Page 5 - The Bocaire Breeze - July August 2023

FOCUS ON GOLF

The Mental Side of the Game

Golf can be such a fickle game. How can a player who is performing highly, all of a sud-
den, fall apart at the first sign of trouble? Mike Tyson, the Heavyweight Boxer,
famously said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The same
applies to golf. Those that are mentally tough and mentally prepared to face adversity
will be the one to come out on top. To perform at their best, a golfer needs to be
confident, but how does one gain confidence in their performance in the meantime?
Confidence in your ability to perform under pressure comes from being in similar
situations in the past and drawing on that experience. If you know that you are going to
get nervous and tense in the moment, you can properly prepare your body and mind to
execute the shot. Proper breathing is actually one of the best things you can do in this
situation. Short and shallow breaths don’t allow enough oxygen through and your body
will go into a fight or flight mechanism. Long and slow breaths in through the nose and
out through the mouth will allow your body to regain control of the physical situation.
The next thing is to control the mental side of the equation. If you haven’t been there
before, how can you know how to control your thoughts? This is where mental
preparation comes in.

You need to put yourself in pressure situations as part of your practice routine.
“Block Practice” is great for working on a mechanical change in your golf swing, but
does little to prepare your mind for the challenges that lay ahead on the course.
“Transfer Practice” on the other hand, allows you to take the your physical skills and
combine them with the mental thought process that is required during a round of golf.
This would include aiming at different targets, changing clubs, varying trajectories and
hitting from uneven lies. If you can put yourself in these situations during your practice
sessions and learn how to deal with them before it really matters, then you stand a much
better chance to execute the shot to the best of your potential.

It's not to say that just because you’ve done something before that you’ll be able to do it
again, but at least you have some experience to draw upon. This experience will breed
confidence and help to put your mind at ease prior to the shot. The physical part of the
game of golf is hard enough as it is. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be by ignoring
the mental side of the game and coming in unprepared. If you would like to take your
game to the next level, your Professional Staff can help you better prepare both your
body and mind so that you can play better golf.

Keep it in the short grass,
Corey Johnson, PGA
Director of Golf

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