Do you learn more from your wins or more from your losses?
Is it more important to recognize the positives/ successes from a competitive round of golf or the things you messed up during that round?
To improve your game, you should dedicate all your time to the areas of your game that need improvement, right? I mean, if you already have a strong putting game, why waste time focusing on
putting?
Well, wait a minute, not so fast… Maybe, just maybe, there is validity in strengthening your strengths.
Two Reasons for Recognizing and Strengthening your Strengths:
- Too many golfers evaluate their performance by pointing to a litany of reasons for their poor play. For example, “I rushed my shots. I sliced my drives. I was too anxious. I was not decisive on my putts. My swing is too forced.” While it is important to identify and work on weaker aspects of your game, it is as important to identify what things you did well. Identifying your successes gives you a personal success recipe that leads to future successes. Also, strengthening your strengths leads to better scores and more consistency in a shorter amount of time.
- An over-focus on the weaker parts of your game crushes your confidence. Surely you can recall a time when a coach or parent critiqued every part of your game. You probably felt dejected, frustrated, or angry. In contrast, recognizing your strengths builds confidence. Crediting yourself for your successes is a confirmation that your hard work has paid off and gives you confidence to know you can improve other parts of your game as well.
Peak performance requires a balance between giving yourself credit for your successes, strengthening your strengths, and working on weaker components.
Take for example, PGA player Collin Morikawa… Morikawa won his first major, the 2020 PGA Championship, by shooting 64 on his final round to claim his first PGA title.
With the win, Morikawa became the third youngest golfer to win the PGA Championship.
After his victory, Morikawa commented on his experience and how he intends on being consistently on top of his game.
MORIKAWA: "I learn every single day. I'm going to learn a lot from this win, obviously, but I really have to sit down and figure out what I can do a little better because there's always something that someone else is trying to beat you at or trying to copy you, or really get better and beat you every single day."
Just like Morikawa, don’t neglect successes. You can learn a lot from your personal victories.
Mental Edge Tip:
Objectively evaluating your success leads to better scores than merely working on your weaknesses. Try this exercise to strengthen your game to the max.
After a round of golf, identify your successes by asking yourself the following two questions:
- “What did I do well today?”
- “How can I make these strengths even stronger?”
After you have answered the previous two questions ask yourself:
- “What one or two areas of my game do I need to improve?”
- “How will I go about working on these areas of my game?”
Knowing your strengths is just as beneficial as working on areas of your game that need improvement.