by Michael Riggs, M.Ed.<\/p>\n
You will never be able to play golf better than you actually see yourself playing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The concept of self-image simply applies to the way that you\u00a0see yourself<\/strong>\u00a0as a golfer. If your image of yourself is that of a great player with a smooth swing, soft touch around the greens, and wielding a deadly putter, well, be confident that you are headed toward that reality. While it may not mean that you will be a scratch player any time soon, or even claiming a single-digit handicap, but it does mean that you have placed the correct\u00a0image<\/strong>\u00a0of being a quality player in your own mind — giving yourself a chance at becoming that\u00a0image<\/strong>.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you\u00a0see yourself<\/strong>\u00a0as a hack that can\u2019t hit a fairway to save his life, a poor wedge player, or a choke unable to make a pressure-filled putt, you\u2019re right. The mind works in a painfully funny way.<\/p>\n Your mind will not allow you to be, on a consistent basis, anything more than you suggest to it. The best players see themselves as great players<\/strong>, first.\u00a0 Not the other way around. From early on, the best players at all levels have dreamt and imagined playing golf at a very high level. They see themselves<\/strong> making key putts and hitting stiff wedges time and time again. They see themselves<\/strong> staying cool and calm under pressure while their opponents melt down. They see themselves<\/strong> wearing green jackets and hoisting golden trophies. They see themselves<\/strong> as winners. As a result, each of the small steps required to become their best were attacked with energy, enthusiasm and confidence \u2013 knowing that each was a vital ingredient for a perfect pie.<\/p>\n Do your best to regularly see yourself<\/strong> hitting great shots in big matches against your key rivals. Make the most of the opportunity to see yourself<\/strong> as a quality player.\u00a0 See it first. Be it second.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n S\u00b2 Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n Never swing the club until you have seen yourself successfully hitting the shot at hand.<\/p>\n Success Story<\/strong><\/p>\n Senior Wyndham Clark<\/a> of Valor Christian HS in Highlands Ranch Colorado proceeded to rip up the course at the 2011 state championship with a casual 64,64 (16 under par) with no bogeys or worse. WOW! Wyndham is off to Oklahoma State University<\/a> to play for the Cowboys next fall.<\/p>\n \u00a0In Another\u2019s Words\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cVictorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first seeking to win.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sun-Tzu, military strategist<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Michael Riggs, M.Ed. You will never be able to play golf better than you actually see yourself playing. The concept of self-image simply applies to the way that you\u00a0see …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/10\/peter-drew-SVuZX9jjtew-unsplash-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12362,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions\/12362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}