What One Mental Technique will Help with Several Mental Barriers in Golf?
I am gonna tell you in just a minute what will alleviate all of these mental barriers in your golf game, but first before you can develop the plan you need to develop good awareness around what happens mentally in your golf game. When are you negatively effecting? What things negatively effect you? How do you generally respond? How long does that response stick with you; how long are you effected by the mental or emotional obstacle?
After the initial awareness you must go deeper
Once you have a good initial sense of what gets you negatively tangled up, the second thing you want to do is become really aware of what’s happening when it’s happening. Not after the game or the next day but in that moment. Why? You can’t really change a pattern unless you are able to recognize it when it’s happening. Please don’t try this in a competitive match play. Try this during practice.
How can you develop focus and awareness
Here is an exercise that’s worked with many of my clients. This exercise has helped golfers gain a deeper awareness around when they lose focus which in turn helps them to not spiral out of control. Have you ever driven in your car for several miles and wonder how you’ve gotten there? My music exercise can help hone your focus skills.
- Choose a song that you know and like; one that you can sing along to. Why? Because it’s a lot easier to realize when you’ve lost your focus.
- The first time you listen to this song see how far you get into the music before you lose focus.
- Once you notice you’ve lost focus gently bring it back and stop the exercise for that day.
- The next time try to go further into the song.
- I want you to do this until you get through the entire song.
What did you learn from this experience?
This has helped golfers and other athletes develop an awareness of lost focus, that they can bring their focus back and it can also help identify the static and the clutter that may be going through your head.
One technique that will wrap it all up
After you develop a deeper awareness you can now choose to do something about it. What one technique will help you focus, organize, let go of the should have’s & the what if’s and alleviate anxiety in golf? A pre-shot routine!
A pre-shot routine helps with all of these things and more. It can include several things but what it includes depends on each individual golfer. Here are some elements a pre-shot routine can include: deep breath, positive word or phrase, 1 or 2 practice swings, a couple seconds of imaging the shot, addressing the ball, etc.
If you are focusing on your pre-shot routine you aren’t focusing on what shouldn’t be focusing on; which is basically everything else.
If you want help putting your pre-shot routine together contact me: drmichelle@drmichellecleere.com
