Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

called “the I and the Me”). We all ask questions because asking questions helps us navigate the complex waters of our individual worlds. In our everyday lives, we can all work ourselves into hysterical panics through the questions we ask: What if I have cancer? What if my job is at risk? What if my kids are on drugs? What if I am going bald? What if I never find someone to love?
    In golf, as we’ve seen, questions that focus on future uncertainties lead to bad mental processes. I constantly remind golfers I work with not to hide from any of the obstacles that golf throws at them. Repeat: We do not run from obstacles. Rather, we identify them, learn about them, and then figure out how to effectively overcome them. Questions focus our minds in the same way a lens focuses a laser. Questions that focus the mind on details relevant to hitting great shots at precise targets are the key component of mastery golf.
    I have met literally thousands of golfers in my life, and there are as many bad questions as there are golfers. One PGA Tour rookie asked,
“What if I don’t make a cut all year? What if I can’t pay my bills? What if I never make it on Tour?”
All of us average golfers too often ask ourselves
“What if I hook? What if I slice? What if I miss this putt?”
And for all the poor questions that lead to bad thoughts, there is an answer that produces the type of fear that ensures those bad thoughts result in bad swings.
    As with most of life’s mysteries, the solution to this common psychological ailment is simplicity. Because just as the mind instinctively responds to poor questions, it also responds instinctively to great questions like “How do I want to play this shot?” or “What is my target?” These are questions with immediate, knowable answers. Those are the questions of a golfer in control of his game and of his emotions.

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    bad questions vs. good questions

    Here is a list of bad questions that can invade a golfer’s internal conversation and short circuit his system for success. Notice how difficult they are to answer in a constructive way:

    What if

    . . . I slice?

    . . . I choke?

    . . . I shoot 80 today?

    . . . I don’t make a cut all year?

    . . . I have to go back to Qualifying School?

    . . . I hit it into that water on 13?

    . . . I make a fool of myself?

    . . . I lose?

    . . . I hook?

    . . . I get nervous?

    . . . I get hit by lightning?

    . . . this shot ends up in the weeds?

    . . . I embarrass myself, again?

    Can

    . . . I play any worse?

    . . . I try to not embarrass myself today?

    Are

    . . . they going to think I am getting worse?

    When

    . . . did I become such a choker?

    . . . am I going to stop embarrassing myself?

    . . . is this nightmare going to end?

    Where

    . . . has my confidence gone?

    . . . has my tempo gone?

    . . . has my putting touch gone?

    . . . is your brain, dummy?

    . . . is this shot going to end up?

    How

    . . . can I be so stupid?

    . . . could I have missed that putt?

    . . . many shots am I going to throw away today?

    . . . on earth, at this age, did I make such a stupid mistake?

    . . . am I losing to him?

    . . . bad can this round of golf get?

    . . . awful can I play?

    . . . bad am I playing today?

    . . . embarrassing can this get?

    . . . will history judge me?

    Why

    . . . me?

    . . . do I even play this game?

    . . . didn’t I chip out on that last hole?

    . . . are my hands shaking?

    . . . can’t I ever play well when it counts?

    Will

    . . . they be impressed?

    Who

    . . . is chasing me?

    . . . is the best player in the group?

    Am

    . . . I ever going to learn?

    . . . I really this bad?

    Which

    . . . Mike is going to show up today?

    Does

    . . . coach think much of my game?

    Now, here is a list of productive, directed, specific questions that are the hallmark of the successful, fearless golfer.

    What is my goal for this round?

    What is my strategy?

    What is my target?

    We prefer the shorter list. Pay attention to the questions you ask yourself. If they tend to fit in with the first section of open-ended, unanswerable, and self-destructive hypotheses, try to redirect that inquisitiveness toward a group of questions that you not only know the answer to, but that will also help move your game forward.
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    Interviews with PGA Tour golfers revealed that they very often use powerful questions to focus their awareness and block out distractions. And although the questions they ask are often determined by the