Improving your Mental Game

[Jack Watson]

@rehmwa

Cool post.  I’ve never done skydiving or known a person into it.  I have done some stupid cliff jumping when I was younger but not the same thing.  I have surfed pretty much my whole life though.  The visualization side of things is always interesting for me to hear about because I’ve never done it much.

The link I posted was just first hit on a quick search.  You nailed what I focus on no pun intended with the time slowdown comment.

In surfing,  you are constantly reacting/acting based on the wave.  There’s really no rehearsing it per se.  I never used visualization in that.  No doubt in an intense situation over shallow reef you better be focused because falling can mean injury depending...

Distracting the mind is a good one also for golf,  keeps it from taking over and preventing yourself from doing what you rehearsed without interference.  My way of doing it is going heavy in the psr with a conscious process to give it its task,  and then no practice swing just swing essentially.  

Ive found what works best for me is getting a sense that I am so into it when it’s time that thought at that point can’t really happen unless I become self conscious...Hard to describe.  I know if thoughts creep in during my swing I am absolutely not at my best.  

Good post,  and I won’t ever jump out of a plane!  Good on ya.

 

[mvmac]

On 1/29/2018 at 12:03 PM, mvmac said:

- I think it's good to keep in mind that being nervous isn't necessarily a bad thing. Pros get nervous all the time and still perform extremely well. We've all hit great shots under pressure and hit horrible shots with nothing on the line.

- I don't know if this is true for everyone but typically my first inclination on what to do for a shot is the correct one. So if you do second guess yourself try sticking with the original plan.

- If I don't like the way a certain shot looks/feel uncomfortable I'll just pretend I'm making a stock swing on the range.

- One part of the mental game I struggle with is letting my eyes create doubt when reading putts. So kind of like the second one above, stick with the original read because I know it's more correct than what my eyes might be telling me.

- Don't get seduced by where the pin is. Center of the green is rarely a bad thing.

Not sure if this is exactly mental game but I'll share it anyway. I did this in college and got away from it. Went back to it a year or so ago.

- When I'm setting up to a ball I like to focus on a spot in front of the ball (start line) and my goal is to just hit it solid over that spot. For me it keeps things simple. I can sometimes get "distracted" if I'm looking too much at the target. Obviously for some player having more of that "outward" focus works great, I prefer for mine to be more "internal".

 

[Blackjack Don]

Learn to breathe.

[saevel25]

10 hours ago, mvmac said:

- When I'm setting up to a ball I like to focus on a spot in front of the ball (start line) and my goal is to just hit it solid over that spot. For me it keeps things simple. I can sometimes get "distracted" if I'm looking too much at the target. Obviously for some player having more of that "outward" focus works great, I prefer for mine to be more "internal".

I like that idea. It's kinda similar to what I did in my best round last year. At the range I figured out what feel hit a consistent shape. I just worked at nailing that feeling to match the image of the shot I saw on the range. I didn't bother about nailing a position in the swing. Part of that process on the range was taking that base shot shape and seeing if I could draw it more, or what would cause it to fade. It helped validate the shot I wanted to hit.

Of course this sort of thing might be more beneficial to better players. For some people it might be just having a feel that gets them to hit the ball first. Then they just accept the shape that is produced from that.

That is were I think expectations come in with the mental game. I think being realistic is important. That probably goes into enjoying golf because it is a game.

[mdl]

One thing I realized over the past couple years with a small kid where a lot of my golf is more or less speed golf, trying to get in as many holes as possible during nap time or at twilight.  I've realized that I'm actually much more accurate in the short game and on the green playing it very quick.  Like, on putts, it's as extreme as I'll usually putt better just doing the read, standing over the putt, looking once quickly at my aim point, then stroke.  No practice strokes, not shuffling my feet, checking my aim point multiple times, "zoning in", etc.  With greenside shots, it's almost as extreme.  Best is just a couple quick strokes to make sure I've got the feel for the stroke, then stand over the ball, one quick look at where I want to land it, then play.

This is less true on full swing shots.  Like I still do better with a bit of a pre-shot routine.  But even there I've been trying to cut it down, think less.  In my summer league last year, the last tournament was the first I really tried to implement this, mostly around the green, and shot a 39 and won net and came in 2nd in gross.  Big key was no 3-putts and a couple solid one putts where I spent like 1 second over the ball before hitting it!

[mcanadiens]

lo·bot·o·my

ləˈbädəmē/

noun

 

1. a surgical operation involving incision into the prefrontal lobe of the brain, formerly used to treat mental illness.