Instruction

Untitled Page

Cerebral vortex

Understanding how your brain operates will help grow a stronger mental foundation for competitive play.

By Greg FloresPublished: July, 2008

I’m well into my fifth month of preparing to play tournament golf and something has become painfully apparent. I don’t know if I have the mental aptitude to play good golf for a sustained period of time — such as 18 consecutive holes.
I’m the type of golfer who can be cruising along, make one bad swing and turn into a 30-handicapper for the next few holes.

When I asked Dr. David Wright, the well-respected Arroyo Trabuco golf instructor and sports psychologist, for his help, I don’t think he knew how much baggage he was dealing with.

When I started with the lesson aspect of my training, there were more than a few moments when I felt like I’d never played golf before. It was no fault of my instructor, East Valley Golf Club’s Dale Abraham, but merely my inability to feel comfortable over the ball.

I would show signs of improvement and my trust would grow, but then one bad swing would send my confidence crashing like a house of cards. I played three consecutive rounds recently where I didn’t hit a hook, but I couldn’t get over the feeling that it was somehow out there waiting for me.

So why is it so hard to trust a new swing?

“Because it’s new,” Wright said. “I would work at feeling what that (new) swing feels like. Make practice swings before each shot. When you feel your ideal swing, you are ready to walk into your shot. Focus on the feel when you make the correct motion. Focus on feeling the correct motion in a practice swing after you make a bad swing. Feel the correction, hold your finish and see the ball flight that correction would create.”

It sounds easy enough, but what do you do when you stand over a tee shot and can’t imagine anything but a snap-hook into the woods?

“When you fixate on what will be bad, you have a mental picture of that outcome,” Wright said. “Research shows that when we visualize or think, we use up to 80 percent of the neural structures of the brain we use when we perform. Focusing on all of the bad things that can happen takes you 80 percent of the way to the bad result. Return to feeling what you want to do. If you have seen your ‘good move’ on video, you have a picture to call upon. Recall the ball flight the ‘good move’ creates and focus on that.”

Wright said the brain’s Limbic System is where short-term memories become long-term memories.

“That is why we remember things that are emotionally charged — good or bad,” he said. “You seem to be ‘emotionally charging’ bad swings — the very swings you should be forgetting.”

Wright suggested I focus on an image of my good swing, which includes the target, ball flight and sensation of the total motion.

“Trust is the issue,” he said. “Know that trusting anything other than your good motion or mental image will result in poor play.”

My negativity on the course doesn’t make much sense. I play golf because it’s fun, but there are several times during a round where I feel like I’m riding a unicycle and trying to drive the ball down the fairway using a garden rake.

“Mentally tough players go out with no expectations, focus on a consistent routine and they are mostly visual,” Wright said. “To enhance your mental toughness, there is nothing like playing a few rounds of ‘worst ball.’ You hit two balls from the tee and play the worst one; hit two balls from your worst tee shot and play the worst one; hit two more balls or two putts until you hole out. Worst ball creates pressure and teaches you to manage your emotions and your ball. My college and tour players tell me it is one of the best ways to prepare for tournaments.”

I only have a short amount of time left before I have to put my game on display at my tournament in Michigan. That means I’m going to have to devote a little more time toward getting my head straight if I expect to do the same with my shots. SG

Readers Feedback:

You Bet... Great article all so many times this fundamental is too often forgotten, or misplaced. You can't shoot skeet from a half-cocked position... Thanks again, a word just in time... John Alan

Comment at 7/23/2008