Better Golf Academy: Strategy to Awesome Golf

To sum up, let me tell you what I did with my putting. I got rid of the lines. I got rid of the technical and robotic thoughts of how I am going to make a stroke. It’s been a month and I have to tell you, I made 5 birdie putts last week. And, I wanted to talk about that entire process and why I did what I did by doing some background research and seeing if the results I’ve experienced are actually legit. 

I just stand behind the ball, visualize the line that my ball will travel to the cup, take a breath, line up and make the putt. Easy...breezy. And guess what? More putts are going in. More than I’ve ever imagined. 5 birdies in one round...that is my personal record. 

Do you know what I just did for you in this episode? I simplified your life. I simplified the mental aspect of your game and I made it super easy for you to be awesome...I mean...even awesomer...because you are already awesome. So….you’re welcome.

In summary, the focus is necessary, but you have to focus on the right things. So…

1. Focus on the external, not the internal.
2. Learn to distract yourself, especially in pressure situations.
3. Rely on your subconscious...it’s way smarter than you.

Okay, that’s it for our podcast on FOCUS today, I hope it was insightful for you and I hope that you can implement that in your game and shave a ton of strokes off your game.

Resources:

• Oh, if you are interested, here's the link to the Focus attention research. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271992035_Attentional_focus_and_motor_learning_A_review_of_15_years

Links:

• Say hi. https://bettergolfacademy.com/hello
• Give for clean water: https://bettergolfacademy.com/give
• Check out our website: https://bettergolfacademy.com

So...when you ask any golfer - beginner, to intermediate to pro...what do you think is required for you to have to play great golf, you know what their answer is? Well, let’s try it out. Let me ask you, what do you think is the number one thing that you think you’ll need to have to play great golf. And I don’t mean things like...a great swing, or an ability to read the putts well or be able to hit it long or having the latest and the greatest equipment...what I mean is what you’ll need to possess as a player. Like a characteristic, emotion or a feeling that will elevate your game and help you play your best.  One word. CONFIDENCE. I don’t think anyone will disagree with any sports or even anything in life...that confidence is a good thing and sometimes, it’s really a game-changer. So, I want to spend some time talking about what I think it is, and how we can implement and grow it within us so that we can be at our best.

But first, what is confidence? Well, I think it’s a belief. It’s a belief in yourself that you have the ability to do what is set before you and the ability to do it well. And that you have a pretty realistic sense of that and you feel very secure in that knowledge. 

So, is this a born trait? Some people just have it and some people don’t? Or, is this related to some type of childhood upbringing or trauma? You have a parent or coach that told you that you are beyond talented and that you can do anything, vs you grew up everyone telling you that you suck and you’ll never measure up? 

Is confidence innate or is it learned? Well, thanks for asking...such a great question you guys. I think we fundamentally misunderstand it. I think most of us think that it’s a personality trait. 

The students’ self-perceived ability was a significant predictor of achievement. It was even more important than their IQ. So, this is huge!! Especially when we apply this in golf. Our perceived ability...let’s go back to our original definition of confidence, confidence is your belief in yourself that you have the ability to do what is set before you and the ability to do it well. And that you have a pretty realistic sense of that you feel very secure in that knowledge...that trumps our IQ. It doesn’t matter how smart you really are...it doesn’t matter how great and talented you are...it’s the fact that you believe in yourself that you have the ability to do it.  That’s what matters most when it comes to performance. 

So, what does that mean? It means that when you are faced with a shot that you know how to do, the “how-to”  is not as important as you believing that you can do it. Mind blown.

So, as I said before, you might be blessed with awesome genetics of confidence...you are just a confident person and it comes easy to you. Which is awesome, you can step up and sink a clutch putt and pull crazy shots out of the bag at opportune moments...it’s just within your DNA...and trust me, I know athletes like this. But, if you are that person, it’s still good for you to recognize and continue to work on building your confidence in other aspects of your game. And for the rest of us, I included, I need some help on how to level up my confidence now knowing that it’s a key to my golf….my golf success.

So, I did some more study and research and I’ve listed 3 best ways to improve your confidence.

Duh, this sounds so logical and simple yet a lot of people miss this. Someone will say, man, I am having a lot of challenges with my chipping. I am duffing it a lot and I feel so much uncertainty when I am addressing the ball for a chip. Instead of trying to think just happy thoughts before the chip thinking that will solve your problem, how about you spend an hour hitting chips over and over again? Gain experience hit 10, 20, 30. 100 in a row without duffing it. You will naturally gain confidence. You will start to program your mind that the next shot will go the same as your last 30 shots. Keep building that by creating an experience. Create experience by repeating. 

Also, I want you to listen to episode 5 on the secret sauce to awesome practice. I talk about this deep research on what repetitive practice can do. It’s awesome!! It has something to do with Myelin and your neural pathway. It will really help you gain perspective on what “experience” can do for your game.

I really like this because a lot of sports psychology talks about confidence like it’s just a state of mind. Think and act confident and you will become confident. Look at yourself in the mirror every day and say…”I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me” and people will start liking you. Lol. I think there’s a bit of truth in that but also I think we are smarter than we think. Meaning, we can’t fool ourselves. Our confidence has to be authentic. If we suck at something, we can’t all of a sudden switch our minds to think that we are good at it. 

So, how do we build an authentic and healthy mindset? We have to put in the work. Some say confidence is something we have to earn...and guess what, struggling builds confidence. Failure breeds wisdom and maturity. We need to fail and experience discomfort, and over time, build a track record of demonstrated success. Not having confidence is not a personal flaw, it just means that you simply need to put in the work.

So, ok, Hanju...that sounds good and I am totally on board. But, I am doing all that and I still need help being confident out there. I know I can do it, but I also have doubts .  How do I overcome my doubts and play my best?

Here’s your final answer. You can overcome your doubts by simply letting go. You can gain control by simply...letting go. And by letting go, you can turn your fear into freedom. Let me play you an audio from a youtube video from Jeff Ritter sharing about how he increased his confidence and his idea of what releasing fear looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCpJIr-nI4

The main thing to remember through all this is this: 

• Confidence is gained by experience.
• Confidence has to be authentic and you can build an authentic and healthy mindset through trial and error and putting in the work. Confidence has to be earned.
• Confidence is gained by releasing fear. We need to be reckless to gain freedom.

Summary

And here’s my final advice. Separate ourselves from our shots from who we are. Just because we hit a bad shot doesn’t mean we are a bad golfer. Great golfers hit bad shots. The shot was bad because it was missed and it was missed because we are not perfect. Hold your head up high, walk with your back straight, stay balanced and beautify your finish and follow through no matter where the ball goes. If it was miss-hit? Forget what happened, don’t blame yourself, don’t think that you are a bad player. And re-focus on your next shot. Do this over and over again. Because you’ve done it before and you can do it again. 

Believe in yourself, believe that you have the ability to do what is set before you and the ability to do it well. And that you have a realistic and authentic sense of that and that you feel secure in it.

You’ll play better, you’ll feel better and you’ll even look better. I guarantee it.

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Links: 

• https://bettergolfacademy.com/hello to say hello.
• https://bettergolfacademy.com/give to partner with me to provide clean water to help change the world.

In this episode of the Better Golf Academy, I help prepare those that are thinking about playing golf this year to figure out what to work on to be ready to tee it up for the first time and also go over proper etiquette to make your first round a huge success.

So, from spending a lot of time on the driving range preparing to someday get on the golf course, how do I know when I am ready to play? For me, there were 4 key components that happened on the practice range that gave us enough confidence to say, okay I am ready and eventually step out on the golf course.

1. I made contact with the golf ball 100% of the time with every club. If this is not you, don’t venture out yet...it might frustrate others and you certainly don’t want to do that. I know people will say things like, “hey, who cares what others think, just go and have a good time”. Well...I was taught to always think about others, and you do not want to be a burden or to ruin someone else’s fun. When you are whiffing the ball and hitting it all over the place, they will never invite you back...trust me.
2. When I make contact with the ball, it goes where I expected it to go....most of the time. You know what army golf is? When your ball goes...LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT...lol. You’ll waste a lot of your time and everyone else’s if you cannot somewhat control where the ball is going. You’ll hit it in the hazard and end up with your group being the search party. No fun for anyone...not even you. And those golf balls are expensive!!
3. I understand the distance control. Meaning, if I am close to the green, I know enough to hit the ball softer and use a more lofted club. I have a pretty good concept of chipping that can get my ball closer, not overshooting it way past and there’s a component of me being a danger to others. 
4. I have a decent feel around the green when it comes to putting. That it doesn’t take me more than 3 putts to get the ball in the hole. 4 putts are okay for long long distance putting but let’s stick to 3 as a goal for now.

I say when you can consistently do the 4 points that I just talked about, you are almost ready to get on the course. But not completely ready. You know why? Because I think this is where a lot of people get stuck. There’s a deep fear or intimidation or something that keeps them from just taking the first step to tee it up. I really think it stems from lack of knowledge and not really knowing what to expect or even what to do...there are so many rules and etiquettes. So I will attempt to try to keep your mind at ease and prepare you to go out there and have a great, fun and enjoyable first round.

In this episode of the Better Golf Academy, I discuss why it is so important in golf to be in the moment.

I truly believe in order to conquer this game to play our very best, we have to control our thoughts. It’s really true what they say, this game is 90% mental and 10% mental. And I so much believe that if we get this part right, it can really change our game.

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment. Is this easy to do? 

No one said it was easy. Staying focus and not allowing your mind to wander is not easy. It takes discipline. It takes practice like everything else. And most of all it takes confidence. What do you mean by confidence? It takes confidence to know and believe and have a conviction that this really works. And, thinking back...I was teeter-tottering. I didn’t think seriously enough about it. Maybe, even though I preach it, I didn’t entirely believe it. I was thinking that if I had the physical talent and ability to shoot well, that I would automatically shoot well and the score will show it at the end of the day. NOT. It takes mental discipline every hole, every shot. Full focus. Being in the moment. 

How do we get there? I am not there yet. Obviously. But, I believe our pursuit of getting there is the goal, not just getting there. Okay, this reminds me of a quote, I know...sometimes introducing quotes in a podcast is a bit cliche-ish and corny but I think this really applies to what we are talking about today. 

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome”. 

This quote is by Arthur Ashe. Who is Arthur Ashe? He was an American Professional tennis player who won 3 grand slam titles. He was the first black player selected to the US Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, The US Open and the Australian Open. He was also an author and mostly known for being a crusader for equality. He really lived with intention and impact.

So, for me, I can look at this event as a total failure. Which, I actually called it that on my dreadful drive back home in my head. But, nah...I don’t believe that anymore. It’s all part of the journey and it’s never about the outcome, or the end result, or the certificate, or whatever's in your life...I truly believe it’s about our attitude, discipline, will and our struggle and fight in getting there.

When I started my podcast, my friend Charlton messaged me and said dude, this podcast is for me. I am your poster child. Do you know how many books I’ve read on golf? Every single one. Do you know how many videos I’ve watched? Workshops I’ve attended? He’s a learner. A seeker who’s hungry for knowledge, a true student of the game. When we are playing golf together several months back, I asked him, hey...just curious, from all the books you’ve read, videos you’ve watched and the workshops and lessons you’ve received, what’s the one thing, one main thing that has impacted you the most in your game?

He said. “Look up” huh? So, I went home and looked it up. Yeah, the book Zen Golf talks about the expansive awareness. It’s a practice of Mindfulness. “When you have a difficult tee shot or short putt and you are waiting your turn, it’s not very helpful to stare at it, think about it, and let your mind get very small...instead, look up and breathe out, opening to the awareness around you. He says “in life..as in golf, you give it your best shot when you’re free of tension and self-consciousness.” In life as in golf...lol. That’s my line. 

So, here’s the deal. It’s not easy. It’s a journey and you gotta remember to look up. Take a breath. Don’t get stuck on the small stuff. Be grateful. You are out here, on a beautiful day, on this beautiful course, with awesome people, playing golf. Look up. Enjoy. Have Fun. And be in the moment.

There are so many aspects of the game that are negotiable. That's one of the reasons why I don't talk about swing techniques on this podcast, there are so many different ways to achieve your goal. I can offer one suggestion but someone else can offer something completely different and the result could end up being the same. 

But, why do we have to know the science behind it? Because it doesn't change. It's what we all need to work on to improve. But there are 3 key fundamental questions we can answer through science. 

• How to hit it straighter? Understand the relationship between your clubface and your swing plane at impact. 
• How to hit it longer? Understand the relationship between swing speed, ball speed, attack angle, launch angle and spin.  
• And finally, how to hit it over and over again? Eliminate using small muscles and focus on using your large muscles in your swing.

Golf is an endless journey of improving and perfecting.  This game of golf can be so complex yet so simple at the same time. It's an individualized game that you can't try to mimic or compare with anyone else.  Along with black and white fundamental of science, it also offers a more complex, variety of colors and shades, which is mixed with technique, science, and art. 

And it involves mental, physical and even spiritual components that when it's all aligned, understood and executed, you can fully experience the fullness of it and appreciate the infinite details and beauty of it all. You all with me? 

I hope all this can help give you a new perspective on your growth and help you reach your full potential.

In this episode of the Better Golf Academy, I discuss how the motivation works and why after a certain point, or when it gets too hard, or when we start losing steam, drive, and motivation...we slowly fade out and even quit. But what keeps us motivated to continue to pursue our goals?

Dr. Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist with her research focusing on how motivation influences our decisions. And She talks about these 3 foundational principles that help motivate us. 

1. Progress Monitoring. The brain does a good job processing positive effects. And as you progress, it helps you to stay focused and going after your goal. As you know, I always talk about my Engineering days...and the famous quote “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”. There’s definitely some truth in that.
2. Social Incentive. We are social people. We really care what other people are doing. We want to do the same and we want to do it better. Example: 9 out of 10 people pay their taxes in time enhanced compliance in that group by 15% bringing in 5.6 billion pounds. Highlighting what other people are doing is a very strong incentive. I truly believe this, one of the most effective results-driven workout concepts out there is still CrossFit. Because of their philosophy of this Social Incentive. It’s brilliant creating a small community of people to encourage each other, compete with one another and keep each other accountable. Social Incentive. 
3. Immediate Rewards. True that! We are impatient, some of us have ADD (me) and we need immediate feedback, immediate incentive and lots of immediate rewards...in whatever form that we can get it in.

I think we can all agree that improving our golf game is a long, and ambitious goal. We need more inspiration than hey, you suck, you need to go practice and get better. We need to intentionally put steps in place to guide us day to day and keep us motivated to get there.  And, I think this is a great science that is backed up by research. 

Here are the 3 action steps for you:

• #1, set specific goals, remember to go to bettergolfacademy.com/9 to download the performance report to help you set your specific goals. 
• #2, Don’t be a loner. Play together, bet, create competitive situations to push you, care about each other’s performances and improvements. This will create an incentive to work harder and improve. And...
• #3, Make turn your goals into tiny habits. Reward yourself often and see your simple progress and celebrate.

I am still so still inspired by the quote by Jacob Riis “...I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.” 

Let’s keep hammering away. Hundred, thousand, 10 thousand, 100 thousand balls hit, putts hit, chips hit, every club in your bag hit, pursuing excellence, setting goals, achieving them and celebrating the small victories!! I am here celebrating it with you. And hoping for a huge breakthrough in your game, the rock splitting in two moments in your golf journey.

In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to Better Golf Academy, let’s get better together. Yeah? Cool. Love you guys, bye for now.

So, let’s talk about Par 3s. How do you feel about them? You know how most golfers feel about Par 3s? They don’t talk about them with lot of joy and admiration. Well, why? Most amazing signature holes on golf courses are Par 3s. And, also, think about it...Par 3 is really a Par 4 that you’ve already hit a perfect drive off of. You hit it right down the middle...and you have a perfect lie and the best angle going into the approach shot. How hard can it be?

Well, let’s look at the Professional Tour Stats.  

• Par 5’s, pros score 4.67 average score...which below par. Nice
• Par 4’s, pros score 4.04 average score...which is slightly over par.
• Par 3’s, pros score 3.07 average score...which shows that it’s what pros mostly struggle with.

Why? In theory, shouldn’t you be able to score better than the par 4s? You essentially hit a perfect drive.

Well, here’s what you might not know. Par 3s, if you look at the overall design of all the golf courses, yes, they might be the most amazing signature holes, but they are also most guarded, they sometimes have the smallest greens compared to other holes, they have more bunkers around them typically compared to other holes and they definitely love to add hazards around them AND ...the architects tend to make the Par 3s harder because they think we have an advantage because we get to tee it up and have a perfect lie and angle to the green. 

So what’s our goal? We need to out-smart the architects and we need to do our homework and walk up to the shot confident and prepared.

I was watching a TedTalk the other day given by an entrepreneur and economist named Nat Ware. He’s a Rhodes Scholar based at Oxford University whose research focuses on social impact, poverty alleviation and the economics of happiness. And so...he seems really smart and has done a lot of research on this subject so I decided to listen. 

And, as soon as I started listening, what intrigued me was his very first opening line. He said this…He said...”I remember being shocked the first time I went to Africa. I was shocked when I met a one-legged taxi driver in Kenya. I was shocked when I met Sonia an orphan schoolgirl in Rwanda. And I was shocked when I met a disabled subsistence farmer in Mozambique. What shocked me wasn’t their poverty, but their happiness. 

So, what does this have to do with golf? There's a key lesson here about EXPECTATIONS that will blow you away.

Hey so today, I want to talk about something I’ve been debating in my head for a long time. It’s a simple question of should I walk or should I ride while playing golf? And of course, sometimes the choices are already made for you right?...some courses don’t offer an option to walk due to speed of play, or even due to some severe hills or long distances between holes...I totally get that. But, I am talking about the courses that we often play that offers both walking and riding and it’s a good fit for both.

What do you do? Do you walk? Or do you ride?  And this is a BETTER Golf Academy podcast, so we are going to talk about which option helps us to play BETTER...right? And what is the WHY behind it.

Also, find out about what this new coach did to take an underwhelming team of cyclists and made them world-famous!

In this episode of the Better Golf Academy, I talk about the 3 elements of practice that help explain what happens in our brain when we do it correctly to maximize our potential to truly improve. This is inspired by the book "Talent Code" by Dan Coyle as he speaks about the formation of Myelin around our neural pathways and how that changes everything!!

So what is practice? It’s a repetition of an action with a goal of improvement. And with the repetition, it will help us perform with more ease, speed, accuracy, and confidence. The practice is something we do over and over and over again until we feel like we have a pretty good feel for it and the outcome of this very practice is producing similar or even exact results each time.

It's also good to know that talent can be achieved by making it, not being born with it. This gives us all of us hope! Let's do this.