Good Golf For Life.com     "Learn It, Play It, Love It"

Lyle Slovick

Instructor, Level I Affiliate Member

United States Golf Teachers Federation

Good Golf For Life.com    ©2007

The Mental Side of Golf

Golf is a game of confidence; it is a HUGE factor in playing to your full potential. Your greatest instrument for improvement is between your ears.  The body follows what the mind is thinking  - so stay away from the dictum "garbage in, garbage out."  Try to keep positive thoughts flowing through you mind when you practice and play.

This is nothing news.  "Prefer a positive attitude to a negative.  Instead of thinking, 'I won't shoot into the bunker,' think, 'I'll drive this one down the fairway.'  In place of saying to yourself, 'I won't slice this one,' think, 'I'll cover the flag all the way'...To master fear, make the conquering frame of mind a habit.  Make the 'successful attitude' a normal state, whether you win the present hole or game or not."  This was said by Charles Moore in his book The Mental Side of Golf, written in 1929.

Percy Boomer, in the 1940s, spoke of being "mindful but not thoughtful" as you play, and this is attainable.  You can still concentrate, but you have to be focused on hitting the ball rather than on how you are doing it.  I call it a "quiet focus."  Slow down, consider the shot at hand, take a few deep breaths, and a couple full practice (or a better term, rehearsal) swings, "seeing" in your mind where you want the ball to go.  Then go ahead and swing the club.  You will be amazed how better your results will be compared to when you rush up and hit the ball with no clear image in mind of where you want the ball to go. Visualization CAN work.  I mean, think of when you have seen the water to the left or O.B. to the right and said to yourself "Don't hit it there!" and what happens - you HIT it there!  Make your visualization a positive result - in the fairway or on the green.  It is not foolproof, of course, but it will make a positive difference in the long run.

Sports psychologist Bob Rotella works with many touring pros on the mental side of the game.  In his new book The Golfer's Mind, Rotella lays out the ten commandments of proper thinking:

2. Love the challenge of the day, whatever it may be.

3. Get out of results and get more into process.

4. Know that nothing will bother you or upset you on the golf course, and you will be in a great frame of mind for every shot.

5. Playing with the feeling that the outcome doesn't matter is always preferable to caring too much.

6. Believe fully in yourself so you can play freely.

7. See where you want your ball to go before every shot.

8. Be decisive, committed and clear.

9. Be your own best friend.

10. Love your wedge and your putter.

Click here for the full Golf Digest article

Sometimes we have days where things go our way, the game seems easy, we find the "zone."  For a good article on "Finding the 'Zone'" click here.  For other good books on the mental side of the game, check out:

The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Gallwey (1998)

The Golf of Your Dreams by Bob Rotella (1997)

The Missing Links: Golf and the Mind by Dr. David Morley (1976)

Lastly, there are two fictional works which take a mystical look at golf, and offer insight into other ways of achieving great things in the game:

The Legend of Bagger Vance: Golf and the Game of Life by Steven Pressfield (1995).  One of the main characters in the book, Junah, struggles to conquer not his opponents, the elements or the daunting golf course, but rather the conflict which resides within himself.  His caddie Bagger Vance helps him find his Authentic Swing - which is, of course, a metaphor for self-discovery.  But that "authentic swing” lies within us all.  The adventure and madness is in trying to find it.  (from a Publishers Weekly review)
 

Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy (1972). The central character is a wily Scotsman named Shivas Irons, a golf professional by vocation and a shaman by design, whom Murphy, as participant in his own novel, meets in 1956 on the links of Burningbush, in Fife. The story of their round of golf together culminates in a wild night of whiskey and wisdom where, as Shivas demonstrates how the swing reflects the soul, their golf quite literally takes on a metaphysical glow. The events alter not only Murphy's game, but they also radically alter his mind and inner vision; it's truly unforgettable.  (from an Amazon.com review)