Golf Psychology, the Golf Swing, and Golf Shots

Where does the frustration in golf come from? On the driving range, golfers practice their golf swings, but on the golf shot they have to make golf shots. What's the difference? How does golf psychology fit into this situation?

On the golf course, every shot has a purpose and consequences for missing the target. On the practice range, golfers know that they aren't getting the ball back, so no matter how much importance they try to place on the shot, the penalties for a bad shot are never the same as playing on the golf course.

So why can a golfer hit the ball well on the practice range, and stink it up on the course? It is the difference between a golf swing and a golf shot. A golf swing is the physical motion involved in hitting a golf ball. A golf shot is a golf swing with specific intentions... In other words, a golf shot requires thought.

If you hit it well on the driving range, but stink on the course, the problem is not your swing, it's your mind. Here's why. Before you make the golf swing on the course you have to decide where you want the ball to go and how you want it to get there. You have to think. Every great plan has possible consequences to consider and on the golf course, that means lost golf balls or an impossible shot next time and more strokes added to the score. Add the element of betting, and you have good reason to stink it up.

There are two places it happens. First is how you think to decide the shot, if you think at all. Some golfers hit the driver off of every non-par 3 teebox without a second thought. If the hole is short and you're not going to drive the green, that next shot has to be considered... especially if your short game sucks. Also, what if you hit in a hazard that could have been avoided? I've seen golfers who get on the teebox, complain about hitting the ball into a hazard every time they play the hole, and then hit it right into the hazard!

That's where golf psychology comes into play. If golfers would just listen to the things they tells themselves on the golf course and change their action, they could get out of ruts and improve their handicaps. If this is your problem... if you are willing to admit it, then there is an answer.

Golf psychology is a way to improve how you think, act and react on the golf course. It has it's place in golf. If you have a hard time deciding on a shot, or you find yourself thinking about hazards, but not changing your plan to adjust for them, you should look into golf psychology. If you tell yourself you are going to mess up a shot because of lack of self confidence, then golf psychology will help.

But, if you have conquered your demons and the only reason you screw up on the course is that you can't stop thinking, good thoughts or bad thoughts, then golf psychology may not help.

The golf shot is 2 parts: the plan and the swing. The mind works very differently in each area. To make the plan, you have to think consciously, and the quality of your thoughts is very important during that portion of the shot. During the swing, the subconscious mind takes over... Or at least, it should, and ANY conscious thought will interrupt the process.

During the swing, the subconscious mind guides your movement using movement pictures, or visualization. The clearer the picture in your mind of the movement you are going to make, the more accurately your body will make the movement.

Many golfers tell me they can't visualize things. But that is a bunch of hooey. You can't move without visualizing the movement, so if you can't visualize, you can't walk. What they are really saying is that they can't visualize consciously. It happens because they are trying to think their way through the movement and the conscious mind can't do that.

The conscious mind can only control the movement of one part of the body at a time. If you are concentrating on a certain part of the swing and you do it long enough, another part of the swing will go bad. It always does. Golfers complain to me all of the time that the moment they fix one part of their swing, something else goes wrong... Been there?

Try this: Go into a pitch black room that you know... Or just walk around the house in the middle of the night until you get a little disoriented, or worried that you might run into something. What's the first thing you do? Don't you reach out and try to touch something? What happens when you touch something you recognize? You know right where you are... because you now see a picture in your mind of where you are. So you DO visualize! you just don't realize it.

OK, I'm tired. Let me leave you with a couple of things to do. First, start listening to the ridiculous things you tell yourself on the golf course. You might sound like a lunatic, but whenever you make a comment to yourself, turn it into a self conversation... Talk it out until you agree with yourself. I mean it, it's the first step to real sanity! The only difference between doing this and seeing a shrink is that the shrink charges money to make you answer your own comments. So why not do it for free?

Second, walk around the house in the dark. Notice how your mind has a picture to follow even when there is no light. Those pictures are there all of the time. Start looking for them when it's not dark.

Impossible? Have you ever looked for something and missed it even when you looked right at it? Ever wonder why? If you examine the picture in your head that you had of the object you were looking for, you'll find that the picture in your mind didn't match the object you were looking for, so your eyes never picked up on it. That's how the mind works... It compares pictures. Toy around with this process and you'll discover part of the brain that you don't realize you were using. Once you start using it more, you'll be surprised at the things you can do!

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