The Cast Iron Park Bench

Today’s article focuses on golf and that much talked about mental part. Golf, like any sport, is 90% mental. The top PGA players work just as hard on their mental game as they do on their swing. Having a strong golf mind is called being in “the zone”, and even weekend hackers have been in the zone at one time or another. The difference between them and the pro’s is that the pro’s are locked in “the zone” a lot more than amateurs because they work at it. Let’s discuss some of the important mental components of golf. If you work on these things, you will see an improvement in your scores.

1. Swing Thoughts

A swing thought is any swing related thought that invades a golfers mind upon addressing the ball, such as the back swing, foot position or follow through. How many times have you addressed the ball and said to yourself, “ah, now I know what I’m doing wrong; I have to shorten my backswing or, I’m not turning my shoulders enough, or I’m coming through the ball too quickly? In other words, how many times have you actually worked on your swing during a round of golf?

Whenever a swing thought such as these sneaks its way into a golfers mind, the one thing the golfer is not focusing on is the most important thing of allthe shot itself. Recently, Tiger Woods was asked what he’s thinking as he’s about to take a shot. Innocently, this is what he said: “Where I want the ball to go. What else would I be thinking?”
Ben Hogan, another one of the golf greats said, “If I have two swing thoughts I have no chance of hitting a good shot; if I have one swing thought maybe I’ll hit a good shot; if I have no swing thoughts then I can play like Ben Hogan. The key here is to leave your swing thoughts at the range. Trust your swing when you’re out on the course, imagine where you want the ball to go and take a hack at it. That’s it.

2. Shot Thoughts

Let’s say you have to carry a shot over a lake. This can be nerve racking for any golfer because the last thing you want to do is top the ball and watch it nose-dive into the lake. Now, weekend duffers can go a whole round without topping a single ball but when a lake stands in their way, guess what happens? That’s right, they top the darn thing. Why? It has everything to do with what they’re thinking. As they’re addressing the ball, they’re probably saying to themselves, “I better not hit this shot in the lake.” Automatically, whenever you say something like this to yourself, the mind will produce an image of the ball nose-diving into the lake. This is how the mind works. Focusing on what you do “not” want to do automatically creates images of just that. Focus on what you want to do and you’ll see improvement.

3. Letting go of bad shots

Most high handicappers have a problem shaking off a bad shot they’ve just hit. And guess what happens? They wind-up taking their frustrations with them to the next shot. This is a golden ticket to hitting a bad shot again, and again, and again. So the next time you duff a ball or hit one fat or deposit it into a lake, forget about it. Let it go. If you don’t, you’re never going to be able to concentrate effectively on the shots that lay ahead.

4. Relax

Ok, this is probably the most important part of a golf swing. The majority of the time, a golfer has no idea how his body feels. He has no idea that there may be tension in his shoulders, arm and legs. He has no idea that the two food putt he just missed has got him so upset that tension is invading his muscles. Why is this a problem? Because tension screws-up a golf swing. The first thing I teach all of my golf clients is to take a couple of deep breaths before every shot and imagine tension and stress melting away; imagine feeling smooth and relaxed.

In summary, the mind is more important than your R7 driver, your pro V1 golf balls and even the swing itself. The key is to have what I call a pre-shot mental routine before every shot. Make sure the body and mind are relaxed; make sure there are no swing thoughts or negative thoughts about bad shot you’ve hit; visualize the shot you want to hit; and finally, take your swing. Practice these techniques and you will get “in the zone.”

Dr. Tom Kersting is the author of FAT PROOF: Power Programming your bodies weight-loss computer (Harbor Press, coming in winter 2007). Dr. Tom is the creator of the power programming mind system and uses his techniques for weight-loss, stress and athletic performance. Please visit his website, http://www.fatproof.net to learn more about how power programming can help you improve your golf game. pick up his Lessons For The Mind Golf CD today.