Breaking Golf Score Barriers with Kathy Hart Wood

Someone once said that you should never let a label define you. However, it so happens that sometimes we actually give these labels to ourselves. Breaking barriers in scoring in golf and breaking of barriers generally in life requires a lot of self-talk, self-belief, and confidence because whatever you feed and convince your mind, is definitely whatever will manifest. In this episode, Kathy Hart Wood, our guest speaker, is going to educate us on the importance of mind positivity, positive self-talk, and confidence in breaking scoring barriers in golf.

Meet Kathy Hart Wood

Kathy Hart Wood is a former tour player and LPGA Top 50 Teacher. She doubles up as a certified life and weight loss coach, and also a mental performance coach. Kathy uses her knowledge and experience with the game to help golfers play and live to their potential, including hosting mental group workshops that help in knowing different ways that one can start improving their mental game, the mental piece of the game, and start showing up better on the golf course. These workshops touch largely on the steps to a strong mental game, competence, and learning how to really play to your potential.

Managing expectations to avoid frustration

“It doesn't matter how much talent you have, if you can't manage your mind on the golf course, you're not going to be able to take it out there.”

Listening to the little crappy thoughts that we say to ourselves, we may not think it matters, but it really does. What we always tell ourselves will always matter. One should be able to overcome their anger and frustrations and anxiety, or else they won’t be able to make the swing that they’ve worked so hard at. Once the expectations exceed the reality, that equals frustration, and therefore it is important to have all your expectations in check to avoid the disappointment of not meeting them. Remember, thoughts matter because they show up in our bodies hence poor playing technique regardless of being talented.

Self-talk and how it affects the game

“Any words that you say to yourself are either moving you closer to confidence, or further away from confidence, so you want to pick your words very carefully.”

You want to pick the words you say to yourself very carefully, because the more serious you are about this golf game, the more you are your own commodity. Every time you're saying that you're an asshole, that you suck, or you're an idiot, you're poking holes in your own self-confidence because it doesn't feel good. The more we keep telling ourselves unpleasant words, it eventually becomes a habit. It may be in a sarcastic or in a humorous way, but in the long run, we're really knocking ourselves down, there's just no upside to doing it. And the more we do it, the more our brains offer it up really. When you're shaming yourself, your brain is wrapped up and beating the crap out of yourself, and it's not focusing on what you have to do next, which is hit that next golf ball as close as you can to the hole or forward towards the hole.

Breaking a score barrier

“The more pressure you put on yourself to shoot a number or just shoot a score, the less likely you're going to do it.”

During golf practice, the brain is designed to look for danger. Just like in the jungle our brains would detect the danger of being devoured by saber-toothed tigers, in the golf course, they detect the same but with the danger being emotional pain. The fear of disappointment and embarrassment is a red flag and a saber-toothed tiger to our brains. When you're on the golf course, you want to listen to the dialogue you're saying to yourself. You have to tell yourself that you can actually do it. When you're stressed or you're nervous, you might squeeze the club tighter, you might swing it faster, and might affect your tempo. You might decelerate or you might look up and will eventually end up losing focus. Mental management starts with you first being aware of what you're saying to yourself.

Additionally, when practicing, practice where you're putting yourself in a little bit more of a challenging situation or a stressful situation. Listen to what you're saying to yourself so that when those words will start coming up in your head, you can then manage them when you notice them. You want to practice your pre-shot routine in the practice area even before you go play so that you remind your brain of what to do, and you want to rely on your pre-shot routine to help calm you down in those environments.

Timestamps

[00:01:45] Introduction to the guest, Kathy Hart Wood
[00:02:55] How to become a better golfer through the mental game of it
[00:03:50] Managing expectations to avoid frustration
[00:07:50] Self-talk and how it affects the game
[00:12:42] Breaking score barrier
[00:18:58] Top advice for someone struggling to break score barrier
[00:22:17] Kathy’s mental group workshop series
[00:24:27] Real Housewives of Orange County
[00:27:15] Heather’s fight
[00:30:4] Tony Robbins franchise
[00:34:57] Whitney and Justin FaceTime
[00:36:51] Meredith and Mary’s passive aggressiveness
[00:40:06] Jenny upset about a private investigator
[00:40:57] Meredith’s choice of fashion

Resources

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Tori:
Instagram: @tori_totlis
TikTok: @tori_totlis
Website: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com

Sarah:
Instagram: @sarahheldgolftravel
Website: EliteGolfExperience.com

Podcast IG: @housewivesofgolf
Podcast YouTube: Housewives of Golf

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