Your Thoughts as You Drive to the Course

I've been asked to write a series of articles for Want Better Golf. It's a great blog that all golfers should consider following. The article below is the second for Want Better Golf.


Your Thoughts as You Drive to the Course

There’s a great moment in the movie The Replacements during which we find the replacement quarterback, Shane Falco, portrayed by Keanu Reeves, standing alone one evening on the football field in an empty stadium. (The professional players are on strike, and Falco and others have crossed the line to take their places.) The replacement coach steps into frame and asks Falco what he’s doing.

Falco shrugs, clearly he’s been lost in thought, and replies “Just watching the game.”

What do you think about as you drive to the course for a round of golf? Have you ever thought about what you think about? Maybe you should, think about it, that is.

We’ve explored in previous posts on this blog how our thoughts affect our shots and our game. This begins long before we pull out the big dog (aka driver) on the first tee!

Falco was visioning the game that he was to play the next day. He was watching the game in his mind, in his thoughts. He’s already spent countless hours preparing his body, working out. And he knows all the plays and has practised them all many times. Of equal importance, he’s now preparing his mind, his thoughts.

As you drive to the course for a round of golf, if you’re like most golfers, you’re likely thinking about just about anything EXCEPT your round of golf. Maybe you’re making some phone calls; hopefully doing so hands free! Maybe you’re thinking about other things you have to do, or humming along to a great tune. Or worrying about your finances, your children, your significant other, your pet, or hoping you have enough gas or time to get to the course!

Are any of these thoughts helping your game? Are you willing to invest a little time, the time it takes you to drive to the course, in a better round of golf?

Why not vision, or envision, the round of golf that you desire? Why not play each shot, exactly as you want it to occur, in your mind? Why not take this time, while also focusing upon your driving, of course, to focus some of your thoughts upon the targets you’ll pick as you play your round?

Your thoughts affect your shots and your game. It’s never too early to start focusing your thoughts on what you want in your next round of golf.

So if you’re driving to the course with a friend, and he/she asks you why you seem to be lost in thought, what you’re doing, you can reply, “Just watching the game.”

In the meantime, before you start making your next round of golf great, make today a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!