Welcome

Welcome to issue number 37 of The 3 Minute Golfer. This FREE, weekly publication is here to help every golfer improve their mental game and their personal wellbeing.

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In this issue:

• When Ability Meets Reality

• Wellness Tip – Is Chocolate a Health Food?

• Mental Demons Q+A

• In Person Events - Book The 3 Minute Golfer

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When Ability Meets Reality

Ever notice how some golfer’s eyes light up at the sight of a long shot over water, through trees, uphill, into a headwind, or when the pin placements are precariously difficult? And how, in the moment, they are obviously thinking…”I can totally pull this off.” Welcome to the wonderful world of overestimating our abilities and underestimating our desperation.

Picture this…you’re playing a friendly round with your friends. You’ve just bombed a drive. Okay, “bombed” might be an overstatement, but let’s call it 225 on a good bounce but your ball ends up parked behind a large tree, exactly 157 from the green. There’s a small window between branches if you’re feeling daring, or you can safely chip back to the fairway, leaving an easy iron for your third shot.

But who needs safe? You spend 10 seconds imagining a gorgeous high draw that sails through that tiny gap, sprinkling magical golf dust as it drops five feet from the pin. You smile and address the ball with the bravado of a tour pro. Your heart’s pounding, your palms sweat, and you take a swing so big it knocks you out of your socks. Next sound you hear? “Thwack,” as ball meets tree and ricochets into some distant, highly inconvenient patch of rough. Cue the meltdown.

If this story feels like it was ripped from your personal diaries…you’re not alone.

Why We Overestimate Our Ability

Psychologists call this inflated faith in our own skill the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which describes how people with less expertise in a particular area tend to overestimate their competence in that area. It’s why we think we can pull off shots we might not have practiced enough, or ever practiced at all, because we don’t know what we don’t know. We all suffer from delusion, some of the time.

The Better-Than-Average Illusion

Then there’s the simple tendency to see ourselves as “above average.” Research shows that if you poll a group of golfers, most will say they putt better than average, even though it’s statistically impossible for all of us to be in the top 50%. We overrate our talent or “luck,” especially when caught up in the thrill of the moment.

Desperate Minds

It’s not just that we think we’re more skilled than we really are, but we also tend to underestimate how desperate we might be feeling. If you have a tough lie or are trailing behind in your weekend skins game, your desire to recoup those losses grows, and your brain starts to gamble with bigger risks. Desperation whispers, “Go big or go home.” And we’ve all heard the golf devil whispering in our ear on the 18th hole.

Pro Tips…Managing a Desperate Mind

One Moment…If you find yourself in a jam, take a moment before you plan your shot. Feel your feet on the ground. Breathe and be fully tuned into the reality of your situation. Lose the desperation as quick as you can.

Manage Your Self-Talk…The voice in your head is not always rational but can be quite persuasive. It has a way of overestimating your ability and is quick to build a highlight reel before the fact. Ignore the fantasy and play the shot that will set you up for success. Not the miracle shot that will set you up for disaster. 

Lower Your Arousal…Overestimating increases your physiological excitement and pressure. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises and breathing speeds up…leading to a tight, tense, quick swing that can only end in disaster.

Practice Risky Shots…If you really want to pull off those flashy shots, train them on the range or during casual practice rounds. See how often you can slip a ball through a narrow gap between trees when you’re not competing. Track your success rate. If it’s dismally low, that heroic shot might not be worth the risk in competition.

Embrace Self-Deprecation…Golf is humbling but we’re all big dreamers on the course. Sometimes dreams come true but acknowledging your limitations isn’t defeat…it’s strategy. After all, it’s better to chip out safely and tap in for bogey than to ride the bogey train a couple of extra stops.

Chasing Miracles…Golf rewards the calm and punishes the reckless. The best scores rarely get built on making that one miraculous shot. With a healthy dose of reality, some gentle humour, and a balanced internal dialogue, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the hardest course of all…the one between your ears.

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