[standaman]

Is positive thinking the same as confidence?

Kevin

[arindiruppya]

Is positive thinking the same as confidence?

Kevin

To me it is, if I'm confident that I can make a shot I'm a lot more positive about the potential outcome.

[lorryuncori]

Is positive thinking the same as confidence?

Kevin

excellent point. yes. yes it is.

[Emalodoulouts]

Is positive thinking the same as confidence?

Kevin

That was part of what I was trying to get to when I started the thread. I don't think they're the same thing, but rather each enhance the other.

[Tusethede]

I would say that positive thinking gives you a chance to succeed. Negative thinking pretty much guarantees failure. Golf is a hard enough game that the negative thoughts can trigger poor results nearly all the time.

I would however differentiate positive thinking from confidence. You can't fake confidence (not to yourself anyway). You can say however much you like that you're going to succeed, but if you don't believe it you probably won't. Confidence is the feeling that you are going to succeed. It's a nice feeling, but not one that can be generated just by wanting it.

The other thing I'd say is if you're standing in the fairway 150 yards away, looking at the green, thinking "i'm going to hit the green" is not a good thing to think. For a start, if you don't hit the green, your confidence will take a dent. Much better to think about your target, together with something like "I'm going to give myself the best chance that I can to hit the green". If you miss, you still gave yourself the chance, so you don't have the incongruence to worry about and also it's more dissociated from the result and focused on the process. The process we can control. The results happen as they happen.

[standaman]

I say sometimes. While feeling confident is a form of positive thinking, it's a form of positive thinking where you know you can do something. It becomes inherent. Being truly confident over a shot doesn't mean you're telling yourself "I can do this". You know you can do it, so you simply execute using the skills you know you have.

Standing over the ball telling yourself "I can do this", is an attempt to make yourself believe you can do something. If you execute the shot enough times. you'll stop feeling the need to convince yourself because you'll know.

One is a plea or hope, the other is a swagger. They're both good, but different.

Kevin

[Emalodoulouts]

Ty and Esox - +1 to both.

[standaman]

While I was trying to think how I wanted to say it, and slowly writing it, Diane and Ty jumped in and said it for me.

I need to improve my posting confidence.

Kevin

[arindiruppya]

While I was trying to think how I wanted to say it, and slowly writing it, Diane and Ty jumped in and said it for me.

I need to improve my posting confidence.

Kevin

LMAO.... Just remember you can do it!

[Poothevokprot]

Is positive thinking the same as confidence?

Kevin

Positive thinking, or a positive approach is an attribute of confidence, but it doesn't necessarily equal confidence. You can approach a difficult shot with a positive plan, but that may still not mean that you are confident of executing the shot. You may devise the best possible plan for that shot that fits your skills, but you can still be aware that your skills may not be quite up to the challenge. That little bug of doubt may still be buzzing around in your head, try as you will to exorcise it. But the positive approach should still give you a better chance of a reasonable outcome than just saying it's impossible and taking a swing with no plan at all.

In such a case you can approach the situation with a positive plan, a positive attitude, and still be short of total confidence in your ability to pull off the shot exactly as planned. That doesn't make the whole exercise a failure, because the positive approach should at least lead to a solid stroke, and a better result than what would come from a weak stroke.