Finding your best form

The constant duck hook on the 17th tee or the favourite course where you always play well are two examples of what we can refer to as "habits"- they can be positive or negative. Sports psychologists refer to these reactions as "experience induced reactions". In simple terms, the golfer's "state" has been change positively or negatively by his thoughts which have been brought about by remembering what happened in the past in a similar situation.

A classic example of a sports pyschology technique which has been used in golf for many years to induce a positive reaction is the pre-shot routine. Going through this routine changes the golfer’s mental state by activating positive memories and associations. Put very simply, the golfer has gone into a concentrated state when he hit his golf shots in the past and this routine helps him/her to recreate this concentrated state which is specifically appropriate to hitting a golf shot.

The increasing recognition that the mental side of sport has a massive influence on your performance has led to a boom in the numbers and profiles of sports psychologists and mental trainers in professional sport. But what exactly do they offer their clients, be they tour golfers or premiership footballers? There is a consensus of opinion that your performance is directly related to your “state”. This explains why we can play fantastic one day and terrible the next and how we can even play the first sixteen holes superbly and the last two disastrously – we have somehow changed our “state” inadvertently. In a nutshell, mental trainers make their clients aware of their “optimal performance state” and give them the skills and techniques to get into this “state” and to stay there, thus maximising performance.

The mental side of sport is is many ways similar to the physical side. Just as you learned the correct technique in order to hit a golf ball, you can learn the right "mental techniques" in order to find consisentency and effectively do what you do well MORE OFTEN. Which are the most commonly used in golf?

Visualisation ("see it before you do it")

Breathing (long and deep will keep you relaxed)

Body Language (try to look as if you are playing well)

Changing Beliefs and Assumptions (you become a bad putter when you believe you are!)

Unlearning and relearning (how to stop doing the same things you've always done)

There are many different techniques which are used in each of the above listed categories. The key is to find the ones which work best for you, as everyone is different and therefore will react to one technique better than another. The area of “performance coaching” is vast and these techniques can be used as effectively in business as they can in sport.

It remains however a controversial area, in which you will find as many enthusiasts as detractors. My own personal experience suggests that it can be a tremendously useful tool in improving the performance of some, but it is not everyone’s “cup of tea”. I believe strongly that everyone should choose for themselves whether they wish to try it out.

I hope to have given an insight into “mental training” with this article.