I think it’s safe to say we are all familiar with the mental aspects of a sport. It is often referred to as your mental game. Every sport you participate in has some mental aspect associated with it. It really doesn’t matter what you do with your physical body to perform at a higher level if your mental game is not aligned with that effort. But, what is the mental game? It’s actually a nebulous term if you think about it. Your mental game refers to what is going on in your mind while you compete or for that matter, train to compete. Where does your head go? Are your thoughts focused in the moment at hand or are you distracted? Do you have an expectation for good results or are you trying to avoid bad results? Are you calm and confident inside or are you anxious and not in a good way. In order to understand the impact of your thinking in relation to your sport, perhaps the most clear example can be found in the game of golf. Golf, unlike so many other sports, cannot be compensated for with raw athletic ability. The technical components must be replicated with precision or else it is going to be a long round. So, using golf for an example, what type of mental components must be employed in order to be successful? What are the mental aspects of the game? Your mental game.
If you are an amateur golfer with a handicap and not a scratch golfer, the first thing we can observe is how you talk to yourself and other people about the game. What words come out of your mouth most often? (I’m not talking about the frustrated swearing as that’s another thing we will get to later) Think about it. What do you say about yourself? If you are like me you say things like, “I suck at using my irons” or “I always slice when I use my driver” or worse, I hit the ball a mile left hoping it will slice back right onto the fairway. Or you make negative jokes like, “I can’t hit a par putt to save my life.” Those negative confessions are a sure fire indicator into what is going on in your mind. Oh sure, you didn’t happen upon these conclusions randomly. Likely you developed those words based on your prior performances. But, here’s the thing. Your golf game will never improve until your thoughts concerning it improve. You cannot continue declaring your ineptness and then expect a sudden transformation into a good result. It just doesn’t work that way. You have to learn how to change your thinking. You need mindset management tools.
Another example of mindset that golf provides us with is expectation. What do you expect to happen? Many amateurs wait to form that conclusion until after they have hit some balls. Maybe you are on the range practicing and your shots are predominately straight and pure. Then, when you get to the course it all goes out the window. Why? Well, for one, on the course it matters where you hit it. You are now counting strokes and a couple of quads on the first two holes can ruin your scorecard. That alone adds in some angst. Or you hit several grossly off course shots and began to doubt everything you have learned about golf. You get what golfers call the “yips.” The “yips” imply that you are now so full of self-doubt that you cannot hit anything straight. Your mindset is now working against you. Without a strategy, you are destined to have a horrible round. Your expectation is off course. If you find yourself in this jam, it is hard to extricate yourself from it. But, if you have been preparing your mind for these sudden bouts of misfortune, you can recover. Mindset management means you have done some work on your mental game ahead of time. You work on feeding your mind a new, different set of expectations. Or maybe your work involves lowering your expectations to match where you are in your golf journey. Instead of dogging yourself, throwing clubs and cursing the heavens, you learn to accept where you are with a view towards where you can be. You give yourself a mental break. The reason a golfer can become a professional golfer is because he or she has learned how to control their thinking no matter what is going on or what obstacle they may be facing. Mindset management tools help you to accelerate that process.
Finally, just as you may take some time to practice, you must also take some time to practice in your mind. Where do you see the ball going? Have you considered it or are you waiting for the “potluck” outcome? Are you clear in your mind on the technical aspects of the game? Where should your feet be positioned with each type of club? How do you address the ball at impact? Do you follow through and shift your weight forward as you swing or are you ending up still on your trail leg? You see, you have to get these things very clear in your mind while you are learning until they become second nature. Newsflash – it takes time for something to be second nature. But, you won’t be successful until you get it clear in your mind first. You have to learn how to see yourself doing it properly before you actually do it. That takes some discipline. But, mindset management tools can help you with just that.
If you are on the course playing golf and have a come apart; the kind where you bludgeon the poor turf or launch your clubs into the drink, break your club (as if it is the problem), or embarrass the heavens with your foul, cursing lash out in anger, it is likely due to your mindset. What are you doing in your mind? How did you prepare yourself ahead of time? What kind of things are you telling yourself? What is your expectation? This is your mental game and until you learn how to improve it, you cannot make any progress. Chances are, in those times when you were playing well, you were doing something different in your mind. Have you ever wondered how you improve so quickly after you say, “to hell with it, I don’t care?” It wasn’t your hopelessness that changed your game, it was your mental decision to take the pressure off yourself. For whatever reason, you quit assaulting yourself and got back to swinging the clubs just for the fun of it, though all hope for a good score was lost. Well, that too my friends is mindset. But you don’t have to wait for utter futility to help get your head right. You can work on your mental game beforehand by using mindset management tools designed by science to encourage being in the right headspace when you play. Do you need to work on your mental game? Yes, because nothing good happens without cooperation from your mind. The mental game is always the difference between champions and mere participants. The mental game!
Inspiration on Demand…