Golf – Why is the Mental Game Important?
You will hear the phrase "The Mental Game" quite a lot in
the clubhouse and at the range, but what does it mean? Well,
it is all about your attitude to the game as a whole, a
match, a hole and even down to each shot. It sounds very
clich?d, but if you have a good mental attitude to the game
you will enjoy it a whole lot more. A poor mental attitude
will just add shots to your round, lose you holes, matches
and potentially golfing partners.
It is inevitable that at least one shot will not go where
you want it to during a round. That's a fair comment
wouldn't you say? There are two trains of thought here - the
first is to say that the shot ruined what would have been a
perfect round. The second is to say that you hit 80 good
shots out of 81. Which sounds better to you?
Ok, so you are thinking "only one shot - what's the
problem?" The same applies for 2, 3 4 etc shots going wrong.
By all means have a think about what went wrong with a shot
(that's how we improve, after all), but don't focus on the
bad shots because when you play that course again, your mind
will be fixed on those shots and guess what - the chances
are you will do them again. You will need to concentrate on
the good points of the round and when you arrive at the tee,
you remember that the ball flew beautifully last time and
imagine where you want it to go this time.
A true story to demonstrate how powerful the mind is. In the
Vietnam war, an American was captured and held in solitary
confinement for seven years. To get through his ordeal, each
day he imagined he was back home playing golf on his local
course. He played the round in his head, shot by shot. His
best round was in the nineties, but as he imagined each
round, he got better and batter in his head. Eventually when
he was released he returned home and on his first round of
golf on his course he scored 74. His name was Major Nesmith
and if you Google him, you will find his story.
For me, it is impossible to underestimate the power of the
Mental Game, so bear in mind these points and when you play
a good shot, get fired up about it. If you play a bad shot,
see if you can figure out why and then get fired up about
getting it right next time and move on.
Have a look at my starting golf report at
http://www.havefunplaygolf.com Remember: Have Fun Play Golf
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