Preparing yourself for the mental challenge of the golf course can take place in the comfort of your home. Golf is a sport that requires a high level of concentration. If your focus dips it can cause a bad shot despite what is going on physically.
With that in mind, I thought I’d cover a few tips on how you can make sure you bounce back best when courses reopen. So here are five golf psychology tips that you can give a go from home:
Watch
One of the best ways to learn in sport is to watch. Given that most people will be spending a lot of time inside it actually presents a unique opportunity to watch highlights and instructional videos to help you analyse your swing and learn from the best. This is called observational learning.
Another great tip is to try, where possible, to watch others playing well who are at a similar level to you. Not only will this help you learn, it will also help to boost your motivation and confidence as it has the ‘if they can do it, I can do it too’ effect.
Our Your Golf NCG channel is also full of great instruction and tip videos on how to better your golf game.
Learn
There are inherently a lot of negatives surrounding our current situation, however it has provided most of us with a lot of time for learning and reflection. Even though you may not be practising or playing it is really important that your learning doesn’t stop. Therefore, it’s a good opportunity to be a better student of the game and of your own game.
Here are a few questions that golfers can ask themselves during this time:
- What do I want to do differently when I play again?
- How am I going to be able to do that?
- Why was I not improving as much as I thought I would?
The key is to have a constant focus on improving, rather than questioning your abilities.
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See
For some golfers they might be able to practice putting, chipping or, if you have a net, full shots. For others however, they might not be able to do any practice at all. This means that using your imagination is going to be important. Specifically starting to visualise what you want to happen when you return to the course. Interestingly, if you visualise properly you can activate some of the same muscle groups that you would actually use when swinging the club, which means it is a great substitute for not being able to swing it at all.
I previously wrote a column on how to visualise properly, this included five tips:
Get physical: This includes, getting into your stance, hold a club or even wear your golf clothes and shoes.
Get creative: Use all of your senses to make it as clear as possible; what can you hear? What can you smell? Who else is there?
See your game: The most important rule is to stay realistic, yet visualise yourself at your best.
Keep perspective: Choose either first- or third-person view and don’t visualise your actions too quickly or slowly.
Get emotional: Think about and embrace how you want to feel on the golf course, i.e. confident, calm, composed.
Do
Where possible, it’s important to try and stay proactive. If you can’t get to the golf course or driving range, this doesn’t mean the day is written off. You can work on your swing mechanics from your house or garden, this can even be without a golf club.
Working on your game doesn’t even have to be your golf swing, it can be mobility, strengthening or any other type of physical work. You can also work on other aspects that impact your game such as sleep, diet and recovery from any niggles.
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Adjust
If you had specific targets or goals for this season in mind, it can be quite frustrating if you’re not able to reach them anymore. However, you should try and keep perspective and have the bigger picture in your mind. For example, this gives you more preparation time to be off to a better start in achieving your goals when you are able to work towards them again!
It’s critical that you adjust and focus on the task in hand rather than feeling down about what’s already happened. One bad hole or poor shot doesn’t mean it’s a bad round and so stick to your pre shot routine and hit the ball, thinking shot by shot.
About Matt Shaw
Matt Shaw is a performance psychologist at InnerDrive who has worked with highly-skilled amateurs and tour professionals. InnerDrive’s team of sport and performance psychologists have been helping elite athletes perform at the top of their game, and even win medals for Team GB at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics. On top of their one-on-one coaching and workshops for golfers, coaches and parents, they regularly produce resources to help every player improve their mental game. Visit their website or follow them on Twitter to learn more.
Conclusion
In golf, the difference between a good round and a great one often comes down to mental preparation. Staying focused, maintaining confidence, managing pressure, and recovering from mistakes are all key aspects of the game that are influenced by mental toughness. With proper mental preparation, golfers can ensure they bring their best game to the course, no matter the conditions or challenges they face.
Give some of these tips above a go and see how you get on in your next venture on the course.
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