Many war workers still find in golf the pleasure and relaxation necessary as a relief from the factory and office. (Photo by Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty Images)
2018 golf goals: Eight steps to a stronger mental game
2018 golf goals. (Photo by Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty Images)
Your 2018 golf goals can include attention to a stronger mental game.
Your 2018 golf goals? Consistently break 90? Eliminate three-putts? Win the club championship? This ForeGals golf tip will help you get your mind and your heart aligned with your aspirations.
How are you going to get it done? More time on the range and the practice green? Schedule some lessons and focus on your short game? Change to softer balls? Get that new putter that’s going to fix everything?
All these tweaks may help, or they may not, because golf is a complicated game that demands both physical skill and mental control.
The problem may not be with my swing
In addition to these various technical tweaks I need to find a way to manage my moments of anxiety. self-doubt, and hesitation as I stand over what should be an easy four foot putt. What steps can I take to dismiss the overwhelming feeling of futility and defeat that follows a hole I’ve mangled beyond belief. In other words. Are there strategies I can employ to become more like Cristie Kerr, who has the ability to block out every possible distraction as she’s setting up her shot?
Kerr’s a golfer for whom nothing exists except her ball, her club, and the shot she’s preparing to execute, regardless of the score, the weather, or what was said last night at the dinner table.
Brittany Lincicome plays sudoku to relieve her between-shots anxiety. I listen to birdsong, woodpeckers, and quacking ducks.
But is listening to birds while I wait for my turn to putt really enough mental game work? Probably not. There’s more to managing and strengthening golf’s mental game than distracting myself while you putt out and pretending that I’m ever going to play golf like Cristie Kerr!
I turned to Greg Liberto’s Mental Measures for Golf assessment for some guidance. Sit back and absorb how Greg approaches golf’s mental game.
Liberto breaks down the game’s mental side into eight components, divided into three time-frame elements: before you start your round, during your round, and after your round.
