The Secrets to a Great Golfing Mind – Part 1

Just like bunkers, there are many mental hazards in a round of golf. These hazards come in the form of getting annoyed, feeling frustrated, trying too hard, negative thoughts and getting mentally tired (causing a loss of concentration). I’m sure we have all been in a situation where these have surfaced and we’ve missed that simple 2 foot putt!

The best way to overcome these hazards from becoming part of our game is to come up with a Mental Game Plan.

The first step to our plan is EARLY DETECTION.
You need to learn to see problems before they arise. A great way to do this is to check in on yourself often, seeing yourself from an outsiders point of view, looking at mental and physical changes. Try this between shots – ask yourself the following:
- How is my breathing? Is it faster or the same?
- How am I feeling? Annoyed? Tired? Calm?
- How am I physically? Am I gripping the club tighter? Am I losing rhythm? Am I relaxed?

The next step is TROUBLESHOOTING.
Now is the time to fix anything that is not going to serve you for the rest of your game. If you find that negative thoughts or feelings have come up then the best way to eradicate these is to use positive affirmations, repeating positive self talk until the feeling goes away. Example: You are feeling frustrated with your game. You can repeat “I am feeling calm and relaxed” until you get to your next shot.

If you are feeling nervous, frustrated or angry another good tool to use in conjunction with affirmations is a breathing technique called SQUARE BREATHING.
- Breathe in to a count of four.
- Hold to a count of four.
- Breathe out to a count of four.
- Again hold to a count of four.
Then repeat the same process over until you reach a calm state

The last step is to take your MENTAL TOOLS with you to the range and the course. One of the most powerful tools you can use is visualization. This is a very person-specific tool, meaning that everyone uses a slightly different method. Using visualization, you create a mental picture of yourself swinging the club and ending with the desired result for the shot about to be played. (more detail on this in another article).

Now just remember to make mental training part of your practice and your game and soon it becomes completely natural – and you will shoot consistently lower scores!

Enjoy your next round!