90 % Mental

Golf is 90% Mental, and the other 10% is Mental!

By: Bruce Munch

If you are like most players you have probably stood on the tee and said to yourself, “Oh man, anything between the trees on the left and the water on the right and I will be thrilled!” You have just set yourself up for potential failure. Your mind tries to direct your body to comply with your wishes but in this case you did not ask enough. If you miss your goal by 10% you will either be in the woods or the water. On the other hand, if you had done as the great Harvey Penick recommended to “Take Dead Aim” you would have picked a spot in the middle of the fairway. If you miss that spot by 10% you are still safely in the fairway.

We all know that tension is the opponent of a good golf swing or anything athletic for that matter. Tension, anxiety, pressure are all mental qualities. The adrenaline rush we feel when asked to make that clutch shot goes back to the cave man days. When our ancestors turned the corner only to see a saber toothed tiger, the moment of decision called “fight or flight” occurred and with it a jolt of adrenaline to aid in either fight or flight. Over the years this reflex reaction has not changed.

That surge of adrenaline that we experience, for example, when we have to hit that perfect shot with the match on the line, or as kids when it was our turn to bat with the game on the line, is not a pleasant feeling for most people. I believe that top athletes like Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Cal Ripkin Jr. and Tiger Woods are adrenaline junkies. What we describe as anxiety, they describe as pleasure and they seek it out at every opportunity.

So how can we normal humans learn to deal with the pressure and anxiety associated with athletic performance? The best way is to learn a consistent, repeatable swing and practice it. Repetitive success in practice will give you the confidence to approach each shot without apprehension, but even this will not prevent those thoughts of doubt and impending disaster from creeping in. We cannot totally eliminate negative thoughts, but we can learn how to deal with them.

Dr. Harlan Kilstein, noted sports hypnotist has some suggestions. For one thing, if you are ready to take the club away and a negative thought jumps into your head, don’t swing. You must cancel that thought and replace it with a positive thought in order to succeed. A technique to prevent negative thoughts is to occupy your mind before those thoughts can enter. One way is to have a power song, a song that makes you feel good and powerful. Think of it when you hit practice shots and think of it when you play. Dr. Kilstein says that this is why Fuzzy Zoeller whistles all the time. Try it, make it part of your routine and it might help.

Here is an exercise that will help your swing and may accomplish the purpose of occupying your mind. Next time you hit balls, set up for the shot and before you take the club away, hum to yourself. Do it in a monotone and try to keep the tone constant throughout the swing. If you are like most people, at first you will hear a noticeable pitch increase during impact as you attempt to hit the ball hard. Practice it until you can hit with little or no pitch change during impact and you will find that your swing will be much smoother. If it works for you, hum to yourself while playing, anything to keep the negative out.

So lets not psych ourselves out, lets not stress out, let us have fun. In the overall scheme of things, the shot we are about to hit is of little consequence. As I am fond of telling my students, Golf is mind over matter. If you don’t have a mind, it doesn’t matter. (In fact it might help) Happy Playing.