Deadly sins of putting: Who’s watching me?
Dr Bob Winter is one of the leading mental coaches in the world. Winter is a mind game coach at DLGA and has helped golfers rise to the international stage.
The idea that someone is watching you can create a sense of paranoia according to the mind game coach.
Under Scrutiny
Having someone watching you play creates a feeling of paranoia for many golfers. The issue of so-called ‘1st tee nerves’ revolves around the same notion: ‘I’m uncomfortable because people are watching and I don’t know what they’re thinking…’.
I’m sure you can relate to any number of scenarios. Say you are playing with a well- known player at your club and it is the first time you have been paired up. You want to impress that player. At the opening hole he makes a 10-footer for par and you have a five-footer to match it. Over the ball, that little voice perks up inside your head: “I have to make this putt. I was closer. If I miss they will probably think that I am a poor putter, that I cannot handle the pressure’
The thoughts within your mind start to race and there is little you can do to shut off such a damaging, judgmental attitude.
The fear of having someone watch us when we perform creates a special type of social evaluation anxiety. This is true whether you are warming up for a friendly game or preparing for the Club Championship.
A fellow competitor comes up and watches your putting stroke. They may even comment on your technique. For many golfers this is an unnerving situation. One that is liable to create tension and self-doubt.
The situation is exacerbated when the other player comments or critiques your stroke and makes you conscious of a fault of which you were unaware.
The mental baggage from this brief interchange can alter the feeling of confidence you once had prior to anyone watching or talking with you.
Blocking them out
To cure this affliction you have to change your philosophy about what you can and cannot control. You cannot control some- one from observing you or watching you. For many players, the tendency to look and observe is a natural human phenomena because we are naturally curious about what others around us are doing.
Therefore, you must get into your own thing, let go of the curious eyes of others and focus your attention on what you are doing rather than waste your energy on what other people are thinking. Truth is, no one really cares about your game and the way you putt!
Not really. They are probably watching you because they want to use your putt to provide them with information to help them putt! In truth. It isn’t about you at all but it is about your putt to help them!
For the most part. People are more self-involved with themselves than they are interested in your putting skill. So, you need to get over yourself and your self- importance of feeling that others are evaluating you.
The basic point is this: focus your energy on your putt and allow others to do whatever it is they want to do. As anything else in life. If you do not give the source of irritation energy, there ceases to be a disruption.
But if you fret and moan over people that you think may be watching you. It is certain that the self-directed energy will disrupt your natural putting process. You will never putt as well as you possibly can. Let go of others and watch your putts start to fall!
