to process thinking because they
have been conditioned by society from birth to judge their success
from their outcome results. It takes a leap of faith to trust that perfecting
the process, which includes staying in the present and not thinking,
will produce the results one is striving to achieve. It's like
trying to explain the "sound of one hand clapping".
Would you like to increase
your concentration or keep from losing your focus during a round
of golf? Would you like to play without fear or being nervous?
Would you like to eliminate mental mistakes or mental collapses
when you have the lead? Of course you would. By training your
mind to play in the present, you greatly increase your ability
to do so.
Playing in the present
is exactly what it is -- the present. You are in the present when
you are without any thoughts or concerns about the past or future.
Nothing else exists except the present and the truth of your circumstances.
Your past brought you into the present and how well you do in
the present will create your future. Any thoughts about the past
or future take you out of the present and affect your ability
to perform to your full potential in the moment, which is all
you have.
Explaining the present is the easy part. The hard part is to fully
REALIZE that the present is the only thing that matters because
it is the only thing that exists. Everything else is just a fairy
tale that exists in your imagination or desires.
Golfers with a strong
mental game realize that the present is all that they can control.
They have learned to play in the present without concern about
the past or future outcomes. They realize the power of just being
in the moment with the full intention and expectation to accomplish
their desires without attachment to the results. When they are
at their best, they play on instinct and trust their subconscious
or "it" to make it happen for them.
Learning to play in the present on instinct requires time and
effort. That is why experience is such a priceless commodity.
Because when all else fails, the truth emerges from one's experiences
if you are honest with yourself. By training your mind to play
in the present, you can shorten the time required to experience
the power of being free to play on instinct and in the zone. Unfortunately,
many golfers never learn to stop dwelling on their past and future
outcomes.
The trick to being
in the present is to allow yourself to learn from the feedback
each shot provides without your ego being involved in the outcome.
By being honest about your present mechanical, strategic, physical
and mental limitations, you will increase your awareness of what
you can do to improve your present abilities. Then, it becomes
a question of how strong your desire is to make the necessary
changes or adjustments to improve.
If you don't have the
desire or time to do the work to improve, that's OK. Just make
sure that you play in the present without thinking or concern
about the outcome so you can get the most mileage from your present
limitations. If you do, you will shoot lower scores.
If
you have not read "The Mental Keys To Improve Your Golf", you
will benefit greatly from my book by seeing the whole picture
instead of just pieces contained in my mental tips.
I guarantee it! So
order now and lower your score.
