Golf tips for golfers, Sports Psychology!

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.
http://www.drrelax.com/golf.htm

There are not many golfers who can honestly say that their performance is never affected by mental or psychological factors. Almost everyone who competes or attempts to do their best at some important aspect of life has experienced both mental boosts and hindrances. Doubts, confidence, anxiety, poise, courage and fears for example can have a significant impact on how well we perform. The more we understand the complex interrelationship between mind and body the more it becomes clear that in order to perform at our best physically we must properly prepare and use both body and mind.

Research and experience have proven that structured scientific mental training can help us learn to prepare and use our mind to improve our competitive performance. A key psychological ingredient needed to consistently play at our best is a winning attitude. In this context attitude is defined as those thoughts, feelings and emotions associated with a specific situation or performance.

For example the thoughts and feelings many golfers associate with a particularly challenging water hazard is an overwhelming desire to just keep it out of the water!
In general if we have doubts about our ability to avoid the water we have trouble doing so. On the other hand if we have confidence we tend to be much more likely to stay in the course and finish the hole successfully.

There is a scientific basis for the commonly accepted axiom that confidence when addressing the balls leads to successful play. The muscles of the body involuntarily and instantaneously respond to thoughts, feelings and ideas. This phenomenon is referred to as Ideomotor Activity. In practical terms what this means is that negative thoughts and emotions tend to have a negative effect on our muscles while positive thoughts tend to have a positive effect.

In almost every situation of equal or nearly equal ability and preparation the winning golfer is usually the one who maintains the most consistently positive attitude and pattern of thought. All athletic competitors can and should learn to shape their attitude and thought pattern into one of predominantly positive and confident thinking.

My next article will tell you how to play positive mind games that will begin to shape your thoughts and emotions and help you create and maintain a more dynamic and effective winning attitude. click here

Did you know that you are the target of gremlins?
"What are gremlins?" you ask. Gremlins are those nasty creatures that follow you around the course and remind you of negative things, or suggest that you might want to take up bowling instead of embarrassing yourself on the golf course. In other words gremlins are the voices inside of your head.

Some gremlins are pretty straight forward with their golf tips. They tell you to "keep your elbow in", "Pivot from your hips", "Don’t look up" and all the helpful golf instruction that can wreck a swing when they come at the WRONG TIME. Gremlins of this nature are at lease up front about it. They usually start chattering away about the time you leave home. They increase their chatter when you head out for the first tee, and they get even louder as your prepare for your first drive. Do you remember thinking, "I don’t think I will ever get the hang of this." Well that was a grand daddy of a gremlin.

The gremlins I dislike the most are the sneaky ones that say they are trying to help and be supportive. These tend to speak in friendly tones and say things such as "Don’t hit into that water. Just incase you didn’t see it over there", or "Say, didn’t you three put this hole last time?", and "Frank sure has gotten better, too bad you haven’t". Sometimes these gremlins have specialties.
Some specialize in "outcome thinking". These are thoughts that take your focus off the next shot and put it on some outcome down the road.

Some of the favorite outcome thoughts for these gremlins are:

1. If I make this I’ll have my best round this year.
2. If I can hold on for two more holes I’ll win this thing.
3. If I miss this putt I’ll really look stupid.
4. If I get a three on this one and then a four, that will put me in third.
5. I’ve never pared this hole before.

All of these take you focus and attention off of the only important thing—the next shot! Gremlins are not your friend and beware of their golf tips.

The best way to deal with gremlins is to not get mad. Gremlins love it when you get mad. In fact there is a large group of gremlins that specialize in getting mad. Don’t go there. Instead, be smart, expect gremlins and be ready for them. Even go so far as to "thank" them for their concern and time. Remember, getting mad falls into their grimy hands. So expect them and be nice, at first, then grab the little guy and hang him in a tree. That’s right. Hang them up high in a tree and leave him their swinging in the breeze.

If you look closely at a gremlin you will find that they all have little hooks on their backs. These are there so that you can actually hang these little guys on things. Mostly a smart golfer will hang them up in a tree or on a power line. The smell is unpleasant, but the sparks are pretty. Some golfers like to play a trick on other golfers and so they hang their gremlins on passing carts or bags of other golfers. Personally I think this is unkind to the other golfer and unfair to the large group of personal gremlins that they have brought from home.

Another thing you can do with gremlins is to put them under rocks or into wooden crates (these are stored in your mind and come in many sizes and colors). Place the gremlin into the box secure it with rope and nails and leave it behind. When you finish your round you can either set them free or just leave them their and let the grounds crew take care of them. Personally, I believe that gremlin is the primary meat served at club picnics.

Now you are warned. You know what gremlins are and you will be expecting them. Take care to not blame yourself or to get mad. Simply deal with these little furry guys and get on with the game.

Bob Phillips, Ph.D. Clinical and Golf Psychologist
Sports Psychology

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Sports Psychology!

Why Mental Training Should Begin on the First Day..

Most parents want their children to enjoy and be successful in sports. They spend time and money in helping their child have the best chance of becoming a good golfer. Unfortunately they also spend a lot of time either trying to be the child’s coach or acting like the "practice police". Parents can become very active and supportive in the mental side of training.

It is almost always a mistake to become either officially or unofficially the child’s physical trainer or coach. This usually a bad idea because first you probably are not qualified to teach golf. Twenty years of lessons is not the criteria for being your child’s coach, nor is the fact that you have won the club championship three times. It is much better to be the child’s biggest fan and supporter than it is to be his or her trainer. You can help the child in the mental area of golf by learning all you can about how the mental game disrupts and also enhances physical performance. While it is true that no amount of mental training can make up for improper or incomplete basic skills, it is also true that most golfers add five to ten strokes to each and every round because of mental errors.

The mental game begins with the big picture. Golf is a game and should be played for fun. Sometimes the fun is postpones while you go through hours of practice and slow physical improvement. But nevertheless, it is fun when you have begun to master the physical skills and you are improving in competition. Competition is the reward for good practice and without good practice, mental or physical, there will be no payday and therefore a lot less fun. The process of learning includes failure. As a friend of mine likes to say, "When you fall on your face you are still moving forward."

Most people, let alone children, seem to not understand that it is not what happens to you but how you respond that matters. When a child learns golf it would be most helpful for the child to also learn that making themselves upset adds nothing good to the situation and usually greatly reduces their ability to play at their best. How marvelous it would be to teach each child to not make things worse than they are by thinking of it in the worst possible way. There are few things as important as controlling our thinking. In golf a child can become very frustrated and even quit the game because of how bad they make it when they play poorly or compare themselves with other more physically developed children.

It is vital to help the child accept themselves as they are and enjoy getting better. This process has to come from both the coach and the parents. This attitude is not taught by telling the child what to do. This attitude is taught by the parents and coach acting like it is true and being consistent about it. If your attitude says this is awful then the child will learn that it must really be awful. If you act like it is unpleasant, but not a big deal then they will believe that that is what it is. How good or bad sports are for a child is determined by the adults around the child.

Children have a natural tendency to use imagination and imagery. This is perfect for learning the proper ways of mental rehearsal and preparation. The parents should read books on how to use mental imagery and teach the child, with the verbal support of the coach or trainer, age appropriate ways of mentally preparing to play comfortably and well. This imagery is also used to prepare for the unusual and potentially troublesome situations that can easily throw a child’s game off. If you are prepared mentally very little can force you off your best game.

Learning the mental game, and how to control your responses, will go a long way toward eliminating the frustrations, hassles and slumps that make it hard to keep going while learning a complex game like golf. But once mastered, there is little else that can help and support the child’s mastery of this wonderful game as much as mental training.

Bob Phillips, Ph.D.
Clinical and Golf Psychologist
Sports Psychology

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