Get mentally prepared for your round!

By: Simon Houghton

Ever had practice rounds when everything went well? In fact, you could do nothing wrong? In golf, your wayward drives would somehow ricochet back onto the fairway? Your balls bounce over the bunker, instead of landing directly in them.…and as for those monster putts…!

And then the next competition you play in, it was as though you’d never hit a ball in your life!

Why is this? What has happened since you last played? Is it because you have developed a major flaw in every part of your game?

Well, usually, no. Sometimes we have no explanation for the difference in our game, although we do have the ability to maximise the consistency in our game by being better prepared before we play. It is very often because the competition environment affects a golfer’s performance. Mental preparation, therefore, is about being prepared for competition so that it no longer has an adverse affect.

Mental preparation refers to how well practiced and developed your mental skills are and includes a variety of skills such as goal setting, concentration skills, competition plans and pre-shot routines. You may ask why mental preparation is important. Well, imagine the comparision between playing in a friendly round, or in a competition: the course is the same, the clubs are the same, you are the same golfer. But you play differently.

There are a number of skills that can be learned and applied to help improve your mental preparation, and the pre-shot routine is probably the single most important aspect of your preparation that you should spend time developing. Singer's 5-step pre-shot routine is a proven strategy that should be followed to ensure that you are fully mentally ready for each shot you take on the golf course. It is something that takes time to learn and incorporate into what is very often an existing, physical-based routine, with aspects such as assessing the distance to the pin, choosing the club, addressing the ball and three practice swings, for example.

The five stages are:
1. Ready – thinking positive about your performance
2. Image – mentally picturing yourself shooting the shot you want to take
3. Focus – Concentrating on one feature regarding your performance
4. Execute – Play the shot
5. Evaluate – learn from the feedback, and be ready to amend if required

Other techniques that can be used to improve your mental preparation include pre-competition routines which help to reduce anxiety as a result of staying in control of your emotions because you are prepared for the match ahead, and appropriate goal setting. Try not to put pressure on yourself by focusing on the outcome of the shot, hole or match. Instead, focus on the execution of the shot. Focus on a task-related aspect of your game, such as your follow-through, hand position and posture…this will ensure that you focus less on what happened in the past, or what will happen in the future…instead, you will be able to focus simply on the shot at hand.

Mindfocus for Golf provides you with detailed instructions in order to incorporate these techniques successfully into your game, so that with practice, you will be hitting each and every shot without worrying or focusing on anything but the shot at hand. Use Mindfocus for Golf to help you reach your potential by reducing the number of shots caused by thinking about previous shots, or about situations in which you have no control.

Article Source: http://www.bettergolfarticles.com

Mindfocus for Golf is an innovative interactive multimedia website that has been proven to increase your enjoyment of the game, and to lower your score. All content has been developed by highly qualified sport psychologists. For more information, go to www.mindfocusforgolf.com

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