My Golf Secret Just Might Become Your Life Secret

That's right. One secret tip to turn your life around. I'd read this if I were you.

If you’ve ever played golf you know that some days are good, others you want to break your clubs in half over your leg and toss them in the drink. Or run them over with a truck. Throw them off a cliff.

Not that I’ve ever thought those things.

Okay maybe once or twice. Which explains why I’ve had to tweak my game over the years, seek advice, take lessons, and eventually make peace with the fact that golf is sort of a psycho sport.

Just when you feel like you’re winning, you dub a shot.

Now, you might be wondering, “It’s just one shot, what’s so bad about that?” Great question. A normal person shakes bad things off. But not golfers. For us, one bad shot can quickly go Gremlin and lead to a series of bummers.

Soon you’re facing a Streak of Doom.

During a Streak of Doom, a golfer starts to lose confidence. Hate the game, even. One might even consider switching to pickle ball. Or Yahtzee.

I tell you this because last season, I was headed down that path. Like a good girl being influenced by a bad boyfriend or mean girl posing as a bestie, I was being lured to the land of golf self-destruction.

So I fought back hard.

I took lessons. Asked my husband to evaluate my swing and monitor every shot. (Which is as much of a marriage bonder/squabble starter as you can imagine. This constant advice didn’t promote any bickering whatsoever. Like and follow me for more marriage tips.)

But… good news. My efforts started to pay off. I started to believe I could play this #@$%ing game after all.

Until I couldn’t, and I started to go down that path again.

That’s when my husband suggested I try something a bit unconventional:

Try humming in your head.

Pick a song, and hum it as you’re taking each shot.

Humming?

Since humming was better than more hours at the range, I gave it a try.

It worked okay, but there was only one problem.

I hate humming. And whistling. And toe-tapping. (All because as some of you know, I’ve got a legit case of misophonia.)

So, I tweaked my husband’s advice to come up with my very own…

To ensure my shot will get where I want it to go,

I sing “Sweet Child of Mine” in my head.

AND IT WORKS!

Yes, Sweet Child of Mine (and only this song) has proven to be the ticket to good golf shots.

Freakin’ Guns N’ Roses saved my golf game.

Who knew, right?

And as you may have guessed, this trick is a great lead-in to What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week:

While yes, my sweet child helps me hit good shots 9 times out of 10,

I’ve got news.

It’s not really the song that’s powering those shots.

It’s what the song does to me.

The song takes my head out of the swing and

stops me from thinking about golf or a bad shot.

Muscle memory takes over, anxiety disappears.

The song makes me feel confident.

You see, when I’m having a GNR concert in my head, I’m telling myself (without telling myself) “Hey girl, you’ve got this.”

And by golly, I do have it.

My stance is solid, my grip feels right, and my swing is fluid with a great follow through.

So actually, even though that song is a banger of a hit, my secret really isn’t the song itself.

My secret is how confident and at ease I feel when I’m concentrating on that song.

And here’s the deal. You don’t need to be a golfer or Guns N’ Roses fan to make this trick work for you.

Find another song (Love Boat Theme Song? Gilligan’s Island? Sweet Caroline?) or something similar, and use it in situations where you need to distract the voice in your head that says you can’t. And replace it with a feeling of confidence that knows You Can.

AND YOU WILL.

Simple, right?

I’ll stop now so you can spend four hours looking for your song.

When you’re done… check below. I’ve got some cool links to take you into the weekend.

Enjoy,

Abbey

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5 things I’d rather be talking about:

Here I am thinking very hard about this list.

1. This podcast from The Dhru Purohit Show. It’s all about the brain busting foods that can help prevent Alzheimer’s and promote overall good brain health.

2. While we’re on the good health train, check out what a 102 y/o wellness guru says we should do to live a long life. Read her top five tips here.

3. The notion of a good siesta. Every damn day. If you can, try to take just ten short minutes to check out mid-day and see how much better you feel. This 10 minute meditation is one way to escape.

4. Time to lighten things up and work on our fall wardrobes. See what Allure says is trending this fall and here are some fall trends you won’t regret in five years. Equally important to updating your wardrobe with new clothes is getting rid of outdated pieces. Here’s what not to wear this fall.

5. Finally, a mix of things to check out. This podcast about healthy eating when you’re “of a certain age” (I think it works for anyone), a podcast if you’ve got a picky eater in your house, and the answer to your question why do I feel so achy all the time?

And that… is all she wrote.

I’ll see you again next week.

Until then, keep it real.

And keep singin’ your song, whatever that song is.

✌️🩷🎸,

Abbey