Ben GallieNZPGA Golf Professional Archives
July 2014
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How to create better focus!!9/27/2013 Going into tournament golf, a lot people believe you need to focus for the whole round to play your best. Very few people have the mental power to do this and I would not recommend this. Around 85% of your time on the golf course you are NOT playing golf!! We always talk about what we should be thinking over the ball, but what about the the time we are not playing golf!! What you think about when you are not playing golf (85%) and do for the 85% has a huge impact on your score and especially your next shot!! What if I told you only have 1.5 hours of mental energy per round!!! It time you started focusing on the missing 85% If we can control what we are thinking about in between our shots, I can guarantee that you will have more energy to focus when you need it most(the next shot). If you can do this well then you will be more refreshed after your round and more importantly have a sharper focus for your next shot. Sadly most golfers walk around the golf course looking at there feet and focusing on the following - Score - Golf Swing - Position - Worry about holes coming up - Focusing on your bad start Generally this is what makes you angry, worried and frustrated!! Now if you are thinking about the 3 putt you had on the 3rd hole as you are walking up the 5th hole or playing the 10th hole, worrying about the tee shot you are going to have on the 15th hole, this is wasting your mental energy and is this really going to help you hit the next shot!! The key is turning OFF . If you think about other sports the players know when to focus of the game because there is a referee and a whistle. I believe most players turn on their golf thinking , but very few turn OFF. When you are is off mode ( this mean off, so no golf thinking for the 85% ) This sounds easy but this is a skill that must be trained. Think about when you have a caddie and after your shot, your caddie wouldn't say , I cant believe you just 3 putted the last hole, or remember that last time you played the 10th you hit it OB. (if they did you would fire them) What normally happens and why we enjoy having a caddie is after your shot, you find it easier to switch off as you are talking to them in-between your shots and normally you are not talking golf!! Non golf thinking in between your shots is the key to focusing on your next shot and getting a better scores. The 10 step rule This is a great way to create an off switch.!! After you hit a shot ( good,bad, ugly) you walk and count 10 steps and then after the 10th step you make the effort to think anything but golf until you get around 20m from your next shot. Then it is time to start working out your next shot. To reduce the likelihood of you dwelling and golf related thinking, a great technique you can use with the 10 step rule is ,after your 10 steps you MUST KEEP YOUR EYES ABOVE THE HEIGHT OF THE FLAG as you are walking to your next shot. Now if you can do this you will start walking with confident and if you are playing well isn't this the way you walk anyway?? Two important things happen when you walk with your eyes up 1) Negative thinking and dwelling only happens when your head is down, so keeping your head up reduces the chances of the bad emotion to kick in and this can have a massive influence on your 85% 2) It is something non golf that you can focus on , and turns your golf thinking off!!! We want you to have limited golf thinking when you are walking in between your shots, even reducing this alittle bit each time you play will have a positive impact on your golf Lets start taking control of your thinking for this 85% of the game and start to play your best and enjoy your game even more. So next event have a look around when you are playing golf ( eyes up) and work on creating an off switch in between your shots which will reduce the golf thinking as you are walking to your next shot. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE BETTER FOCUS FOR YOUR NEXT SHOT YOU MUST THINK LESS IN BETWEEN YOUR SHOTS!!! You wont know what you having been missing out on!!! Ben Gallie NZPGA Golf Professional Golf Performance Coach
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I recently asked the question, “What % of this great golf of golf is mental". The answers I got ranged from 20% to 100%. If the mental game is so important, the next question is “How much time, effort and resources do you spend on the mental game? The answer is normally zero to 5%. Now how can this be, why would me spend so little time and effort on area of our game that is by far the most important? Over the next month I want to give you an insight of some of the important parts to develop a stronger mental game!! The goal of this game is GIVE YOURSELF THE BEST CHANCE TO HIT A GOOD SHOT!! Now how we do this is focus our energy into the things that you can control!!!! - Preparation (types of preparation) 1) How you prepare for the events (Golf Coaching, practise schedule and training) 2) Building a game plan and creating yardage book for the tournament (homework) 3) Preparation for the golf shot - giving you the best chance to hit a good shot (pre-shot routine) - Attitude (how we are going to act, your self-talk and how we talk to others about our golf game) Now how you think about your game and how you talk to other golfers has a huge impact on your self -belief, which ultimately effects your confidence. How many times have you heard that golf is a game of confidence. Your attitude and self-belief controls your confidence, so you control your attitude then you control your confidence!! This say that your self-belief ( confidence starts at 10) , everytime you hit a bad shot and react you drop down one point, when you finish your round of golf and try everyone about the 3 putt you had on the 14th hole you lose 2 points. What you are doing pushing your self-belief down and down.
Solution - When you hit a good shot and tell yourself well done , this gains a point, come in after the round tell everyone about the great your tee shot was up 11th hole , gain 2 points. If you write down your great shot for the day and read them you gain 5 point!! The more you can remember and talk about your good shots and better you feel about your game and the greater the confidence you will have. You need to decide how you want to feel about your game and it starts with attitude !! My challenge to you is to start now. Take hold of your attitude towards yourself and towards your game!! Sadly most golfers do the opposite they focus on things out of their control, such as - score and positon - Dwelling on past holes (cannot change what has already happened) - What others think about your game? - Course condition - Weather - Playing partners - Selections and how others are playing Now looking at these lists, where do you spend most of your time??? Start focusing on your preparation and attitude. These things can be predetermined especially how you talk to others about your game and creating a game plan that promotes your strengths in your golf game. One solution you can do is if someone asks you the commen question " how do you go", if you didnt play the way you wanted just tell them the facts. I had 78 and that is it!! Then you dont have talk about your round and explain and bad shots!! An extreme way to deal with golfers talking about how bad they played or how bad they are at putting , is just walk away. If you want to become a better putter, start practising and playing with these players who putt well and listen to them talk about there putting!! Remember the goal - give yourself the best chance to hit a good shot!! If you focus on the things you cannot control you will make this goal extremely hard!! My challenge to you is to start now. Take hold of your attitude towards yourself and towards your game!! Join me next week and we will look at the secret to staying focused for the whole round/event. Ben Gallie NZPGA Golf Professional Certified Golf Performance Coach |