Improve Your Focus For Golf
How many times have you told yourself, "stay focused"? Do you think more than
a couple of times? Focus and golf go hand-in-hand with performance. If you don't
stay focused for the entire 18 holes of golf, you will not reach your maximum
potential.
During a round of golf, your mind can play tricks on you. When you have trouble on a hole ahead, you start thinking about it before you've even putted out on your current hole. That's called losing focus "in the moment", which produces lower scores and a lower level of enjoyment playing the game.
Achieving The Mental Edge In your Mind
Getting a mental edge within your mind is daunting! It may almost feel impossible,
but with a little bit of effort, you can master it and become the big dog in
your foursome! If the mental side of golf wasn't so important, why are there
so many self-help and mental golf books available? Go into a bookstore, and
you will likely find a whole row of mental focus golf improvement books.
All the gurus involved in this specialty have their little tricks and trade secrets that only the pro know right? Wrong! They play golf and so do you. They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you do. The only difference is they do it for a living 7 days a week, and we are lucky to get out for a consistent round once a week, so the only difference is realistic expectations.
Focus On The Now
You've heard this before, but do you practice it enough. Stay in the now in
your mind. If you hit a bad shot, put 100% focus into the next shot! Do not
go back! It is so hard to do, but you gain nothing from lamenting over the last
shot…it's done! Get over it! This is a must if you want to avoid
blow up holes.
They say the most important shot is your current one. That is the one that matters right now! Not the next one...or the one before it. You must have total concentration on the shot at hand. Know your game, and play within your capabilities. Don't try to pull off a one in a hundred shot. Remember…99 times it won't work!
Mind Over Course
Here's a mental
golf tip for you! On any given shot, put your entire focus on where you
want the ball to go. I mean...really intense focus! Do NOT think about the trouble.
I know what you're thinking…"easy for him to say". I fight this one all the
time. I have a certain miss, and if that miss can get me in trouble on a certain
hole, I fight the demons to not think of the trouble and what my normal mishit
would result in.
This approach takes total mental commitment. You've got to do 100% of the time. If you get lax, you will fail. The more lax you get, your scores start to balloon out of control.
They say golf is 90% mental...and that means focus. You have got to focus on
every shot "in the moment". Do this consistently and you will reach your true
potential.
Mike Pedersen
Golf Performance Coach
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