Often times when people think about golf, the first thoughts that come to mind are its boring qualities and endlesspractice at the driving range. However, for me, golf means something completely different. Golf has the potential to teach more than just how to swing, but also how to better train your mentality.

According to many studies conducted on effective golf playing strategies, golf is a mental game, more than a sport that requires perfect mechanical skills. Personally, whenever I practice golf, I think the main thing to do is to keep a positive attitude. Based on my experience, I have noticed that staying positive always helps my performance, even if I struggle in the beginning by getting double par on the holes I played. At first, I felt impatient and started to hit wherever I wanted insteadof listening to others. After three years, I am clearly able to see the difference in not only my performance, but also my attitude.

Additionally, sport psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella trains athletes to reach their potential through the way they shape their mentality. He states, “Your muscles have no capacity to remember anything. Memory resides in your head. Therefore, no matter how long you practice a golf swing, no matter how skilled you become, your muscles alone can’t remember it. Unless your mind is functioning well when you play golf, your muscles are going to flounder. If your head is filled with bad thoughts, your scorecard is going to be full of bad strokes.” His experience as a consultant to more than 20 PGA Tour players supports the fact that golf is a strongly mental game. Golf definitely has its benefits as a physically active sport, but to professional athletes and for me personally, its benefits include so much more.