Windy Weather Disc Golf | S2E3

If you have read my book, Zen & The Art of Disc Golf, then you know the value that I personally place in both meditation and visualization as tools for you to use in order to both play better and inject positivity and success into your life.

Visualization in sports has been scientifically proven to improve athletic ability and has shown to produce approximately 7x the improvement that can be achieved if an athlete only practices physically, proving (once again), that success truly begins in the mind.

There are several types of visualization that I recommend using when gearing up for your next tournament, practice round, or for your own general improvement in the sport. The first two types of visualization should occur before ever hitting the course. The first is micro-visualization: visualizing individual shots to improve your overall ability on the course and by this I mean visualizing over and over yourself making putt after putt. The second is macro-visualization: visualizing your entire round, shot for shot from hole 1 to hole 18.

If you think this sounds a little “woo woo”, then consider this: for decades olympic athletes have been trained to utilize visualization to help win them the gold.

Nicole Detling, a sports psychologist with the United States Olympic team, states: “The more an athlete can image the entire package, the better it’s going to be.”

If you do a little research, you will also find that many Pro Disc Golfers also utilize visualization to dramitically improve their game.

Disc Golf World Champion, Avery Jenkins, has been quoted saying: “It has proved successful when I could already picture the disc going into the basket moments before actually making that putt, when you can envision it happening, it will happen.”

If visualization is good enough for gold winning olympians and Pro Disc Golfers alike, I recommend taking the idea seriously.

The last type of visualization I recommends takes place on the course. You should take a few seconds before throwing every shot to view in your mind the flight path and the landing of your disc where you need it to be.

Use these tips, and I guarantee you lower your scores.

Last food for thought – If visualization works this well in sports, imagine what it can do for you in your life. Take time before heading out each day to visualize how you want your day to go. See yourself succeeding in all your endeavors, and don’t worry as much about the “how”. The act of doing this daily opens mental doors that with time which will show you the “how”.

Another tool to throw in your bag.