mental drills

[freddyboyhouse]

does anybody have any effective mental drills espeically put into place when confidence is low and if you let yourself think about it all you're thinking is i hope we t off before the people behind us catch up and see me make a hash of it.

[Kilted Arab]

Originally Posted by freddyboyhouse

does anybody have any effective mental drills espeically put into place when confidence is low and if you let yourself think about it all you're thinking is i hope we t off before the people behind us catch up and see me make a hash of it.

This kind of ties in with my 'yips' thread and it seems to become a viscious circle. You tense up, make a bad shot...which makes you more tense the next time as you get it into your head you can't make the play...so you make another bad shot...which makes you more tense...

Then all the other things come in...worries about who's watching, what your playing partner thinks, thinking about your 18-hole score when you're on the third, worring if you'll ever break 90/100 again...

It's a b'stard and no mistake!

[caddyshackgolf]

Like arab said just relax and make a good shot. And if you get up to the ball and people are watching or you just made a bad shot just get up to the ball and in your head (say it outloud they might thing your a little odd) but anyways just tell your self that you make the putt or chip it close or whatever other kind of shot your doing. Yesterday I had got a qaud on hole 2 at my course and i was so f'ing p'ed off but I just told my self I could still have a stong round and I still ended up not shotting so bad and I think that my swing and stuff is back to how it should be.

[goatster]

generaly i hit nice shots when people are watching.generaly i here nice poke or wow and then my partner chimes in with showoff.

lucky for me the negative thoughts dont creep in its usauly wait til they see this.

very seldom do i hit a bad tee shot with strangers watching didnt realize this as much till it was mentioned.now ill go out and duff one with people watching thanks for the thought. (LOL)

[BentGrass]

Like everthing else. Practice. One of the first years I golfed, I was on a weekly work league. I was pretty nervous at first, but got used to it. Try and put yourself in those situations and pretty soon it will be old hat.

[jscott]

Freddyboy:

I also posted on Kilted's yips thread but yours is a bit different. Becoming consistently good at striking the ball is very much a factor of becoming consistent. Yes I did say that right. Getting used to doing the same thing every time you prepare to hit the ball will help you to become more solid. Routine is the key here. The best example that I can give you is to have you watch a basketball game. Players repeat the same process every time they step to the line to shoot a foul shot. Each player has a different routine but they each stay within their routine EVERY time. Bounce, bounce, bounce, look at the basket, look at the floor, deep breath, look at the basket, line it up, shoot.

Alright, here's a good place to start. I would refer you to the breathing comment that I made on KA's thread. Concentrate on exhaling as you swing. It relaxes the muscles. You tense up as you breath in. So start a routine here. Address your ball. Close your eyes, breathe in deeply and let your mind go blank; no shot, no water, no bunker, no foursome behind you. Breathe out all the way and let your shoulders relax. Open your eyes and take three practice swings.

Look down the course. Assess where you want the shot to land. Get a good mental picture of the course as it lies ahead while you're taking those practice swings. When you've taken the practice swings get into position to strike the ball. Close your eyes, take another deep breath and exhale slowly as you let your shoulders relax and, this time, imagine the shot with the ball landing exactly where you want it to. Take another deep breath, let your mind go blank, exhale ; relaxing your shoulders. Open your eyes and hit the ball.

At first this process will take some time. As you get used to it, you'll be able to integrate it and make it much quicker and efficient. Let me know if it helps.

Jon Scott
_______________________________________

www.northeastathleticconcepts.com

[jscott]

Just wondering if anythings improved for you and, if so, what's helped? If I can add anything, let me know. There are a huge number of things that you can install, one-at-a-time, until you find what works.


Jon Scott
________________________________
www.northeastathleticconcepts.com

[dave.]

Pick any sentence,such as 'Brussels sprouts are shit'.Say that at the ned of your pre-shot routine.It works,I promise you...............

Also,many sportsmen chew gum so they concentrate on chewing,and nothing else

[cabinessence]

Originally Posted by dave.

Pick any sentence,such as 'Brussels sprouts are shit'.Say that at the ned of your pre-shot routine.It works,I promise you...............

Also,many sportsmen chew gum so they concentrate on chewing,and nothing else

I'm a singer and do something sort of similar...just go up and down a few scales in your head before the shot, you'll get good rhythm and bash it out there smooth and straight.

[dave.]

Yes,when I say mine I use a tune and i regularly use it while i'm swinging rather than before

[GolfDash]

Is your confidence low DURING the round or just in general?

Doug

[tsiguy96]

Originally Posted by freddyboyhouse

does anybody have any effective mental drills espeically put into place when confidence is low and if you let yourself think about it all you're thinking is i hope we t off before the people behind us catch up and see me make a hash of it.

i personally sit and think as hard as possible and run through mental drills atleast 2 hours before golfing

come on guys, this is golf, another example of overcomplicating it, just keep the game simple and play

[ualtim]

Best advice I have ever read was developing a pre-shot routine and visualizing the shot. That being said, we are all human and distractions will creep in when we least want them to.

I have gotten better with dealing with distractions as my pre-shot routine has gotten more ingrained in my mind. My putting pre-shot routine had become almost automatic, and that really helps my game. The key to developing a good pre-shot routine is to always use it. My putting routine has become ingrained as I use the same routine whether I am on the course, practice green, preparing to hit a 50 footer, or preparing to hit a 3 footer. My pre-shot routine with my irons and woods works well, but I have yet to get it up to the automatic level that my putting routine has become because I am guilty of not using the full routine on the practice range. Once I force myself to use the same routine on every shot on the range, I am hoping that my pre-shot routine will become automatic as well.

I have just recently started working on my visualiztion skills and they results have been encouraging. I have always heard about visualizing the shot before you hit it, but thought it was a bunch of bunk, but after reading a few more books I decided to give it a try. Essentially, by visualiztion the shot, your mind is concentrating on what you need to do rather than the distractions going on around you. It is even more encouraging when you hit what you visualized!

The book "Zen Golf" goes into much greater details on visualiztion, but I am not a fully converted Zen golfer. There were some good insights, but I do not buy into the whole book and the entire process. Like any golf book, there are some nuggets to be mined for your game, but there are also suggetions that will not work for your game. Read carefully and understand that there is more than one way to get to the same place in your game. Find your path.

[dave.]

Yep,a low handicap player should really focus on the mental side of the game,but few do i think

[jscott]

Tsiguy: I am happy that you are able to enjoy the game and excell at it while keeping the whole thing uncomplicated and simple as possible. For some, like you, there is never a question in your head about getting over that water hazard or pinpointing the center of that green that is surrounded by bunkers so deep that you cant see out of them when youre there. You're not in the majority.

While mental training is never a substitute for working with an outstanding teaching pro, it really can make a huge difference, particularly for low hadicappers, as Dave rightly points out. The coaching fraternities of virtually every sport known to the world will tell you that their game is "80 % mental and only 20% physical" or some such ratio.
That said, when we practice, we spend 100% of our time on the physical.

Ualtim points out that he always believed visualization to be " a lot of bunk" and he's not alone. It does work though and it works for a full range of athletes from the top tour pros down to someone just beginning. Different components of mental toughness training can be installed to deal with different situations. It is really important to use practical strategies though. There are so many different ideas on what works and what doesn't.

Dave: I have to add that 1) I was in the gum chewing catagory during my competitive wrestling career, much to the chagrin of my coaches and the referees who officiated my matches, but there was no rule against it so they had to allow it. Years later, I would continue the practice and coached for almost twenty years. A lot of the kids picked up on the practice. 2) I love the brussels sprouts thing. It's really not any different than letting your mind go blank or imagining a piece of white paper, as I mentioned in my previous posts. It takes your focus off of the negative internal dialogue. The reason that we use a white sheet of paper instead of brussels sprouts or a song is because the next step in a program is to install a key word, key association or affirmation into that space. Same idea though. Great stuff. I love hearing all of the ideas.

Jon Scott
_________________________________
www.northeastathleticconcepts.com