Staying Positive In A Negative Situation

By Debbie Bensching, President and owner of Mind Empowered Sport Performance
(MSW, ACSW, LCSW, MSWAC, CHT)

Many times we are unaware of our self-talk; therefore, it can sabotage our performance without our even realizing it.

Negative self-talk produces negative feelings, physical tension, as well as decreased motor coordination and speed -- clearly it will impede your physical performance on the golf course. Negative self-talk also takes your focus away from what you should be doing; making it more likely you will make a mental mistake.

Just as negative self-talk can hurt performance, positive self-talk can improve it. The key to using self-talk for performance-enhancement is to be able to recognize what you say to yourself so that you can control your self-talk and use it to facilitate performance. Staying positive in a negative situation is the hallmark of a superior athlete and is reflective of stable performance mindset elements.

With practice, athletes can learn to change their self-talk so that they will get the maximum benefit from their successes and learn from their failures without being overly self-critical. Just look at the turn-around Rory McIlroy experienced from his self-destructive blow up at The Masters, to his remarkable win just two months later at the U.S. Open!

The uses of self-talk are varied. It can be used to improve performance, psych yourself up, cope with anxiety, increase motivation, strengthen confidence, elevate mood, focus your attention, prepare for a competition, break bad habits and acquire new skills.

The level of ease or difficulty in turning thoughts around depends on how deeply they are internalized. The deeper they are, the more difficult it will be to turn them around because they are part of our core identity and can result in performance blocks. Deeply internalized performance blocks need to be cleared, and Hypnosis is often a great tool to speed up turning thoughts around.

What is most important is that you begin to address any negative self-talk because the brain is always on, always doing and learning something. Each time negative self-talk dialogue engages and isn’t disrupted it is being strengthened.

So get the positive self-talk going and start thinking your way to a better golf game, a better performance in most anything!

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About Mid Empowered Sport Performance www.mindempoweredsport.com

Mind Empowered Sport Performance (MESP) helps athletes unleash the power of the mind and learn how to let the mental side of their game enhance the physical side of performance rather than trip it up.  Services include mental game assessment, performance improvement goals & plans, mental skills & relaxation training, mental strategy and performance enhancement techniques, distraction control & focusing.

 

 

About Debbie Bensching

MESP President and owner, Debbie Bensching, as a Mental Performance Coach to help golfers achieve their peak performance.  She has over 24 years of clinical psychotherapy experience and training and carries a variety of clinical licenses and certifications in areas including Behavior Management Training, Hypnosis, Addictions, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Her training allows for a variety of sub-specialties, one of which is Mental Performance Coaching.  She has played a variety of sports, recreationally and competitively.

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