The "Smile Source".
Golf is game that triggers lots of emotions.
The negative ones can be very challenging... especially for younger golfers.
Anxiety
Frustration
Anger
Can be particularly challenging.
One of the best ways to overcome the negative emotions is to emphasize the things you love in the "process" of playing golf... and reinforce those on a daily basis.
Smile Sources are the things that make you smile every time they do them, whether you are on the range or on the course.
The sound of a well struck shot... the feel of a rhythmic swing... the look of an ideal flight.
Research scientists call it autotelic action.
Action that you do because you love the action itself... the process of playing golf no matter what the results are.
Focus on the process of playing and not the result... is a very popular phrase and it's popular for a reason.
It works.
Here is an analogy.
If you are going to take a test in school you may want to achieve an A for the test (shoot a low score in golf).
But while you are taking the test... you have to put all your focus on answering the questions.
If your mind wanders to the grade you want (result) while you are answering the questions (process) you are "stealing" Focus from answering the questions.
The same is true for golf.
Put all your focus on hitting each shot the best you can and the grade/score will take care of itself.
Focusing on the score you want to shoot... just creates unnecessary expectations, pressure and anxiety.
This can be a big challenge when you first start working on it... Especially for juniors.
It helps to have a guide who has walked people through the process before.
We are all programmed to focus on the score for each hole, the score for the nine, and the score for the 18.
But in my 20 plus years of working with golfers learning to tune your focus to the process of hitting shots during the round is a very powerful tool for having more fun while you're playing and also playing better.
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