In my former role as head golf coach at Simon Fraser University, my primary endeavor was to help our student-athletes build awareness. As eighteen-year-olds, moving away from home, entering the University setting, venturing into the unknown, the greatest skill among those who successfully navigate this transition are those who cultivate their awareness. With this, I see awareness in three dimensions: the inner self, the outer self, and the greater self (metaphysical self).  

Awareness of the inner self  – small “i” awareness – is the ability to look inside of yourself, a scan of the body and mind.  Often described as internal awareness, it’s an observation on your current state: how am I feeling? What am I thinking? What do I notice?

In my experience, the current generation is much better equipped to look internally and process how they are doing and what’s really going on. Language and practices have been shared in their youth. Stigmas of previous generations have been reduced and it’s encouraged to look inward.  Practices like journaling, self-reflection, meditation are commonplace and often through a lens of “me” or “i”.

One of the most important aspects of golf performance is learning to regulate your inner awareness. A common challenge I observe among college golfers is being overly aroused or activated during competition. This is a topic to discuss unto itself but for the purpose of this article I will summarize “over arousal/ activation” as a feeling of high anxiety and panic that negatively affects performance. For many this presents as feeling nerves, but where the nerves seem unmanageable to the athlete. Too often this leads to skipping steps in your routine and ultimately not performing to your abilities. The key for athletes is to recognize how they’re feeling in the moment and develop strategies to manage their levels of arousal/activation. By building self-awareness and implementing mental skills, they can better manage themselves under pressure.

The next level of awareness, and the one I find most important for college players, is awareness of the outer-self – the big “I” in context to the larger world. This involves using your five senses to calculate what’s going on around you. This process is ongoing: it involves continuously gathering information, filtering out what’s most important, and then understanding how you, as the athlete, fit into the broader context of what’s happening in the world.

High performance College golf requires strong physical and technical skills (and these two components of performance are the easiest for the coach to develop), but the area that differentiates high performers are the mental and tactical skills. Athletes lacking the mental skills to perform at the highest levels of college golf often have lower awareness of external factors – wind, grass types, temperature, elevation, etc. – and struggle to recognize or incorporate this information. Successful players are those who are able to gather all relevant information, filter what’s important, and adapt their tactics to best match their own uniqueness to the demands of each shot. 

The final aspect of awareness is the connection to the greater self, or what some might call the metaphysical self. In this space, the sense of “I” fades away, and the athlete becomes connected to something larger than themselves—whether that’s the universe, the “soul” of the game, or a profound love for it. In golf, this can emerge where space and time dissolve, and the athlete feels a deep gratitude that comes from stepping beyond the self. This detachment is vital for long-term high performance, especially as the daily grind of training gives way to the pure joy and fulfillment that the experience offers. We are fortunate to play a sport that can last a lifetime, and this deeper awareness can carry us through the highs and lows of that journey.

It’s uncommon for student-athletes to reach this level of awareness in their late teens, but as a coach, I strive to plant the seeds that may one day blossom into a deeper understanding of golf’s long view. I have the honour and privilege of coaching high-performance student-athletes during a pivotal and transitional period in their lives. While their journey often begins with the game of golf, my role extends beyond the sport. I strive to guide them in developing awareness at all levels, equipping them with the tools they’ll need not just in golf, but throughout life’s journey.