Golfing In Alaska (Short but Beautiful Season)

I was just reminded of a quote by Jim Flick, “Golf is 90 % mental and the other 10% is mental.”  I think he is right!  Well maybe 90% right, of course you need to have some sound fundamentals for your swing which include grip, setup, alignment, swing and follow through.  If you have taken a lesson or two you have been introduced to the physical side of golf. At least exposed to the fundamentals but where do you go to get the golf mental training that you need to learn how to visualize your shot and to keep you from the first tee jitters.

Once we know what we are supposed to do on the golf course the rest of the game comes down to actually performing.  That is the part which so often breaks down.  This important aspect of our golf game leads us on that wild goose chase to beat ourselves into submission on the driving range trying to hone our “muscle memory.”  While I agree that practice is vitally important, our golf mental training is equally important.  The attitude that we bring to the course, our ability to perform under pressure, the use of a good set up routine and visualization are the keys we can use to unlock the mystery of the game.

Here are five things that you can do for the mental side of golf that will help your game to improve:

1.    Have a goal for the day. On your way to the course make a decision about the score you will have for the round.  Aim at a score that is a few points below your handicap or to reach a milestone for your game, as in breaking 90 or 80 or par.  If you know the course well, think of a hole that you that you may have never birdied and make that a part of your goal.  Before you leave the car write your score down. Then, leave it in the car.

2.   If you are healthy and able to walk; then do so! Some courses insist that you ride and lots of courses are long, with huge gaps between holes. It will do a lot for your game and your planning if you walk and have your clubs with you at all times. This gives you two distinct advantages over riding.  One it is healthy, a two mile walk a few time a week is good for you.  Two you are able to approach the ball from a long way behind and assess the lie and terrain as you come up to it.  As you approach you can form an image in your mind’s eye of how the ball will look in flight and where you want it to land for your next shot.  Contrast this with riding up to where you are parallel to the ball jumping out of the cart running around behind for a brief look before you address and take your stroke and the difference is immense.

3.   Get a physical routine that puts you through an auto-pilot check list every time that you step up to the ball. Include a long distance target, a mid-range target and your ideal landing “picture” as you approach from behind. Then align yourself with your mid-range target, check your grip, stance, ball placement for the club you are using, knee bend, and a straight back.  When you have a routine that gets the physical into place in 30-45 seconds your confidence is increased dramatically.

4.    Be on guard for negative self talk. Do not let a bad shot take anything away from your game.  Bad shots occur in golf, when you make one, briefly analyze it for the break-down (usually a faulty setup or aggressive, intense swing) then forget about it.  Focus instead on the next perfect swing you are about to make. Dwelling on the past, especially with negative emotion will only intensify the situation. You know where this is going… your next shot or several will follow your dominant emotional state; visualize the positive.

5.   Play your own game, most golf courses are designed to increase the difficulty of the game with obstacles; ditches, water and sand traps.  You may be paired with someone who can hit the ball a country mile to clear some of these barriers.  If that shot is not in your bag, then do not try it.  There is no shame in hitting a straight shot down the middle, short of the obstacle, then going over it on the second try.  Using good course management you will arrive at almost every hole with a chance for par.  If you try to emulate someone else with different abilities, that you do not possess, you are straying from your mental side of golf and setting yourself up for trouble.  Do not let others distract you, play your own game.

These five tips will help you to develop your golf mental training. When you add them to your physical training you will have a winning combination to achieve lower scores.  Hit them straight and seldom!

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Of all the aspects of the game of golf the mental side of golf is surely the quirkiest one.  Golf is a social sport and form of recreation.  When we play the game by ourselves we have only our own thoughts to listen to and think about.  When we play with others that whole scene changes and now we have three other sets of voices to contend with as we try to focus on the task at hand.  Of course there are the other golfers on the course as well, that slow foursome in front of you can be a source of irritation and a distraction as well.

I have been fascinated to watch over the years as a simple comment or out of place remark can lead to some very poor results; not only for your self but for others in the group as well.  When I show up at the course to play as a single I will get put into the company of the next available threesome; usually with a group of people whom I have never met.  This can make for some interesting groupings, as sometimes the group that I am joining is very experienced, and sometimes just the opposite.  Playing with raw beginner brings a whole new set of challenges to your game, at least for me.  I will find myself wanting to give the fellow a pointer or two; while knowing that lessons belong on the driving range,  it is tough to keep my mouth closed.

My home course is a mountain course with lots of terrain and tree challenges.  Sometimes I find myself in the position of a tour guide; “Just aim at that flag on the top of that hill, it is only a directional flag, it is not the hole.” So the day continues as I comment on the hole coming up and make a few cautionary remarks about the narrow fairway, lay-up areas, and best club selection.  This is where I began to make my discovery, what I say can seriously affect the mental side of “others” shots.

With all the challenges presented by my course I need to be extremely careful when I describe them.  The second hole has a  narrow opening up the hill between two serious clumps of trees. There is a directional flag at the top of the hill which is actually placed a little too far to the left. If your drive goes anywhere to the left of the directional flag there is a tree on the other side of the hill which will block the approach to the green.  If I tell them “Don’t go to the left of the flag,” I have focused their attention on that instead of going to the right.  Over the years I have learned to be very careful with my descriptions so that I focus the listener on the proper action and not the negative consequence.

8th Hole At Raven GC Silverthorne

Another area where we affect others, is our attitude toward a certain hole that might have been giving us challenges.  Comments like: “I always”,  “This hole gives me fits “,  and “I knew that would happen!” will give the listener a negative image.  This happens even when the others have never played that particular hole.  We are told to remain quiet while the other golfer is making his shot, but often our remarks prior to the shot can have an effect on the outcome.

The last area deals with anger, obviously throwing a club is not considered good etiquette. However smaller demonstrations of anger as in cursing a bad shot, dropping a club or making loud noises can affect the play of others.  Think about this mental side of golf the next time you play.  Hit them straight and seldom.

Technorati Tags: golf mental training, mental golf, the mental side of golf

Did you ever have one of those magical golf days when you found the zone and your mental game of golf was totally dialed in? Those times when your putter is so hot, that you can’t miss from anywhere on the green, and the game of golf has gone on auto-pilot for you? What is the difference between that day and the days that every shot is a struggle?  Why is it possible to go out one day, put on a clinic of amazing golf shots, to return the following day and stand over the ball asking yourself what do I do next?

I have certainly had my share of those magical moments and poor golf days.  As I seek to improve my golf game I am discovering that the mental game of golf is just as important as the physical game. My buddy says “It depends on who shows up to the course that day,” and I think he is right.  The person who shows up needs to be focused on his game with total awareness of what he is going to do for each shot, without trying to force anything to happen.

The first obvious part to the mental game of golf is to leave the cares of daily life in the car.  I would even be so brazen as to suggest that the cell phone should stay there as well, (your mileage may vary) a ringing cell phone is a huge annoyance not only for you but for others. The bottom line is that you need to be able to totally focus on your game without being distracted.

Our golf swing can occur in less that 1.5 seconds and that gives us absolutely no time to think about what we should do or be doing during the swing itself.  I am sure that you have discovered that a random thought during the swing is a formula for disaster.  The mental side of golf means then that our decisions about what to do are already set before the golf swing occurs.  The time for making decisions is in your setup routine.

In your setup routine, you want to be visualizing the shot, deciding where it will land to set yourself up for your next shot. This is the critical point, the mental picture that you put together must be couched in positive terms. You see the shot completing exactly the way you want it with out any negatives. You must focus on a totally positive outcome. The trees, the lake, the sand trap or other obstacle need to be ignored in your mental picture. Conversely a picture like “DON’T hit it into the water” will put you in the lake every time.

Once you have made your club selection and start your setup, your thinking process needs to get out of the way.  From this point on it becomes a matter of performance, your body is now in charge of the activity.  This is the critical place where you let go and trust that your muscles, sense of feel and prior training will take over.

Golf mental training is being able to get your brain out of the way and turn your swing over to total trust in your body to actually perform.  You can learn to do this by incorporating it into your setup.  When you are approaching your ball and deciding where the next shot will be going, add that image of yourself making your best golf swing.  After this you can go through your routine knowing that your body now has that image and you no longer need to worry about it.  Try it, it works.

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