What Gets in the Way of Playing Your Best in Golf and Business?

In what areas of your game or life do you tend to doubt yourself more than others?

Do you worry about embarrassing yourself on the course or at work?

Are you frequently criticizing yourself?

The above questions all point to examples of interference.  We tend to think of interference or distractions as external factors. For example, a playing partner that has poor etiquette, slow play, wind, maintenance crew, etc. However, our internal dialogue is often the greatest source of interference which affects our ability to perform at our best.

Three types of internal interference are:

Self-doubt “I don’t know if I can play as well today as I did yesterday.” Maybe I don’t belong here. I’m out of my league” “I am not qualified to do this job.”

Self-consciousness “I hope I don’t screw up in front of my friends or husband.” “What are they going to think of me if I don’t play well?”  “I hope I don’t embarrass myself in front of my boss.”

Self-judgment “What an idiot! I can’t believe I missed that three-foot putt! That’s ridiculous!” “What’s wrong with me?!”

The brain is designed to pay more attention to negative thoughts or things that might harm us. In light of this fact, more emphasis should be placed on the positive aspects of your game. Fortunately, you have control over internal interference.  By paying more attention to your habits and becoming aware of your self-talk you can then make a choice to change it, eliminate the interference and improve your performance.

If you’d like to learn more from Elena and get your golf game on, clear your calendar for the upcoming Women & Business Golf Series beginning May 16th.  This  is a five- week series that will include four weeks of clinic work to focus on improving your game and learning how to do business on the golf course from successful business women. On the fifth week you will play 9 holes of golf to implement what you have learned and then enjoy networking over hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

Elena King, Director of Instruction, ExperienceGolf at CommonGround Golf Course and Dr. Denise McGuire, Performance Coach, coach golfers of all abilities, by sharing processes that enable students to tap into their own resources to achieve their best on each shot, resulting in a more enjoyable golf experience.   Elena and Denise provide services for individuals, groups, corporate outings and keynote speaking.