Golf is surely one of those sports where the psychology of the game and the importance of mental toughness are most underestimated.
Novice golfers will often blame their lack of practice or their equipment before considering rethinking their mental strategy,
whereas more experienced players will solely rely on their technique and experience, often neglecting the mental part of the game, as well. Ignoring the fact that your mind may become an enemy in your game may cost you important points on your scoring card.
Why is the mental aspect of golf so important ? Golfers play against the course, not each other directly, and hit a stationary object, not one put into motion by an opponent. This means that there is never anyone to blame but oneself for a bad result, and in most competitive formats there are no teammates to directly help oneself out. Knowledge of this creates a great deal of psychological pressure on the golfer; this pressure exists at all levels of play. Even the best professional golfers sometimes succumb to this pressure, such as getting the "yips" and being unable to make short putts, or having collapses of their full swing.
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The mental preparation of golf will help you to stay calm, clear the interference that leads to poor shots, and eliminate bad habits and mental mistakes, in short, turn your mind into an ally, instead of an enemy. Many players, for example, carry the negative emotions tied to a bad drive or missed putt to the next hole, or worse, for the rest of the entire round! Other players feel negative thoughts entering their mind when they stand over the ball, while none existed before, and without knowing how to manage these. Again others feel their self-confidence sink into their very golf shoes because they are being influenced by other people's shots.
Mental techniques will help you not only to prepare your game, but also assist you during the execution phase and teach you how to respond to the results of any golf shot. The psychology of golf entails instant recall of past successes and being able to quickly purge failures.
Important areas to analyse and train are: how to keep your focus and concentration during a round of golf, how to keep your motivation when you only enjoy the game part of the time, how to avoid being influenced by other people's swings, how to transfer the self-assurance and confidence you feel on the practice tee to the golf course, how to reach emotional stability, tough-mindedness, what is tension management, etc. You'll find more about these topics in the books we have selected (see on the right).
