How thinking positive can turn your golf game around
Baseball, basketball and hockey players have all experienced scoring slumps at one time or another.
The same is true in golf.
As a matter of fact, we are watching Jordan Speith experiencing one of those slumps right now. He has missed consecutive cuts at The Players Championship and this past weekend at The Byron Nelson.
I'm sure Jordan is working hard right now, not only on his mechanics (golf swing), but also on his mental approach to get his game back in the groove.
This brings me to Dan P., one of Ivanhoe Club's really solid players. Dan came up to me this past weekend and asked, "Jim, I'm really in a slump. How do I get out of it"?
Without evaluating Dan's swing, I told him to approach each shot with more positive thoughts as opposed to negative thoughts. So much of your performance is dictated by your mental state.
When we are hitting errant shots, many times we already have it in our minds that we are going to hit a poor shot.
For example, if there's a water hazard right of the green on your approach shot, and you picture it in your mind that you're going to hit it into that hazard, inevitably you will.
Instead of thinking negatively, envision the positive outcome before you make that shot.
Before I hit a shot, whether it be off the tee, or a chip, or an approach shot, I always picture in my mind the actual ball flight that I would like to have for that particular shot. I never picture in my mind the ball not going where I don't want it to go.
The bottom line: focus on positive results and not negative results. By focusing on the negative you are only defeating yourself.
Will a positive thought process solely cure a slump? Not necessarily, but it will get you on the right track.
Your next step is to get together with your PGA Professional and have him or her evaluate your swing mechanics. Just a slight adjustment there can lead to even more positive results.
<h3 class="leadin">Ask the Pro:</h3>
If you have a golf question, please submit it to golftips@ivanhoeclub.com for future consideration. While I can't answer every question, I'll include ones of general interest in future columns.
• Jim Sobb is the PGA director of golf at Ivanhoe Club in Ivanhoe, IL. A member of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, Sobb is a three-time winner of the Illinois PGA Championship, with eight major championships in Illinois PGA events overall, and is a two-time Illinois PGA Golf Professional of the Year. For more on Jim and Ivanhoe Club, the home of the 2017 Rust-Oleum Championship (June 5-11), visit ivanhoeclub.com.