Golf Psychology Newsletter - 28/05/05

Welcome again to the Golf Brain newsletter.

It seems at the moment whenever I pick up a newspaper and read about golf there is some reference to the mental game of golf and some of the fine work that is being done by mental game coaches out on the European or U.S. Tour. As much as this is encouraging it still never ceases to amaze me how many people think that mental game training is somehow separate from training your technique or your physical body. Almost as if you begin working on your mind and stop working on or give up on improving your technique.

If you are truly serious about finding out how good you can be at this game you need to think of the 3 areas (Mind, Swing and Body) as 3 wheels in a motor driving you towards your destination. If you work on all three of the wheels then you get turbo boost! If you ignore or avoid one of the 3 areas the motor grinds to a halt and the wheels start to spin leaving you in that twilight world of ‘he COULD have been good’.

At ANY level of the game you can IMPROVE your MENTAL game now.

State Control

The person who is able to control their “state” will to a large extent be able to control their world and the results that they achieve within that world.
Most people are totally at the mercy of their constantly changing states, because most people do not have the faintest idea of how to control the way they feel. The state they are in is usually determined by what is happening in the outside world. If it is a nice sunny day they feel good, if the golf ball is behaving itself they feel confident if the person they are playing with is to their liking they feel happy, the way they feel is controlled by events that are external to them, NOT GOOD!!
Unfortunately we cannot control external events like the weather or who we are playing with or the state of the course and if the way that we feel is dependent on these conditions then we are in a very vulnerable position indeed.
Many of the events in the world we have little or no control over what we do have the opportunity to control is our REACTION to external events.
The ability to be in the right state at the right time for the task or experience at hand is the fundamental difference between those that achieve their goals and live fulfilled lives and those that don’t.

Having fun playing golf involves staying in the present, going with the flow, enjoying the moment without being overly concerned with outcome or results.
Some golfers erroneously believe that golf; by its nature must be a struggle. They do not believe that the concept of “fun” can apply to such a challenging, complicated task – especially when competition is involved.
In truth, having fun and being competitive go hand-in-hand. If you are staying in the present moment and not worrying about ego, if you are free from worry about others, then you are heading towards your peak performance state.

For tools and techniques on how to control your state go to www.golf-brain.com

The Art of Fire-fighting your Round
Turning potential disaster into manageable scores.


It has been called the ‘cone of contention’, the ‘money shot’ or any other host of graphic titles but it basically boils down to this, that if you can manage your game from 6o yards in to the flag, if you can chip and putt under pressure, if somehow you can get the ball into the hole when your swing feels dreadful then you will step up and reach a completely different level of play.

If you can produce the goods in the short game you will be a match for anyone.
How is it that some golfers such as Padraig Harrington can get the ball into the hole in a decent score whilst playing badly yet other golfers seem to have to absolutely flush the ball tee to green in order to post a half decent score? Obviously technique can play a big part in this but some mental strategies from the worlds best could help you to turn those three shots into two.

Once you have a reasonably sound technique then the way that you run your brain will be the difference between par and bogey.

Here are 5 key points:

1) Use often, what is for me the most important word in the English language; POSSIBLE!
Even though you have hit a poor tee shot, your second wasn’t much better and you are still 40yds of the green in a non-too comfortable lie, ask yourself ‘Is it POSSIBLE that I could get this up and down in two?’
The answer to this no matter how badly you are playing is of course ‘yes’ it is POSSIBLE and then you begin in your mind to create the shot you require.

2) Eliminate from you’re your language two of the most DANGEROUS words in the English language MUST and SHOULD.
Just say inside of your head ‘I MUST get this up and down to save par’ and you may well begin to feel the body tightening and tension increasing as the brain goes onto red alert as though this is a life or death situation. With possible you create a neutral mindset of opportunity, with must and should all you get is stress!

3) With your practice swings spend much of your time looking at the hole as opposed to thinking about your technique. As you look at the target (just as you would if you were throwing a ball) your brain can begin to formulate a plan and an image of how to get the ball close. If you are looking down at the ground your focus will shift to technical issues.

4) Always have the perspective that wherever you put your chip you will hole the putt after that. If you feel that you have too put the ball absolutely stiff to the hole you are creating an unrealistic expectation on your short game. Confidence works from the hole backwards.

5) Get really good at holing out from inside 10 feet to support your short game.
As you stand behind the ball deciding on what shot to play allow your brain to create an image of the ENTIRE journey from your club, the landing spot and then seeing the ball roll out and nestle near the flag. This is giving your body a complete description of the task at hand. If you just pick a spot to land the ball on you are only doing half the job.