Improve your game from your inbox – Stick to the Plan!
Coen Welsh on the Psychology of Golf – Bryson DeChambeau is probably the most unorthodox player on the PGA Tour at the moment. He has tried to putt side saddle and all his irons are the same length.
His approach to golf has finally been vindicated by winning the 2017 edition of the John Deere classic. Being a science major he has analysed every single element of golf. He told PGATour.com “You’re going down the road you’ve chosen and you’re comfortable with it, and you know it’s going to, in the end, be the right thing.”
However, things were not going right for him this year. He missed 8 cuts in a row including missing the cut at the U.S. Open. People were telling him to go back to the ‘normal’ way of doing things. He didn’t. He persisted with his way and it has paid off for him.
Tip of the week – Stick to the plan
Bryson DeChambeau has a plan and he is sticking to it. This is also the tip of the week. When you play a round of golf you tend to adapt and change your game accordingly as the round unfolds. As we saw in the case above, often we just need a few putts to drop or hit a few fairways in order to vindicate the plan.
So the next time you tee up try to identify your strategy before you play.
Maybe you want to implement a new pre shot routine. Or maybe you want to ‘manage’ the course by not going for the greens every time. Whatever your strategy is, our tip is to stick to it throughout the round.
Even if you feel like it’s going awry. Stick to your plan.
When those thoughts enter your mind to deviate, acknowledge them, but continue doing what you are doing. At least for that round. If your strategy didn’t work, book a lesson with the Golf Pro and get a new strategy.
Quote of the week
“Look. There are plenty of ways to do it.’ I do it my way and I feel comfortable doing it my way,” Bryson DeChambeau
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.
