Lower Your Golf Score by Shifting Your Body Language

Lower Your Golf Score by Shifting Your Body Language
 
Fitness,Hobbies,Sports Just about every golfer battles negative emotions on the course and one must learn how to overcome these emotions for peak performance to occur. In my opinion, golf is a mental and emotional game not a physical one. A round of golf boils down to 90 seconds of physical performance versus 4 hours of mental and emotional management. So it is your ability to control your mind and emotions that are perhaps the biggest determiners of success on the course. Most golfers understand that negative emotions can destroy a round but few actually know strategies to overcome the negativity once it sets in.

One of the easiest and most powerful ways to shift from negativity to optimism on the course is by changing your body language. The way you hold and use your body greatly influences the way you think and feel. This article is going to breakdown how body language affects you mentally and emotionally as well as will provide you a simple yet very effective exercise that you can do at home that will increase your level of performance on the course.

An important thing to understand about the mind-body connection is the principle of congruency. The principle of congruency means that your subconscious mind is always striving to make your thoughts, emotions, and body language congruent with each other. Here are two very simple examples to demonstrate the principle of congruency. During times in our lives when we are laughing and smiling it is impossible to feel depressed. The opposite is also true. If you are frowning and hanging your head it is impossible to feel good.

Let’s take these examples one step farther. I am positive that if I were to ask you to describe to me how a confident person holds their body that you would be able to provide a very accurate description. Your answer would probably describe something similar to this. The confident person would be standing tall, with their shoulders back, their head held high, and so on. If I were then to ask you how they move, I am confident that you would be able to accurately describe this as well. You would probably answer that the confident person moves with a sense of purpose and determination. They make powerful and confident gestures, and walk around with an aura of authority.

On the flip side of things, if I were to ask you to describe a person in a negative state of mind I am confident that your answer would be totally different. You would more than likely describe someone with their head down, slumped shoulders, scowl across their face, and moving around in a sluggish, lethargic way. If a person carries themselves with this type of body language it is virtually impossible for them to feel good due to the congruency principle. Thoughts and emotions must always be congruent with the body.

The easiest way to shift out of a negative state is simply by changing your body language. By deliberately changing the way you are holding and using your body, you simultaneously change the flow of emotions. It is very important while on the course to be monitoring your body language to make sure it is congruent with a state of confidence and self assurance. By doing this and making adjustments when needed, you will notice an increase in your confidence addressing any shot, your ability to execute at a higher level, and elevate your enjoyment of the round.

Now that you have an understanding of the importance of your body language in controlling your emotions on the course, let’s take this understanding into the next level of learning; integration. Here is an exercise that you can do at home that will give you a personal experience into how your body language affects your emotions and to help you determine your ideal body language for peak performance on the golf course.

Step 1: Find a place where there is plenty of space to move around, and somewhere you can be alone and free to be yourself.

Step 2: Pretend to be an actor for this exercise. Give yourself full permission to really get into this exercise and play the role. The more you get into this exercise the more you will benefit from it.

Step 3: Act out the role of a confident person. Pretend you are filming a movie and you are playing the part of a person with unlimited confidence. Start by adjusting your body in the standing position to reflect that of a confident person. Ask yourself questions like these and align your body appropriately: • How does this person stand? • How do they hold their head? • How do they hold their shoulders? • How do they breathe? • How would their face look? • What do they do with their hands?

Once you have adjusted your body to reflect this confident person, begin moving around the room as this person would. Ask yourself questions like these to get into the role: • How does this person move? • What speed do they move at? • What gestures do they make? • How do they express this confidence in themselves? • What are their movements like?