Master your emotions and your performance

Here on the eve of the 2019 Masters Tournament I thought it would be a good idea to relate how you the golfer feel about The Masters and how you feel about your golf game, your practice, your next shot, etc.

If you are like most all golfers, starting tomorrow your emotions around golf are peaking!  The Masters is the most watched major of the year by far since it is the start of the golf season for many in the world but more importantly, the first Major Championship of each year.

Since it is a major your feelings and emotions about golf are probably very high, and the words you would use to describe the tournament that starts tomorrow would be excited, joy, appreciative of the start and anticipation.  Obviously those are all very positive words around this tournament.

Most players I ask state that they feel The Masters is the best tournament to watch and of course every golfer I know wants to play Augusta National.  I have been there 4 times to The Masters and each time I am in aw of the look, the feel and atmosphere and the incredible terrain the course sits on.  It is very hilly, and television does it no justice at all to how incredible the terrain is, how small the greens are, the fairways that are like the greens of most courses you play.  All of it is incredible.  

The anticipation each player I know and feelings they have about The Masters should in some way reflect the feelings each player has about their own golf game.  However this is seldom the case for golfers.  Unless you have been playing really well lately, you probably are not always excited about all parts of your golf game.

And that is a major problem for any golfer.

If you are wanting change to your 2019 golf season you are certainly going to have to change some things that you did in 2018 that did not serve you so well.  From one perspective, what you did last year is what you did in the known.  You probably reacted to bad shots the same way, held the same emotional reactions that kept you bound to more of the same situations over and over.  You also probably were pessimistic about parts of your game and that negative emotion and attitude certainly did not serve you too well.

So here sits the 2019 season which is the Unknown which means that you have a whole new set of circumstances and situations that await you for this season.  Literally these situations are unknown to you at this time.  

Last year you probably got into a rut of following the same thoughts before shots, make the same decisions after seeing a shot you did not like, making the same programmed habits of reaction shot after shot, round after round, tournament after tournament.

Well it is a new year and it is time for some new energy to come your way.  As I mentioned you are probably pretty excited about watching The Masters these next 4 days.  You have no idea who will win, if your favorite player will do well, if it will rain there and not be the sunny green place you love to see on TV.  However, you are still excited about what is going to transpire.  And what will occur is Unknown to you at this moment.

So a challenge for you going into this next golf season is to look at it from the unknown view.  Rather than start the season off with the same reactions you had last year, after seeing a shot slice to the right or go into the bunker near the green and so on.  Choose to embrace the unknown of what will transpire next.

So much of your golf game revolves not only around your swing but more so at many times by your mental reaction or anticipation you have as you play.  Last year you probably had fear of shots you would face, anger about shots you just created, shame in front of your friends as you hit a poor shot.  You felt victimized at times because you had the same poor outcome happen over and over.  

As the saying goes, "you are what you think".  As you can see, last year you probably had many poor thoughts and your thinking and expectations and anger that just never helped you.  All those negative thoughts and emotions continue to attract more and more bad situations and outcomes.

The Masters tournament has unknown outcomes arriving in the next four days, and as of now you are excited to see what transpires.  That excitement and feeling of appreciation for golf, joy of playing and watching it, fun and anticipation of who will do what is sitting in your mind.  All of those thoughts and emotions are positive aspects you need to see as why you love The Masters so much.  Each year you sense the same excitement and you need to do the same with your golf game this year.

This excitement and joy of the unknown for you should be exuded for every practice session, every round of golf you play, every shot you are going to take.  The positive outlook you have can only raise your vibration and energy around your golf game.  You have that energy now and I bet as you watch any of The Masters in the next four days you will be dying to get to a course and play ASAP.

That emotion you have to go play these next four days is the emotion you need to have EVERY time you play.
No matter what the outcome , keep that emotion up.  If you do not, the energy you finished the last season with that you have some regrets about will return and your golf improvement for 2019 be stunted and slowed down or even halted.

Notice the joy and excitement you have these next four days and take that feeling with you for every round this year, every tournament you play, every practice session you have and every shot you take.  If you fall back to past poor emotions, this next year will not bring you rewards because the energy you have as you play is always reflected by your performance on the range or the course.