"It is not the will to win that matters, everyone has that.
It is the will to prepare to win that matters." - Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom's Featured Tip: Mental Tip - Positive Thinking
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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Use your club or hand to re-set the board after your strike
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Train with a Rypstick to improve your swing speed and gain more distance off the tee. The versatility of three different swing weights in one club makes the Rypstick your swing speed training aid of choice.
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Mental Tip - Positive Thinking
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
The Divot Board
This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
Mental Tip - Positive Thinking
Although the majority of my newsletters deal with the physical side of golf, if you neglect the mental side you'll never play optimally.
I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. If you haven't read the classic book on this subject "The Power Of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale, put it on your "To Do" list.
In the course of my normal daily golf reading and research, I came across some great information on positive thinking in golf, enjoy.
Fact: You’re always going to be more successful and happy with your golf game with positive thinking, than you are with negative thinking.
There are many damaging effects of fear of failure, most of which are "irrational fears" caused by the mind focusing more on what could possibly go wrong, rather than the possibility of success.
What is also true, is that the "wiring" or neural pathways of the brain can change so that we become more positive with daily practice or doing the "inner work". This applies to actual physical training as well as mental training.
In a very real sense, you can "think" your way to success to a degree. Your goal should be to optimize this facet of game improvement.
Every day, we can work on priming and conditioning the mind so we move away from negative thinking and towards a more positive mind that is more likely to achieve success.
Here are 5 ways to do it:
- Notice your perspective
Being able to watch your mind and notice how you are thinking or being is key. Self-awareness is essential for any change to take place. Are you thinking positively or negatively? What is a more positive way to look at an outcome or situation? Without awareness we can't direct our minds in a positive way.
- Believe you can change, improve and make your life better
"The key to success is failure." - Michael Jordan.
High achievers have the belief that they can keep growing and that mindset alone helps them do it. Growth requires iterations of failure, learning and trying again (coming back stronger).
Although failure is necessary for growth, it only helps you grow if you don't take it personally or see it as something permanent.
- Train Optimism (Mental Toughness)
Successful golfers are more optimistic. They are successful because one of the traits they have is optimism (not the other way around), so it would make sense that you learn how to develop it.
There’s no such thing as lucky people, it’s one’s perception of whether they are lucky or unlucky which makes more good things happen to people who think they are lucky. Optimistic people have conditioned themselves to see good things happening ahead, whereas pessimistic people have conditioned themselves to see the things that could go wrong.
A mindset that predicts good things happening is better positioned to deal with challenges (which is mental toughness) and there will be less distraction from envisioning a negative outcome, meaning more good things happen.
Research has shown that with daily practice, we can train optimism and increase the number of good outcomes we have. Here’s how:
Every day, write down 3 things you are grateful for about the last 24 hours. As it pertains to golf, write down 3 things (or more) that are good about your game and that you know you do well. By doing this daily, you'll start to notice that you automatically search more for positives (the definition of optimism), than you do negatives and the things that could go wrong.
- Visualize
Prime your mind to see the positive possibilities and believe that you have the tools to deal with challenges as they arise. Make it "real" by creating a picture of it in your mind. How will today be great? See yourself being the player/person you want to be and doing the successful things that you know you can do.
- Gratitude the most overlooked mental requisite for success.
It’s not that happy and more successful people have more reasons to be grateful, it’s that grateful people are more likely to be happier and more successful.
Gratitude has been proven to release feel good chemicals in the brain some of which are necessary for "Flow" and high performance. There is always a positive way to look at any situation and have gratitude. The next time you are playing golf, be grateful for being healthy enough to play and for having the time to do it. Simple thoughts like that can create a positive mood and increase chances of success.
On a personal note, I have been bothered by a bulging disc for the past couple of weeks that was threatening to obstruct the one golf trip I've been going to annually for about 28 years.
I went through a lot of ice - heat - ice early before the daily two rounds, and loaded up on Ibuprofin, and was able to swing a club fairly well. My driver was actually great because I used a long body turn more than arms and shoulders for swing speed, but for my irons I had to ratchet it back quite a bit because the ground contact is when the pain occurred in my back.
If I said it once I said it fifty times to my playing partners "I'm just grateful to be here and actually playing due to what was going on with my back," Then I added "even though I'm only hitting my 8 iron 122 yards".
Actually, that might be my new "go to" distance with that iron when my back is healed - I stuck it to 4' on one hole, and to 3" on another, and I scored at or below my handicap on each of three rounds that we played our own ball. I truly believe that my attitude of gratitude during the weekend absolutely contributed to that result.
Try adopting a positive thinking mindset for golf, you'll really like it.
Comments: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
Golf Lessons
I conduct lessons at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
there's a link for Plum Creek info here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/
Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact
me - Tom Tucker - at (716) 474 3005 or email me at TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
for more information.
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html
Indoor Lessons Details and Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html
Testimonials:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html
Sponsors and Affiliates
Buying a sponsored product through any of my affiliate links helps support this free newsletter, and I only affiliate with excellent products that I use myself. Thanks, Tom
Train with a Rypstick to improve your swing speed and gain more distance off the tee. If the versatility of three different swing weights in one club appeals to you, this is your swing speed training aid of choice.
Click here Rypstick.com to buy now, and make sure that you enter TOMTUCKERGOLF (case sensitive) in the Discount code box when you check out to receive a 5% discount.
Click here to buy your Divot Board to drastically improve your ball-striking. Combine your Divot Board practice and putting practice with the included putting lesson drills, and watch your scoring improve!.
Use your club or hand to re-set the board after your strike
Click here to buy now for outstanding Ball-Striking practice feedback
BONUS: when you buy through the newsletter link above, you'll also receive free access to my Putting Lesson Videos ($50 value) which cover: The Elevated Aimline Drill, The Squareness Awareness Drill, The Aimline Accuracy Drill, The Stock Putting Stroke Drill, The Barrier Drill, The Short Putt Channel Drill, and more.
Click here SuperSpeedGolf.com to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee.
SuperSpeedGolf.com Buy now and get to work on increasing your swing speed now.
Club Champion Don't waste another dollar on clubs until you've gone through a fitting at Club Champion, 1669 Pittsford Victor Rd., Suite 400, Victor NY 14564. Call Master Fitter & Builder Jeff St. John. PGA work: (585) 978-8513, cell: (585) 831-2292 to schedule your fitting today! Mention my name and you'll get special attention.
The Crocbox Click through for details on the exclusive TomTuckerGolf discount available only to my newsletter readers.
The perfect choice for a discreet practice net in your yard.
Pop it up in 45 seconds, fold it down and close the weatherproof box lid when you're done. Click Through for the exclusive TomTuckerGolf Crocbox Discount .
Plum Creek Driving Range and Simulator Outdoor range and play indoor golf on any of our 40 Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve time for simulator play or practice!
Batavia Country Club (585) 343-7600 www.bataviacc.com
Great rates, the best greens in WNY.
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Tee times online or by phone in season.
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan