MENTAL SPOTLIGHT

Key to Confidence Is Success, and key to Success Is practice

Many would say that the key to success is confidence. I would like to propose that the inverse is equally true, if not more so. That is, the key to confidence is success.

This is not a popular position to take, because it implies that there are no short cuts. We would all like to find some gimmick that would quickly and automatically make us confidence and produce a sudden metamorphosis (change, transformation) in our game. But unfortunately there are no miracle cures.

The only sure way to confidence is to succeed in situations where we would like to build confidence. If failure is all we see on the golf course and fear and doubt. On the other hand, if we regularly experience success when we play golf, then we come to associate golf with success, and this translates into confidence.

So that’s all there is to it. Just go out and start succeeding!

But wait a minute—just how do you go out and start succeeding?

         That leads us to another bitter pill to swallow. That is success comes from practice. Among football coach Lou Holtz’s repertoire (range, list ,selection, collection) of equips (supply, provide, stock) is the one that goes: “I’ve never found an athlete who didn’t want to play; they just don’t want to practice.”

On the other hand, we hear stories about such pillars of confidence as Seve ballesteros, who was reportedly taking six to eight hours to play practice rounds for the Masters, because he was practicing shots from every conceivable (imaginable, feasible) position around the greens.

While the admonitions to practice may not be the most welcome news, there is some consolation in that any lingering (lasting, remaining, persistent) confusion about the basis for our lack of progress is eliminated, and we can quit wasting our time searching for “quick fixes.”

It’s kind of like having some mysterious (peculiar, strange) physical ailment and being afraid to go and find out it’s just as bad as you thought it was. But ironically, it’s a relief to find that out for certain, even if the news is bad. The relief comes from the realization that you can now get started on the productive route of doing something about your problem.

Of course, the remedy for your golfing woes is a systematic program for practice that is consistent with psychological of learning.

So as you start this golf season, make a realistic plan regarding practice and stick with it. Keep a record of your performance (and remember that score is only one measure of performance) see if you don’t notice some improvement over the season.

Look for small, steady gains.

You may never feel confidence that you can go out and break par. But at least you can build you confidence in your ability to achieve the realistic goals toward which your practice program is targeted.

This article is from the book “The Complete Golfer: Physical Skill and Mental Toughness” by Dr. Tom Dorsel, the sport psychologist.