Improve your game from your inbox – Perseverance
Golf Psychology
By Coen Welsch – The Masters never disappoints with so many stories happening on and off the golf course and the 2017 edition was one to remember.
Sergio Garcia finally got rid of the “best golfer not to win a major” moniker. He has been playing top level golf for nearly two decades and in a time when the major winners and top-ranked golfers are getting younger he may have thought his chances of winning a major were over.
However, he managed just that on the first play-off hole vs Justin Rose. This display is an example of grit.
Angela Duckworth, the psychologist famous for her research on grit, said: “grit is living life like a marathon, not a sprint.” Golf is a little like that, with so many things that need to be considered in even the simplest golf swing.
Luckily, golf is also a game you can play your whole life long and take years to perfect. You can complete the GRIT scale here: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/gritscale.htm to see what your level of grit is.
Tip of the week – Perseverance
So the question then is, how do we create and retain this grit and perseverance?
Firstly, we have to become aware of the concept of grit and perseverance. Just by knowing that it takes time and effort to improve or learn new skills, will already increase the length of time people are willing to commit to this goal.
Secondly, teach by example. So many stories are told of people such as Michael Jordan who didn’t make the high school basketball team, but didn’t give up until he became the best. We need to show others our perseverance by not giving up on golf when we hit a rough patch.
Third, focus on the process. In our section on having goals in golf we mentioned how focussing on the process instead of focussing on the outcome will help you to improve results.
Lastly, use mental contrasting. This exercise asks you to imagine a desired future result, and then try to imagine obstacles that might prevent you from attaining that goal. By doing this one can anticipate and overcome those issues.
Quote of the week
As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want. – Mike Tyson
For more tips visit www.capacitytrust.com
Coen Welsh, a qualified industrial psychologist, is an expert on the Antecedents and underlying Psychological Conditions predicting Employee Engagement.He has worked in diverse teams in the UK, Egypt and Namibia. Coen regularly gets invited to speak at HR and other conferences. He is a regular contributor to NBC National Radio as well as Tupopyeni and Off-the-Hook on NBC Television. He is a founding member of the Professional Speakers Association of Namibia. You can visit him at www.coenwelsh.com.
