“Equipment For Your Mind™”: Manufacturing a Mindset
Each week on the PGA, LPGA and Nationwide tours professional golfers are presented with the latest and greatest clubs that the manufacturers have to offer. What is the problem with that you ask? Imagine each week before you go play, you had to worry about what clubs were in your bag, what worked and what didn’t. You would be a head case for sure!
Professional players do need to keep up on what their equipment is or is not doing because those clubs represent, in part, the tools by which the players make their living. For the rest of the golfing world, we play golf not to make our living. Thus changing clubs every other month leads to what I call, “Manufacturing a Mindset.”
Recall, if you will, the last new club you purchased. It felt so good in your hands, like it was made from the golfing gods, just for you. You could do no wrong with the club. Even when you did, it “magically” corrected whatever you were doing wrong! This club was amazing and was worth every penny you shelled out for it. You were convinced. After a couple of weeks go by you noticed that the “magic” in the club seemed to be wearing off and shots weren’t as crisp, tight or correcting themselves like before. Finally, after a month or so, you noticed that this club was not the club you thought and you were back on the hunt for the next “magical” club. This is how we manufacture a mindset.
As you no doubt know, it is not the club that makes the ball fly straight. It is your belief in the club that does it. However, when we build our confidence around a club and not ourselves, we keep the cycle of a “new club mindset” going which gets in our own way of truly improving. Now this is not to say that new clubs or being aware of your equipment doesn’t have its place, it does. Rather, it is the player who chases every new club that hits the market who is seeking to manufacture a mindset. Instead create a mindset to improve your game, no matter what clubs you are playing.
This week as the players prepare for the second major tournament of the year, The U.S. Open, all the work on their clubs was done long before they take them to the course. Unlike most, they have had time to practice with their new clubs and are sure the clubs work with their game and mindset for Bethpage Black. Not searching for the next “magical” club. Professional players know that it is imperative not to be worrying about what their clubs are doing; rather a clear focus on scoring low is what they seek as their primary thought.
Prescription for the week:
Before you just run out and buy that new club, ask yourself what it is you are seeking from that club. And, do you really need it? Ensure that you are not just buying a new club because it looks good or is the latest fad or trying to buy a fresh new mindset. You can make your new mindset by working on your head game instead of just buying a new club and prolonging the agony of the fading, new club magic.
Dr. Travis Fox, DCH, PhD
“Psychological Evangelist™”
Creator of “The Get Psyched Coaching Program™” and the new book “Get Psyched™” available June 10th, 2009
Part of the HyPerformance Relaxation Series™ and HyPerformance Sports™
www.LifeCoachingVideoTips.com
www.MillionMindsProject.com
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May 2009