In today’s social media-fuelled world, online ‘experts’ often talk in buzzwords like ‘Fixed and Growth Mindset’ whilst implying how worthless one is if they don’t run a global business and drive a Ferrari. I believe other luxury cars are available, but I don’t really care. The point is that the wealth, status and masculinity brigade don’t actually explain these things in a way normal folk can understand without feeling like they’re a failure. Much more informed follows do exist, but sadly they have less followers and their content is more complex, so the algorithm doesn’t prioritise them in the way that it should. Anyway, rant over. Let’s have a look at the work of Carol Dweck (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, 2006) and see if we can make sense of how it relates to golf.
Dweck’s work, for me, is a fantastic insight into how your beliefs about yourself impact upon your long-term success. She explains fixed and growth mindsets in simple terms; fixed being the belief that all abilities are in essence static traits, and growth being the belief that those abilities can be developed through effort and dedication. Of course, I hesitate to assume that human beings fit neatly into one or the other of these. In my experience people hover somewhere between the two, with their experiences pushing them towards one side or the other. For me, Dweck outlines four specific parts worth discussing.
Acceptance
Dweck suggests that in order to grow, one must accept their current limitations. In our tech-driven world we are often told, directly or indirectly, that acknowledging a weakness is dangerous for many reasons, not least because it could be interpreted by others as a sign of incompetence or lack of talent. However, I think the opposite could also be assumed, certainly in golf. For example if a player identifies through their performance that putting is costing them strokes, before implementing a strategy to improve it…I think that could be widely accepted as a strong thing to do, and indeed an obvious thing to do. Acceptance of your own strengths and weaknesses is absolutely crucial at any level of the game.
The False Growth Trap
This is the wealth and status crowd. Simply saying that you have a growth mindset or stating that ‘the grind’ is the only way to success does not make it true. For example, saying you are ‘open-minded’ or offering praise without evidence is more of a fixed mindset in reality. It’s only my opinion, but I think this is best demonstrated by the culture of giving every child a prize at sports day - a nice idea in principle, but what are we creating in the long term? If all effort levels are rewarded equally, then some children will hit a wall and become disillusioned and angry when the real world does not work like that and true difficulty arises. Applied to golf (or indeed any sport) this relates strongly to the ‘talent versus hard work’ debate. If a child is constantly showered with praise and admiration simply for their talent, are they less likely to develop that talent versus a player who is praised for their work ethic?
Infinite Persistence
Pushing through tough times is exactly what most people see as a growth mindset. However, Dweck suggests that alongside this determination there must also be some awareness of when a strategy isn’t working, or a goal is no longer viable. If an approach is not bringing desired results, people can often see this as being down to a lack of effort or intelligence. Interestingly, this actually creates the same psychological despair as a fixed mindset, i.e. the belief that you’re not good enough to achieve the goal. Dweck argues that rearranging goals and expectations is part of having a growth mindset and being determined to achieve something unachievable is more of a fixed mindset.
Process versus Outcome
A favourite of sports psychology, this is the slightly paradoxical idea that in order to achieve an outcome, you must let go of it and focus instead on the things you must do to get there. Dweck suggests that a fixed mindset prioritises validation - winning, looking impressive - and that true high achievers focus on the mechanics of learning, making mistakes and refining strategies. Detaching self-worth from the outcome is something many athletes struggle to do, and in my opinion golf is one of the hardest sports in which to do this.
In summary, Dweck’s work (at least to me) suggests that a growth mindset is not a permanent state of optimism or ‘the grind’. Instead it is a flexible thing that requires adaptability, honesty, a willingness to change strategy, and an understanding that your worth as a human being does not hinge upon your sporting ability.
Golf
As a golfer, I think a suitable summary of how Dweck’s work could assist your progress is as follows:
Judge yourself on your process - how you practice, your attention to detail, your use of stats to inform where your focus should be.
Recognise when goals need to be refined and adjusted - this is a normal part of the process.
Use mistakes as data to inform your practice. Understand that unsatisfactory shots/rounds will help you get better.
See your golf in MACROS and MICROS. The long term picture (macro) is made up of many small micros. Micros will be good and bad. The macro is what counts.
See failure as a normal part of the process. Use it to your advantage and see it as evidence that you are challenging yourself.
