Developing Proactive Confidence in Golf
Do you look like a winner? Do you walk like a winner?
Do you carry yourself like a champion?
In my years as an athlete, coach, and mental coach, I’ve seen countless athletes perform exactly the way their body language “looked.”
I’m guilty of this myself.
You may have just made an error or maybe you didn’t get the starting position, or a coach just yelled at you. You drop your head, slouch your shoulders, and move slower than usual. A display of disappointment in yourself.
However, when you carry yourself like you’ve been defeated, you almost always become defeated.
Brooks Koepka recently won the US Open, for back-to-back victories in the major tournament.
After his 2017 win, many people tried to downplay his success, saying the result came from an overly compliant course.
Koepka commented: “I always feel like I’m overlooked. I couldn’t care less. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Koepka started this season off a little rocky, having wrist surgery that kept him away from the course for four months. He missed the Masters and the cut in his first tournament back in May.
Him and Johnson, who was the 2016 Open champion and world No.1 golfer, played together on Sunday in the final round.
Both Johnson and Koepka are competitive. Koepka took a lead in the first five holes, one that he would never surrender. Bob Koepka, his father said, “He had his game face on.”
“He’s got that Koepka look. He carries himself with a ton of confidence.”
Koepka had the look of a winner on Sunday, which resulted in a back-to-back US Open win.
When you walk like a champion, you become a champion. As Koepka demonstrated in the major win on Sunday.
A mentor once told me, “It is impossible to have your head down and positive body language, and it’s impossible to have your head up and poor body language.”
In other words, when you carry yourself like a winner, you can perform like a winner.
When you carry yourself like you’ve failed, your performance reflects this.
To help you walk like a champion, you want to develop proactive confidence and maintain your composure through competition.
Also, you want to be aware of your facial expressions and body language, especially after you make a mistake or become frustrated.
Always carry yourself like you want to perform, as Koepka presented in the 2018 US Open.
Learn more mental strategies in our audio and workbook program, “Golfer’s Mental Edge”:
Learn Proven Strategies to Perform with Confidence!
Do you suffer from fragile self-confidence after missed hits, playing with strict or high expectations that undermine confidence or the inability to play freely and relaxed on the course?
If you suffer from lack of focus, low self-confidence or other mental game obstacles on the course, you cant reach your true golf potential…
What are mental game customers saying?
“Dr. Cohn has helped me improve confidence and build a consistence pre-shot routine that helps me stay confident, and learn how to play one shot at a time during competition. He also taught me that I don’t have to hit every shot perfect to score well.”
~Brian Belden, Winner 2003 AJGA Steel City Junior Classic & Marsh Junior at Hawk Pointe
“Last weekend Lisa played in a Florida Junior Golf Association tournament in Gainesville. She played great and won (74-70=144) over 43 other competitors! She’s starting to really believe in herself and her stats are improving each tournament. She is thinking better and making much smarter decisions on the course. Thanks again for your help Dr. Cohn.”
~Scott Tyler, Father of Lisa Tyler
“I want to tell you how much I appreciate all your help. You have made an enormous amount of difference in my game. I feel much better because of your help; I don’t feel the tension like I did before. You should feel very good about what you do for people—it is truly a gift!. I know my students and myself have benefited enormously from Dr. Patrick Cohn’s teaching.”
~Jim Dahline, PGA Professional
“I would like to thank you again for our last mental coaching session, which did offer me yesterday my personal best round ever! On a golf course where I had never scored better than 77, I scored a 73 in competition. I cannot believe the incredible inner work this simple session has produced on me and I would like to thank you again for that.”
~Emmanuel Grizaud, Amateur Golfer