Copyright 2006 Kim Wist

We all dream of hitting the ball straight and far, landing softly on the green and rolling towards the hole, walk up to the ball, make the putt and move to the next tee

In our dreams golf is simple and easy, no hassle, no looking after lost balls, no feeling of embarrassment, we are just mastering the art of golf, we have a good golf swing and we are in control of our mind.

A lovely dream! But what is our reality? Getting little late on the course and not having time to go to the range, nervously driving on the first hole into the woods, but forgiving ourselves because after all we were late, and didnt have that time to warm up double bogey on the first hole, not feeling good at the second either after 9 holes the game is lost, but our thoughts are already on the next round, or maybe we just want to get quickly home and forget about this miserable game...

In our dream it wasnt like this. In our dream we controlled the ball with our perfect golf swing and we were also in control of our emotions. We know it can happen, because we have done it so often on odd holes, we just dont seem to be able to make it work for the whole round, but the dream is there someday I will do it, someday I will play that perfect round or golf. After I done that, my self confidence is going to be so high, I will keep on playing at that level. I dont have to play with these guys Im currently playing with the important low scoring guys in the club will ask me to play with them, and I will be looked up to! This is who I am and what I deserve! I just need some time to work on my game next summer I will do it

If these feelings sound even remotely familiar to you, read on.

Firstly, the dream can come true. But it is going to take some sacrifices before it will be reality. It will mean a good golf swing and physical control, but above all mind control and taking control of the nerves.

One very important part of being successful at anything is self understanding. Now I dont mean that we make a training program, which might also be important, but it is a question of our dreams versus reality psychologically speaking. Let me explain this concept little more:

If we crave for fantastic results and have unrealistic dreams that we cannot reach, we are going to create unnecessary pressure in our system. This pressure is going to lead to uncontrolled psychological state of mind, and that will result as bad golf, which again is going to burst out as anger.

Golf is a mind game above all. We can play much better within our limits, if we can be clear minded about our skills and what we want and not have unrealistic expectations.

Have you ever tried to be calm and untouched even though you play badly? Is it possible to decide that no matter what is going to happen out there, Im not going to loose my calm? If you can do this, you are controlling your mind and not letting the mind control you. It is very easy to get out there and just see what the round has to give you today. No expectations, no worries, just looking at your game as it was somebody elses game. And you know what, it is somebody elses game to everybody else but you others will not punish you because you missed an easy putt, it is you being hard to youre self that is creating the bad feelings and pressure. The problem is called what needs to be and what is. What needs to be is not reality, what is, IS REALITY, but we dont want to see it because of what needs to be.

I will go deeper into this later, in my next article coming soon, so stay tuned and you will be getting results!