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

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