What do you say to yourself when golfing gets tough, and what do you say to yourself when in a bad mood on the golf course? equally, what do other people say to themselves in those situations?

How does self-talk work? Well, that is very simple. Positive self-talk puts you in a positive mood and negative self-talk puts you in bad mental state.  Moreover, positive self-talk takes you into a good mental state which will make you feel good and play well. 

Imagine if your best friend spoke to you and gave you bad talk when you could not hit the golf ball properly. That would really hurt wouldn’t it. It would also make your game even worse. This is the reason why your best friend never would consider speaking to you like that. 

At the same time some people speak negative to themselves, which probably has an even bigger impact than when one’s best friend does it. 

Be your own best friend. Imagine when your best friend tells you something. Best friends only want to help. Many people listen very closely when getting feedback from their best friend. On the golf course you are your own best friend, and you give yourself feedback in the form of self-talk. Make sure your self-talk makes you play better. I.e., your self-talk should get you into a mental state that works for you. See the techniques above for more detail. 

Golf is a game where there are tons of time for self-talk and tons of time for the mind to wander. The mind will always find something to do if you don’t take control and make sure your mind does the right thing. 

Be you own best friend. What would your best friend say to help you play good golf?

Your best friend would say something that gets you into the mental state that makes sure you play well. 

22.1 Mahatma Gandhi, NLP beliefs and golf

Mahatma Gandhi was number two on the Time Magazine (1999) list of most important people of the century. Gandhi was second to Albert Einstein. 

Gandhi is quoted for the following:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

NLP works with beliefs because they are fundamental to our thoughts, words, actions, habits values and destiny. 

If you believe it, you can hit the golf ball and get to your target. Believing will have a great impact on your actions and therefore on your success.