28. Be Your Own Mental Coach

Golf is much about improving different aspects of the game. My question to you is: how do you know if you improve the specific golf technique you are working on?

This is an essential question and the only answer as far as I can see, is the wise words of Scientist Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) who invented the international system of absolute temperature which is named Kelvin scale.

Never ending improvement of golf mechanics is paramount in golf and many golfers at many different levels do this. But do they measure it? Do they measure the drills? Do they score the different skills in golf and measure if they improve?

Well, that is golf mechanics, and this book is not about golf mechanics. This book is about mental strategies. 

In this book we want to improve your mental strategies, which is why we need a measurement. The Mental score card in chapter 11.2 shows you how you can track your own mental strategies in golf.  The mental score card will show you where you are doing well and where you can improve. You are your own mental coach when you start focusing on your mental strategies and even more so, when you start improving a specific mental strategy that you singled out for mental training. 

The good thing is, you will start improving your game almost immediately when you improve your mental game. I played a game of golf with a friend where he was doing badly on the first 7 holes. I then engaged in a chat with him. We came about a birdie he did many years ago. It was three fantastic strokes where the third stroke ended up giving him a very nice birdie. I asked him about all the details regarding his birdie. He ended up in a much better mood, which made him play well again. 

You can do this to yourself and be your own coach. See exercise 1, GDS for more details.

The feedback circle is essential when it comes to coaching, training, and improvement. See chapter 29 for more in-depth details on the feedback circle. 

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