The majority of people playing golf, have heard the phrase, ‘golf is 90% in the mind’.
We are not here to dispute the legitimacy of that statement but what is true, is that mentality does play a huge part in the sport of golf. Today, we will be tackling a number of mental issue that arise on the golf course and providing ways in which to tackle them. The first of which, is negative thinking.
Negative Thinking
How often have you prepared to hit your golf shot and at the same time been thinking ‘don’t hit it in to the water, just don’t hit in to the water’? What usually happens at this stage? More often than not, the ball goes straight in to the water or travels in completely the opposite direction. Either way, the resulting shot is poor. You then begin to dwell on that bad shot and before you know it, your whole round of golf becomes negatively effected by it.
Furthermore, once in to a state of negative thoughts during a round of golf, they can often stay for the remainder of the round.
Fortunately, there is a way to control those negative thoughts. Imagine you hit a poor approach shot to the green and end up 20 yards away from it. Now, instead of allowing your mind to send you a barrage of abuse, have it force you to repeat a positive thought over and over again. In this example, you could mentally repeat an affirmation such as ‘perfect chip, perfect chip, perfect chip’ as you make your way towards the green.
This technique, sends a powerful message to your subconscious, which causes you to focus on your next shot. Not only that, but it also blocks out any thoughts of negativity from your previous shot and that precisely what we are trying to achieve.
Visualisation
Visualisation can help to promote inner belief, which can be vital when attempting an important stroke on the golf course. A lack belief, can result in a feeling of not being good enough, becoming intimidated by other players or worrying about things which are out of your control.
The best way to overcome this lack of belief, is daily visualisation. Take 5 minutes out of your day, everyday and imagine yourself playing the perfect round of golf. Don’t just think about it, feel it. Use all of your senses to visualise exactly what it would be like. The fairways, the greens, the other players and most importantly, that fantastic feeling of joy when you play a tremendous round.
By doing this for just 5 minutes every day, there will be a gradual transformation in your confidence, both before and during your round of golf.
Concentration
Many players can start off their round fully focused but once the back 9 starts, they tend to lose that focus. Each person has a different degree of mental stamina but everyone’s mind can become tired of focusing on the same thing. This is when errors can start to creep in and crucial shots are lost.
However, there is way around this, which will help you to focus on the golf course, when it really matters.
It’s that last part of the above sentence which is important here. Focus when it really matters. This is known as the ‘switch on, switch off’ technique.
To implement this technique, you need to distract yourself from your golf in-between shots. For example, as you walk between one shot and the next, do not get caught up thinking about the previous or next shot, instead, think about something completely different.
Soak up the view and what’s around you, think about something fun you did or something you are looking forward to, anything to ‘remove yourself’ from the game. It’s important to think about something that makes you relaxed and not something which will make you stressed or angry.
Uncontrollables
There many elements to a round of golf, which are simply out of your control.
A couple of examples on uncontrollables include the weather, it could be very windy and this is making some of your shots very difficult to control. Your shot ended up in the one section of rough that happens to be the deepest on the hole. Your playing partner is playing superbly and enjoying him/herself.
All of the above, are actually out of your control, therefore, why do you waste the mental stamina worrying about them? This links back to a previous technique, known as the ‘switch on, switch off’ technique.
Unless there is something going on, during your round of golf, that is tangible and can be changed by you, then use that time to think about something else and conserve your mental energy. You might need it when addressing that all important putt on the 18th green.
