How your core values can help you play better golf.
One of my favorite things to do before I play a round of golf is when I pull up to the course, park my car, cut off the engine… I just sit there.
Instead of immediately jumping out of the car, putting on my shoes, getting my golf bag and before I know it I’m 10 minutes into a putting warmup.
But what do I do while I’m just sitting there? I’m not literally just sitting there. I’m pausing to take a moment to remind myself how I want this round of golf to go. Or even more importantly, who I want to be during this round of golf.
This is much deeper than what I want to shoot, what shot shape I’m going to play, or what my course strategy is. It’s more mental and emotional. I’m setting an intention of what’s important to me. A reminder of my values. Here are some examples of how I want to be be during the round:
- Patient
- Resilient
- Accepting
- Freed up
- Joyful
- Focused
- Committed
These are some of my most important values. They transcend golf and get at who I am as a person. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from doing this newsletter and The Mental Golf Show podcast over the last six years, it’s how all of this isn’t just golf psychology, it’s human psychology.
The way we want to be, the how we want things to go—those are bigger than golf. Which means they travel. They apply to whatever round of golf you’re playing in. You could be playing a solo 9 holes at your home course, or the finals of a USGA Championship, and exhibit the same values.
And best of all—you can control them. You don’t have to wait for the circumstances to be just right to live out your values. You don’t have to play good to embody who you want to be and how you want to carry yourself.
Now it’s not lost on me that being joyful or whatever isn’t going to fix your 40 yard slice. But it can influence the way you approach the shot before you hit it, and then inform how you interpret the shot after you hit it. If you’re prioritizing playing from your values, then the slice is less likely to happen, and even if it does you won’t be rocked. You’ll be ok.
And the fact that you know you’ll be ok after the shot is the very reason why you will probably hit a better one in the first place!
Rather than playing golf based on a set of results-oriented, ego-driven needs, you can experience the power of playing golf from a set of deeper, more unshakable values.
One thing for you to work on this week:
Make a list of the most important values to you. The “who do I want to be during this round” set of traits. A good question you could ask yourself is:
If you walked off the course, regardless of your score, what values would make you fulfilled with how you played?¹
Sources:
- Inspired by Raymond Prior’s excellent book Golf Beneath the Surface. p. 228 (Kindle Edition)