• share:
• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Share on Orkut
• Share on Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet this
• Tell a friend

Spring is one of the most exciting times of the golf season because it is the promise of a new golf season. As the saying goes: “Out with the old and in with the new!” This means good news for many of us. The promise of something new may mean new clubs, new beginnings and new golf goals for the season of 2008! And nothing has more promise than the bright polish of a new putter that has not been struck or a pair of new golf shoes that are fresh out of the box.

Spring also means the arrival of fresh blooms on the tulip and cherry trees and the unmistakable aroma of freshly mown grass. Nothing compares to the feeling like a walk to the first tee in the crisp morning air. These sensorial pleasures are more than reason enough to be fired up for a fresh new season. Oh, the joy of it all! Spring and golf…they go together like Augusta and a green jacket! You can’t have one without thinking about the other! For so many golfers like yourself, you have been busy cleaning your clubs and watching tournaments on TV and now you are ready to start your own golf season with expectations of grandeur! Think of it: A new golf season to try out your new dedication to fitness, nutrition and most certainly, a new attitude for mental and physical training. The glory that is to be reaped from just participating in this grand game is more than reason enough to start celebrating!

However, as this new season starts, it is important to understand that your excitement for spring golf to begin can also bring some mental issues that may need to be addressed in order for you to play your best this year. For a great many of us, having big- time golf expectations often interfere with our ability to simply go out and golf with a “play” focus and to enjoy our day on the course. This in turn, robs many of us to tap into our true golfing potential. Oftentimes, placing great expectations on how we want to play this year (let alone each round) tends to be counterproductive and interfere with our golfing talent. Let me explain how your personal “great expectations” may hurt your ability to play and score your best!

Great Expectations: From Good to Bad–Then Ugly
First, when golfers place preconceived expectations about how they are going to play or how well they will score, they create a “benchmark or performance standard” that interferes with their golfing talent. The result expectations of how they “should” play take them out of the present moment and rob them of their ability to create “flow” and enjoy each moment as the round progresses. This “should” mentality interferes with a player’s ability to focus on the shot at hand. Instead of a golfer playing and accepting the result, (whether the result is good or bad), he or she may think that they should have done better or that they should have made a better swing on that shot! This self-evaluation and critical judgment leads a player to berate their talent and hold themselves emotionally hostage to a “must or should be” situation! Because golfers hold themselves emotionally hostage by their pre-set expectations about how they “should” play, they turn a good day into a bad one by having a poor mindset from the very start of the round.

In sport psychology, we call the “must” or “should” mentalities as attitudinal diseases labeled “mustitis” (pronounced MUST EYE TIS) and “the tyranny of the shoulds!” How many times have you been over a shot and said to yourself: “I must make this shot!” Or, “I should be better than this!” Sound familiar? Golfers often become more concerned with achieving this “expected” standard of score than with what needs to be done with the present shot.

This result focus creates tension and disappointment if they feel they are not reaching their “expected” measure of success. This expected measure of success often means the outcome or numerical score. So many times during the start of a new season, a golfer will make an outcome or result goal with the notion that having a target score will help to motivate his or her game. Nothing could be further from the truth! Result or outcome goals are ineffective strategies that a player should avoid at the start of the new golf season. This is because when the result or score doesn’t match a player’s expected ideal; disappointment and discouragement are soon to follow. The idea of playing an enjoyable round of golf has now turned into a day of work and frustration. With every unfulfilled standard that is not met due to unrealistic expectations, frustration and disappointment sets in and robs players of their confidence and composure. What started out as a day of promise turns ugly. This dilemma is due to a number of “expectancies” that are self-created by golfers of all abilities. A few of these expectation “traps” that golfers frequently fall into are:

Achieving The “Good”: What You should Expect of Yourself

Now that you have an idea of how expectations can affect your performance in a negative fashion, you’re probably asking, what should I expect while getting ready to play or when I am in the middle of my round? Is it wrong to anticipate playing well or shooting a good score? Are there any “good thoughts or good expectations” that can assist me in having a great day on the links? Here are a few strategies that will help.

• Adopt a mindset that says “I expect the best, but I am prepared for the worst”
What this means is that you have prepared your mind and body to do the very best you can on each shot and that you can handle anything that comes along. The great Walter Hagen once said, “Whatever happens on the golf course is okay, because if I put the ball in trouble, I know I have the skills to get it out of trouble and back into play”. I think this is a great way to think because it provides you, the performer, with an attitude that provides you with self-control, no matter what the results or circumstances that prevail. This philosophy worked quite well for Walter; it can also work for you.

• Develop the philosophy that the only thing you expect of yourself is that on every shot, you make the commitment to swing with trust to your target and accept your result and move on to the next shot with the same expectation of your commitment.
The expectancy of being totally committed to each shot allows a golfer to shoot low scores by virtue of not trying to post a score or force shots in order to create a score. What this strategy does is provide you with the commitment to swing with trust on each and every shot. It also provides you with the ability to accept what you cannot control. Playing golf with the expectancy that you are giving every shot your complete commitment and accepting the result is the best way to start playing to your true potential. It also allows you the focused concentration to play golf one shot at a time and to control each moment to the best of your ability. By doing this, you will find that at the end of the day, the result takes care of itself by virtue of making committed baby steps and staying in the present.

• Expect the Unexpected
Expecting the unexpected is a strategy that suggests you not become so upset or dejected when things might go wrong. Learning to remain patient and realizing that the inconsistencies and unexpected ironies of the day’s play are what make this the greatest game ever invented by man. Knowing that unexpected events, bounces and shots will happen (and they will happen) during a round of golf is what makes the game of golf interesting and fun. The mystery of not really knowing what may or may not happen is what keeps bringing you back for more!

A Final Word
Result or outcome expectations that take your mind away from enjoying each moment on the course need to be eliminated from your golfing acumen. In order to get off to a great start this spring, relax and leave your outcome expectations outside the golf course gates! Play in the present moment and swing to your target with confidence and trust. The sooner you can eliminate the burden of scoring expectations and the “must or should” mentalities, the sooner you will play to your true potential the rest of the year and keep your mental game in good shape!

Dr. Robert K. Winters, is an internationally renowned sport psychologist who works with competitive golfers from around the world. He is a GFM Advisory Team Member. To learn more about Dr. Winters, log onto www.golffitnessmagazine.com/advisoryteam