For every player there are many times throughout your career where you feel as though you are being asked to take your game to the “next level”. For the younger ones among you this summer, that might mean playing 18-hole tournaments instead of 9 for the first time. For others it might mean playing up an age group. Still more may be playing in national tournaments such as the AJGA for the first time. In any of these instances -- and the many more that players face as they progress to college and into the pros- there is a tendency to think that you as a player have to do something “more” or do something “special” in order to compete and in order to belong. What this typically does is create a sense that a lot is being demanded of you, and you’re not sure if you have what it takes to meet the demand.

It’s important to remember that these thoughts about the increase in demand on you can be the cause of competitive anxiety, fear, and feelings of insecurity and/or inadequacy. The antidote to this toxic thinking is to ALWAYS remember that golf is about you playing against the golf course. It is true that as you grow older you may have to move back and play the course a little longer. It is also true that as you play in events on a more national scale or into college, the courses are often set up with longer rough and faster greens. The point is that if you focus on developing your game and minimize worrying about your fellow competitors and what your result will be, you will likely be prepared to do well on the “test” of stepping it up into more challenging competition.

The most obvious example of this happens all the time. I have had literally hundreds of clients who, when first coming into my practice, spoke about how they could play a practice or casual round on a course and shoot relatively low numbers but they would inevitably score higher in competitive rounds on the same course. The key to beating this is to recognize that it only feels different in the competition because you choose to THINK differently about it! The course is still 18 holes, you still get to use 14 clubs, and the hole is still the same size. It’s just that because you choose to think of it being a “big deal” or “more difficult because of the competition” or “scary because it’s an AJGA event”, that you may feel nervous and anxious and you may be less likely to be successful.

Bottom line to this month’s column: remember that you are playing the course and not your competition. Keep your focus on the tasks that will help you manage your way around the course most efficiently. That’s what the best players in the world are concentrating on when they’re playing great, not the fact that they have to do something special or “big” in order to play well.