Mastering The Mental Game
So my 12 year old daughter Abbey plays golf. I mean, she REALLY plays golf. She’s been playing for just over a year, and she’s already firing bogey golf from the women’s tees. She’s a 5 foot pencil, but piping her tee-box go-to- 3-wood an average of 200 yards, she hits it long enough to where we’re about to back her up to the shortest men’s tees. Additionally, she’s about to start a work-out and stretching regimen to boost her distance a bit. So far, so good.
This past year on the middle school golf team, she had several blow-ups where her expectations exceeded her ability during the tournament. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Having taught middle school golf for many years, I can tell you that with young golfers, it happens more often than not.
The one experience that I’ll never let Abbey live down though was on #9, a par 5, where on her third shot she had a bit under 100 yards to the green. It was her first hole of the day (shotgun start because middle school girls play SLOWLY), and Abbey had already hit two poor shots. She was fuming already. Abbey wanted to know the exact yardage of this approach shot, so she stormed over to the 100 yard brick and started taking her carefully calibrated 1-yard steps toward the green. As she stepped it off, she counted aloud, “101, 102, 103, 104…”
“Hmmm…” I thought to myself. :) I think she’s already beat herself, and she’s only on the first hole.
“Abbey.” I said.
“Not now, I’m counting.” she countered curtly.
“Abbey.” I said again with my eyebrows raised…and a bit of a weird look on my face.
“What?” she said angrily - obviously thinking only about those last two shots.
“What’s your yardage to the green?”
“105.” she blurted.
“Really? Are you suuuure about that?”
She stopped, thought about it, then said, “yes, I just stepped it off.” Oy vey. She’s obviously in a fog of anger.
So, I took off my coach hat and put on my dad hat for moment. “Abbey, you just counted UP as you walked TOWARD the green. Are you SURE that’s how it works?”
She stopped. Suddenly a big grin came across her face…and she looked at the ground in obvious embarrassment. I remind her constantly of Bobby Jones’s famous quote, “Golf is a game that is played on a 5 inch course - the distance between your ears.”
Every tour golfer can hit the ball well. The difference between the good golfers and the great golfers is the mental game. I’m a good golfer. Someday Abbey will be a great golfer.
