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Is it golf stress or stress relief? While the game of golf is a stress relief for many, for others it only adds to their levels of stress. The game of golf can be very frustrating and it often brings to the surface all the negative beliefs that people have about themselves and their ability to be successful. So what can you do to relieve your golf stress? If you’ve been playing golf for any length of time, it’s likely that you played more than a few rounds that have been gratifying and enjoyable. At other times, you’ve played games where nothing seems to go right for you. It seems that you woke up on the "wrong side of the bed" and from the very first hole, you shot a terrible and frustrating game. What has occured is that because you were affected by starting your game badly and beaten yourself up about it, you’ve sabotaged your game. Perhaps you even engaged in negative mind chatter, telling yourself that you can’t do anything right. So, rather than golf being a stress relief for you, it has increased your stress and reduced your enjoyment of the game. What can you do about it? Well, first of all, don’t be so hard on yourself. If you beat yourself up for your failures on the golf course, your confidence is affected and other areas of your life can be affected as well, such as your performance at work. If you are playing a "bad game", take into consideration other factors that may be affecting you. For example, windy weather can affect your game in a negative way. Wind can have a significant effect on how your ball travels. Other ways to relieve golf stress include mindfulness based techniques. To be mindful is to become an observer of your thoughts rather than a victim of them. So, if you’re having a bad game and you notice that your thoughts are critical of yourself, recognize them for what they are - just thoughts and not statements of fact. Then shift your focus to your other senses. Notice the sights and sounds of nature around you - the sounds of the birds chirping and the warmth of the sun on your skin. What if there was a way that you could feel confident and experience a reduced level of golf stress more often? A method known as Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT may be the answer for you. EFT is quickly becoming known as a cutting edge self help technique for anyone wanting to improve any area of their life - from overcoming an addiction to improving sales performance to releasing a spider phobia. What’s great is that this tool can be used to improve your golf game by working on the negative emotions and limiting beliefs which cause you to feel stressed in the first place. You will naturally feel more calm and self-assured when those things are released.
About the Author
The best teacher that I know that offers tools to ease your Golf Stress using these cutting edge techniques is Stephen Ladd. Visit => Renegade Mindset Techniques for Golf to find out about this totally unique program to help you with your golf game. And, to learn more about these cutting edge tools described above, visit => EFT for Golf
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