And so I prepare myself to be shot down in flames, which is great because it means you the reader, will be bringing new insights with you.

There’s no such thing as an ideal golf game…..daring statement to make?

Perhaps! However for me, even in a world where golf instruction worldwide promises you the IDEAL golf swing ( either in the form of following 5 simple steps, signing up to elaborate DVD or audio programmes, or indeed downloading 100+ videos ) pursuit of an ideal golf swing will forever be a false claim.

Because here’s how it seems to me until now. I’m guessing we all understand what the horizon is; that ‘line’ where sky meets land. You’ll also know that it doesn’t exist in the real world, it’s merely a mental frame set up in our heads to help us make sense of that place in the distance. If you doubt that’s true, walk to it and tell me when you get there!  These mental frames, or ‘Ideals’, are a necessary part of our thoughts which help us make sense of the world around us and in that respect, are very much an asset.

BUT, in gauging progress and forming opinions as a result, it’s a pretty lame idea! Just as you can never walk to the horizon, so can you never attain an ideal golf swing.

Sure you can have a very effective swing, a swing which gets you great results and bring much reward, but it will never be ideal. And yet so many players find themselves wrapped up in the idea of achieving that distant dream. Their language reflects the belief whenever they describe their current work in progress. ‘Ideally, I need the swing to look like X’ or ‘my ideal score is to shoot Y’. More damaging is the fact that no matter what achievement s are secured, if it’s not ‘ideal’, constant self judgement  can  play out as we focus on the gap between what we are and what we believe to be ideal. That gap will always be there, just like the distance to the horizon, no matter how far we walk.

As a mental performance coach, I remind my players that it’s great to have well formed goals, standards to aspire to and to look for ways to improve your current skills base. What isn’t so effective is to set up goals using an ideal as the destination and then striving to get there. You’ll forever come up short in your expectation, opening the door for frustration and disappointment to flourish.

So if you are a reader who believes you’ll be happy when you’ve hit the ideal score or swing the ideal way, perhaps it’s time to revisit your goals and assess where you are, rather than where you want to be.

Is this posting ideal, certainly not, is it good based on my current skill level, I believe so. Will I have improved as a result of constructing this….certainly that’s possible.

So to come full circle, I believe that the ideal golf game remains just an elusive idea. Having said that, for all of you who have attained the ideal game, I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts!

Send any thoughts/feedback to info@progolfmindcoach.co.uk.

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