The Mental Golf Blog

In a perverse way way it was comforting that Dr Karl Morris described Louis Oosthuizen’s golf mind as being “scrambled” and “a mess” prior to The Open Championship. It proves to us ordinary golfers that even the elite sometimes have a difficult time focusing correctly on and off the golf course.

Both the US Open and The Open Championship in 2010 illustrated another interesting facet of mental golf.

The seventeenth holes at Pebble Beach and The Old Course came in for some criticism from the players and media alike when they were stiffened to provide a greater test with claims that it was bordering on the impossible to get the ball near with a long iron. The holes are a very tough par 3 and 4 respectively and obviously had the potential to have a massive impact on the outcome of the championships.

But what if these holes had been a par 4 and a par 5? Would they pros have approached them any differently? In theory they shouldn’t have after all the object of the game is to get the ball in the hole in the least number of shots possible so it doesn’t really matter what the par is on the scorecard.

I contend that concentrating on the number that you are “supposed” to score on a hole can cause unnecessary expectations and pressures and that by plotting a sensible route around the course, irrespective of the “recommended” par figure, golfers would score better. Pros & amateurs alike.

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Technorati Tags: #17 hole, 17th hole, Golf Mind, Karl Morris, Louis Oosthuizen, old course, pebble beach

Louis Oosthuizen the 2010 Open Champion illustrated how a simple mental golf technique can help win a major championship.

He painted a red dot on his golf glove that reminded him, whenever his mind wandered, to focus on the task. Since the dot was visible as soon as he took his grip for a shot he was able to block all distractions and concentrate on one shot at a time.

It worked in spectacular style as he won by 7 strokes.

It will be very interesting to see how many other players adopt this idea and also to see when the glove manufacturers pick it up and incorporate a dot or a swing thought.

UPDATE 20th July 2010 

It seems that the red dot on Oosthuizen’s glove was something specifically intoduced to him for The Open Championship.

He has been working with sports psychologist Karl Morris who walked 9 holes with him in the previous weeks tournament at Loch Lomond and he thought that “It was clear that mentally, he was a mess.” They worked together on a way in which Oosthuizen could “learn when to concentrate fully on the task at hand and when to switch off.”

Morris explains further how it works “The key to it all was the red spot we marked on his glove, which Louis referred to a couple of times after he had won The Open. That was designed to act as his trigger, in the same way that the referee’s whistle concentrates a player’s mind in football. The idea is that Louis would look at that spot as the beginning of his pre-shot routine and use it as his whistle. I watched him closely at St Andrews and it was noticeable how well he put that into practice. He looked totally focused before every shot but a lot of people remarked on how relaxed he looked for the rest of the time. It is impossible to keep your concentration at peak level for five hours, especially under the pressure that comes with leading a Major championship.”

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Technorati Tags: glove, golf psychologist, Karl Morris, Louis Oosthuizen, red dot, sports psychologist, trigger

At a recent range session I became aware, by checking in the mirror there, that my posture at address was poor and this was severely affecting my swing. As I stretched into a taller position and straightened my back it looked just like the move that Swedish pro Robert Karlsson does before address where he pushes his chest out and shoulder blades back. I’m sure you have seen him do this and it’s now part of his pre-shot routine, I suppose at 6 feet 5 inches tall he may have a tendency to hunch over if not careful and by introducing it to his routine ensures that he stays tall. It also looks as if it serves as a mental trigger before stepping into his address position. A real “go to it” move.

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Technorati Tags: mental trigger, robert karlsson, stretch

I made reference to the Tour Tempo system in a previous blog post but I’d like to explain a little more about it and how I think it has helped with my game and I’d like to expand a little here on the mental golf advantages that it brings.
In the famous book The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Gallwey he develops a swing thought of “Back - Hit” that silences all other thoughts and fully frees up the body to hit the shot. Tour Tempo introduces a similar swing thought with the added extra that is carefully timed to get you swinging in the optimum tempo to hit good, long and accurate golf shots. The system includes a CD that you can transfer to your iPod or MP3 player to use at the range or on the course in practice.
I have incorporated that swing thought into my pre-shot routine before swinging almost as a trigger to initiate the swing.

For more information and my further experience of the Tour Tempo system see my web page here or click on the book cover image.

Never have I been so pleased to have played so poorly! Let me explain. I recently was due to play a course that I knew very well but hadn’t played for quite some time and as I had been working on my mental game I decided to formulate a pre round mental plan. This involved creating a strategy for playing each hole, physically writing it down and reading it over and over, reinforcing the plan and visualizing how it would pan out.

I worked backwards from the green identifying the best angle to approach the green and where I wanted to position the tee shot. From this I planned the safest quarter of the green I wanted to target.

Obviously I wasn’t to know what the weather was going to be like but in general I adopted a conservative plan. The course has a number of tight, tree lined fairways and OOB so opted to play safe a number of times from the tee with Utility club and irons.

The idea was to write this down as a positive strategy for each hole.

As I had recently refined my pre-shot routine I incorporated this as I visualized going through each shot in my mind according to the plan over and over again.

When the day of the round arrived it was beautiful weather so my hopes were high of executing the game plan and playing and scoring well. What a disappointment, I hit it absolutely garbage particularly with the driver only hitting 2/9 fairways. This put a lot of pressure on approach shots and consequently only hit 7 GIR. Fortunately recent short game practice paid off and I scrambled pretty well (60%) and only had 28 putts.

I did though stick to the plan which I was very pleased about and two of the more cautious planned holes yielded birdies after positioning tee shots with Utility club and iron. So the good news was that despite a poor striking performance I ground out a reasonable score ending up playing to my handicap of 6.

As I said before it feels weird to be so upbeat about playing poorly but I was pleased to have had the discipline to stick to the plan and I firmly believe this was the reason I managed to get it round in a respectable score.

Part of the inspiration for putting the plan together came from a book I have been re-reading
Smart Golf: How to Simplify and Score Your Mental Game by DeDe Owens, Ed.D. & Dan Kirschenbaum, Ph.D. is a much underrated mental golf guide.

Technorati Tags: Pre-Round Mental Preparation, pre-shot routine, smart golf, visualization

Following a previous post regarding the pre-shot routine being a mental routine I have recently been having some success with the Tour Tempo system developed by John Novosel and been looking to incorporate it into my routine. You’ll need to go to their website to better understand how and why this works so well but there are swing rhythms to replicate within the system and I have now been successful in fitting the rhythm into my routine.
A particular swing thought I have had for a while is to return to the ball at impact replicating my address position. I realise that with the speed of the swing and weight transfer that that is impossible but as a mental image it helps.
So at present my pre-shot routine looks like this;

• I stand behind the ball and identify a target on the horizon
• I visualize the flight and trajectory to that target
• I identify an intermediate target on the ground in line with main target
• Whilst behind the ball I rehearse a swing replicating the impact position
• Step into address position checking Grip, Alignment, Ball Position & Posture
• Mentally chant the Tour Tempo rhythm
• Swing through the ball to a high, balanced “Pro” finish

So far it is working very well, I feel more able to block out distractions and I’m now refining to make the routine automatic and repeating.

Technorati Tags: golf pre-shot routine, pre, pre shot, routine, shot, tour tempo, visualization

We bring together well respected golf psychologists passing on mental golf hints and tips

Dr Gregg Steinberg, world renowned sports psychologist, discusses how you can improve performance by developing emotional toughness. (0:51)

Dr. Robert Winters shows you how to get a pre-shot routine “green light” mentality before hitting a difficult golf shot. (4:59)

Dr Karl Morris explains why Tiger Woods has the greatest golf mind ever and how this can benefit your game, lower your scores and cut your handicap. (2:40)

The man himself! Tiger Woods works to get better and discusses his mental golf. (1:31)

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Technorati Tags: Golf Psychology, Gregg Steinberg, Karl Morris, Mental Golf, Robert Winters, Tiger Woods

My friend continues the quest to improve his putting.

I have a confession to make. Since my last blog I’ve barely practiced any mental techniques. Why? Well, it became glaringly obvious that my putting stroke had major flaws of a technical manner. I tried putting with that flawed stroke, but with the most confident and positive attitude I could muster, but it made very little difference.

Granted, this is only carpet putting for now (weather and other commitments have kept me off the course), but I’ve always found if I can’t consistently roll the ball at home I have no chance when venturing onto the course. This situation left me in a bit of a quandary: Do I sort out my stroke or do I stick to the program and tough it out with mental techniques? Rather than agonise over it I remember something I’d read years ago that always stuck in my mind. If you can’t make a decision then decide not to decide. This simple thought always releases me.

So I forgot about my putting and worked on my pitching instead as this also been troublesome of late. A quick word with my pro, Dan Whittaker of Altrincham Golf Range, and the problem was identified as getting too steep and not hitting with my pivot/body action. I worked diligently on a simple drill he taught me until I could hit the ball with passive arms again. Happy with the progress I was making I reached for my putter for ten minutes before ending my session. Something marvellous had happened. I was rolling the ball beautifully, time after time. How? Why? The body release drill I’d been working on with my wedge translated perfectly to my putting stroke. I had, unbeknownst to me, been disconnected and handsy with my putting stroke, but now could easily feel like I was putting with a pure pendulum action of the shoulders.

The moral to this little anecdote is that it doesn’t matter how mentally strong you are, you must have solid fundamentals to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be positive with a dodgy stroke than negative with a dodgy stroke, but combining great technique and mental strength is what separates the good from the great.

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Technorati Tags: Mental Golf, putting practice

Isn’t this what Bob Rotella has been telling us all along?

A study from St Andrews University including the University of Michigan has concluded that over thinking and over analysing putts has a detrimental effect n the outcome.

The researchers think the loss of performance was due to an effect called verbal overshadowing, which makes the brain focus more on language centres rather than on brain systems that support the skills in question.

Full reports from The BBC and The Herald.

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Technorati Tags: bob rotela, putting, verbal overshadowing

A very good friend of mine has agreed to bare his soul in a search for an improvement to his putting by guest blogging for me about his trials and tribulations on the greens.

Since returning to golf after several years’ absence due to poor health, putting has been my Achilles heel. Actually, it’s been my Achilles heel, ankle, leg and, well, you get the idea.
I’m not sure where the problem began, but I seem to recall I used to be a pretty good putter. Streaky, maybe, but my bad days were never that bad. I mean, I played with the same left-handed blade for a good five years without ever considering inviting a new young thing into my golf bag. Surely this is a sign that I was happy on the greens?
So where did it all go wrong?
My attitude was vastly different on my return to the game. I used to be very intense on the course, breaking clubs over my knee on more than one occasion, but this time around I was simply overjoyed to be actually playing again.  My old handicap of eight was meaningless, I told myself, although I secretly believed I’d soon be shooting in the 70’s again before too long. How wrong I was. I was still in the long-term recovery period of PVCFS, had lost two stone of muscle and my balance and coordination were affected. Breaking 90 was difficult enough! This affected my game in several unexpected ways, and my putting most severely. I lost sight of the importance of a decent pre-shot routine and generally became very sloppy with my preparation and mental approach to the game. I failed to realise how crucial this aspect of the game was to my previous standard of play.
This lacksidasical approach obviously had a detrimental effect on my putting, leading me to start tweaking and customizing the old blade by chopping her down, adding lead tape and trying different grips before finally consigning her to the shed. I started looking for any external excuse I could when the real problem was the 6 inches between my ears. Yes, I’d talked myself into being a poor putter.    
“Whether You Think You Can or Can’t, You’re Right”–Henry Ford
So where does that leave me now? Now my long game is up to a standard I’m comfortable with, but still can’t break 80 due to averaging around 36 putts.  On a mission, that’s where!
It’s my intention to use this blog to share the highs and lows of my mission to average 30 putts by the end of the season by focusing on mental techniques such as imagery, meditation and mindfulness.
Is that possible? Can a hopeless case like me develop the steely gaze of a Dead Eye Dan? I guess we’ll both find out soon enough!

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Technorati Tags: putting