Opinion & Analysis

How Gratitude Can Take Your Golf Game to the Next Level

Published

9 years ago

Apr 22, 2017

What are you grateful for? That might seem like a strange question to ask a golfer in a performance article, but the emotion of gratitude can help take your performance to the next level. Research has linked the emotion of gratitude to better overall physical and mental health, as well as sounder sleep, reduced anxiety and lower incidences of depression. Athletes who are more satisfied with their performances are also less likely to burn out and more likely to enjoy an better overall well being.

In my work with athletes, and in previous articles I have written for GolfWRX, I highlight the importance of enjoyment over achievement, which is making sure that enjoyment is at the forefront of performance in golf with achievement following. Golfers who pursue achievement in the game so diligently that they forget about the key purposes of sport, enjoyment and fun, can often end frustrated and miserable. Golfers who pursue enjoyment first, with a deep commitment to excellence and improvement, are the ones who achieve and last in the game.

So why can focusing on gratitude be so beneficial to you as a golfer?

Well, consider that it is impossible to have two emotions at once. The same goes for thoughts; we can only handle one at a time. As a golfer, this is important to know. When you feel negative emotions that limit your performance, you have the option of changing your state to a positive emotion. Gratitude is a great one to make the shift.

Characteristics of Grateful Golfers

Grateful golfers appreciate what they have. While some players complain, make excuses and don’t appreciate the fantastic opportunity of sport, grateful players are excited to have the opportunity to play a sport they love and enjoy all the benefits that are related to sport: fitness, relationships, life lessons, the joy of winning, learning from losing, and the opportunity to challenge and test their abilities.

Grateful golfers are grateful for competitors. Appreciate your competitors! Competitors can bring out the best in you, and without them you do not have the opportunity to play and test your limits. In his autobiography, former Olympic track star Carl Lewis said he chose to embrace his competitors as essential in the quest for performance excellence, rather than to see them as enemies meant to be beaten down. Lewis won 10 Olympic medals, nine of them gold. You need your competitors!

Grateful golfers appreciate the journey and struggle. They know that there will be difficulties and golf often goes in up-and-down cycles. Grateful players learn from these struggles and always move forward. There is an appreciation in the value of their struggles and an ability to look at the big picture and know there are brighter days ahead.

Grateful golfers “sweep the shed.” Like the World Champion New Zealand All Blacks, the great rugby team that tidies up its dressing room after every training and game, grateful players appreciate everyone around them. They appreciate everything they receive; there is no attitude of entitlement.

Grateful golfers enjoy pressure. Is there pressure in sports? Absolutely. But grateful players recognize the incredible opportunity they have to demonstrate their skills and test their limits. You play a game you love with people engaged and watching you. Grateful golfers appreciate the meaning that pressure gives their experience. They know pressure is a privilege. Grateful players look around and appreciate the challenge that is being given to them.

Grateful golfers do not rely on winning. Because they are so focused on a great process and appreciate great competition, the joy of grateful players is not dependent on winning. They want to win, but appreciate their process, the competition and the challenge.

Grateful golfers let go. When it’s time to play and practice, it’s done with purpose, intention and efficiency. Grateful players work hard with intention, but they also appreciate and enjoy their time away from practice and competition, appreciating all parts of their life.

What You Can Do To Become A Grateful Golfer

Many things, and it’s a little different for everyone, but here’s a start.

1. Never forget how lucky you are to be playing a fantastic game like golf, which gives you the opportunity to express yourself and has the opportunity to give your life meaning.

2. Remember you can only feel one emotion at once. Replace anxious feelings with feelings of gratefulness. You must make the decision to change your state with a shift to being grateful for the opportunity to participate in the game of golf.

3. Think about two things you are grateful for at the end of each day. Get in the habit of being grateful for things in your golf and in your life.

Remember to be grateful for what you have including your opportunity to play golf. Golf is never something you have to do, but always something you get to do!

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John Haime

John Haime is the President of New Edge Performance. He's a Human Performance Coach who prepares performers to be the their best by helping them tap into the elusive 10 percent of their abilities that will get them to the top. This is something that anyone with a goal craves, and John Haime knows how to get performers there. John closes the gap for performers in sports and business by taking them from where they currently are to where they want to go. The best in the world trust John. They choose him because he doesn’t just talk about the world of high performance – he has lived it and lives in it everyday. He is a former Tournament Professional Golfer with professional wins. He has a best-selling book, “You are a Contender,” which is widely read by world-class athletes, coaches and business performers. He has worked around the globe for some of the world’s leading companies. Athlete clients include performers who regularly rank in the Top-50 in their respective sports. John has the rare ability to work as seamlessly in the world of professional sports as he does in the world of corporate performance. His primary ambition writing for GolfWRX is to help you become the golfer you'd like to be. See www.johnhaime.com for more. Email: [email protected]

9 Comments

asugrad1988

Apr 25, 2017 at 11:34 am

I have had a very good golf life. I’ve played for over 50 years and won a lot of tournaments. I also volunteer at a local food pantry. You see some very pitiful people coming in to get free food. Most all of them have some really sad stories.
Now when I’m playing golf, if I hit a shot that’s not good or my round is not up to my expectations, I just remember those people at the food pantry and how much I spend each month to belong to a private club, and then I realize how many of those people that come in the food pantry would love to trade places with me for just one day, and I realize my round wasn’t so bad after all.

Reply Report comment
- John Haime
  
  Apr 25, 2017 at 4:29 pm
  
  Thanks for the comment asugrad – that’s a great reminder and perspective that we have to enjoy every minute of our time in golf.
  
  Reply Report comment
Kenny Taylor

Apr 25, 2017 at 11:27 am

Thanks John. As a retired Navy SEAL and burgeoning performance consultant for youth sports, performance artists and young men interested having a career in the Military Special Operations, the message that “Pressure is a Privilege” really hit a chord for me. When people take time out of their lives to work with you on attaining your performance goals, is it a privilege and some thing to be grateful for.many
Playing golf and testing your abilities in a vacuum and the range or on the course without fellow competitors, is hardly a test, it’s practice. I am grateful to have friends to share my golf experiences with. Most of us (amateurs), don’t have admiring fans standing outside the ropes, but those few people in our foursomes are often plenty to provide the pressure an external motivation to stay focused our process and attempt to play well.
Thanks for the EI insight.

Reply Report comment
- John Haime
  
  Apr 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm
  
  Thanks so much Kenny. As a SEAL, you understand the idea of pressure and I’m sure thought about it a lot. Without pressure, performances lose meaning. It’s a skill to leverage it to your advantage – embracing it. Here’s an article I wrote for WRX on pressure – http://www.golfwrx.com/347608/do-you-feel-the-golf-pressure-cooker/. Keep up the great work!!
  
  Reply Report comment
Bigputt18

Apr 25, 2017 at 11:27 am

I have had a very good golf life. I’ve played for over 50 years and won a lot of tournaments. I also volunteer at a local food pantry. You see some very pitiful people coming in to get free food. Most all of them have really sad stories.
Now when I’m playing golf, if I hit a shot that’s not good or my round is not up to my expectations, I just remember those people at the food pantry and how much I spend each month to belong to a private club, and then I realize how many of those people that come in the food pantry would love to trade places with me for just one day, and I realize my round wasn’t so bad after all.

Reply Report comment
8thehardway

Apr 23, 2017 at 8:11 am

Grateful to whom? I think you’re describing “appreciation,” a completely reflective process with no hint of (externally oriented) obligation, indebtedness or response.

Reply Report comment
- John Haime
  
  Apr 23, 2017 at 10:35 am
  
  Hi,
  
  Many thanks for the comment and perspective.
  
  The article is about the feelings of being grateful for what the game provides and how it adds value to our lives.
  
  Yes, being grateful is about being appreciative for the wonderful benefits received (from the game). Those benefits are derived in many different ways – some outlined in the article – but just generally being appreciative and carrying the feeling of gratefulness before we play, during and after play. I think you’ll find appreciation in the definition of grateful along with others like thankful etc.
  
  Reply Report comment
coolhandbirdman

Apr 22, 2017 at 9:53 pm

To be able to walk in the hills of the finger lakes on a sunday wearing shorts enjoying a beer on the back nine with my friends. Sticking a few pins is an extra bonus. But thats why I’m grateful for golf.

Reply Report comment
- John Haime
  
  Apr 23, 2017 at 10:39 am
  
  Exactly! Enjoy the game, enjoy your friends and enjoy the challenge – what could be better!
  
  Thanks for the great comment.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

1 week ago

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GolfWRX Staff

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Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

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On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

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