When it comes to managing you emotions you have a choice:
Use or Get Abused
The Big Picture of the Mental Game for Golf is that you have three brain systems:
• Thinking Brain – logic, analysis and thought
• Body Brain – sensory and motor systems
• Emotional Brain – chemical responses to situations
The “Thinking Brain” is for making sure you are choosing the correct shot for your current situation.
The “Body Brain” is your optimum tool for swinging the club.
The “Emotional Brain” can help you or hurt you… depending on your response to it.
We need a bit of science to background to clarify how that works:
Emotions are chemical responses to external stimulus
• See water all down the right side of a golf hole (external stimulus)
• Adrenaline (and other neurochemicals) are released (fight or flight preparation)
You experience a Feeling in response to the Emotion and the triggered Chemicals in your brain.
The next step is where you can learn to use the emotion or get abused by it.
You can train your response to the Emotion.
You have a choice of what to feel:
• Oh Crap… water!
Anxiety, Fear, Panic
OR
• Challenges strengthen my Focus(adrenaline helps me)
Excitement, Opportunity
Bottom Line… you can’t control the stimulus (triggers) but you can learn to select your response.
That is the “Secret” to Managing your Emotions for Golf.
If you want to do a deep dive into this process... you may want to join my Mental Game Mastermind Program.
PM me for details.
