Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36in order to get the win and release the rest. I call this process, “Debrief to eliminate defeat.” The sign of a true champion is someone who can move into a new paradigm before others, to get the competitive edge. Learning the processes and practices of mental toughness and peak perfor- mance will empower you to take a big leap this upcoming season. Make it your aim to create success from the start on your road to champi- onship in 2017! Former Duke University golfer Veronica Karaman is the founder and head coach of True Champion Coaching where she uses a holistic approach to developing champions on and off the course. For a free report on The Champion’s Way: 3 Keys to Peak Performance, visit truechampioncoaching.com. On the Road to Championship “Do you want to be a typical teenager or do you want to be a champion?” As a performance coach, I often ask that question to an aspiring junior golfer. For those who want to become their best, the answer is always, “I want to be a champion!” “Great,” I reply. “Then you have to learn to think like a champion! Champions think differently than other people.” THE MENTAL GAME I further explain. “For instance, champions can more quickly release a bad shot from their minds than other competitors. They have emotional mastery. They have fewer thoughts in their head at one time than others and can sustain them lon- ger.” According to sports psychologist Dr. David Cook, champions have two distinguishing fea- tures – focus and passion. This past season I had the opportunity to work with many competitive junior golfers, equipping them with champion mindsets and strengthening their identity – what I refer to as the inner core of a champion. In these sessions, I trained them on how peak performance happens, and equipped them to understand the processes and practices that lead to winning outcomes. We focused on creating success from the start, looking at what they wanted to accomplish for the season and how we were going to get there. I’ve Noticed Several Key Processes of Transforming a Junior Golfer Into a True Champion: 1. The ability to stop comparing oneself to other players and to focus instead on strength- ening one’s own inner identity. I call this “stop comparing and start declaring who you are.” This past season I had the opportunity to work with many competitive junior golfers, equipping them with champion mindsets and strengthening their identity – what I refer to as the inner core of a champion. BYVERONICAKARAMAN January 2017 | 25 Subscribe today at juniorgolfmag.net Comparison is deadly. Self-affirmation is em- powering, and helps a player play out of the cen- ter of who she is. Three weeks after implement- ing this practice, my student Megan shot the best competitive round of her life and reduced her average scores by 12 shots! 2. The ability to not think about score while you are playing. The over-focus on score and the meaning attached to it creates internal pres- sure that can destroy peak performance. One of my students, Lotte, and I came up with several specific ways to refrain from focusing on score. One of them was to engage in friendly conversa- tion with her playing partners right after she teed off. Conversing with them kept her mind off of constantly rehearsing her scores. I call this pro- cess, “Converse, don’t rehearse.” Immediately following this new practice, Lotte won her next tournament. 3. The ability to effectively debrief a round and complete it emotionally. Competitions have to be completed emotionally. If not, you will take any negative energy into the next competition. Learning to observe one’s performance from a non-judgmental perspective opens up one of the greatest learning opportunities in your golf game. I give players a specific set of questions to go over,