Golf Psychology - The Game Within (Archive)

[Mike Probert]

Article 15 - Anger is a Fault

‘Anger is a Fault’

Every time you play or watch golf you see the effect of anger.

There’s always someone prepared either to blame their equipment, bad luck or anyone in sight when things go wrong but these golfers must learn to accept more responsibility for their efforts and start to be more tolerant.

Perhaps Ben Crenshaw in the 1987 Ryder Cup showed one of the most famous results of anger when he broke his putter – incidentally the best tool in his bag – and then had to putt with his three iron.

It would be wrong to suggest that this lost him the match because he putted quite well with his three iron, but it must have certainly made his opponent Eamon Darcy feel more confident about his chances of winning.

More recently Sergio Garcia was seen kicking his shoe down the 15th fairway at Wentworth during the world match play championship after a poor shot in a match that he ultimately lost.

You so often see players throwing their clubs about and stamping their feet and some of these players are the elite of golf and it would seem that some of them still do not understand that they are making the pressure of playing golf so much more intense for themselves.

Feeling pressure is bad enough without making it worse or impossible to deal with.

Anger is the worst fault in golf and often costs the golfer more lost shots than the yip or the shank and which invariably interferes with the next shot, in many cases destroys the rest of the round and often reduces a player to become very bad company.

Of the ‘angry’ brigade, the ones who blame themselves are not too bad to play with although you can suffer from the ‘atmosphere’, but the ones who blame others for their mistakes are a pain in the neck, just as much to themselves as they are to others.

All golfers must understand that the greatest challenge in golf is personal control and they must learn to be more patient with themselves and more tolerant of others because their scores and general enjoyment of the game will then – surprisingly – improve

Tolerance is POSITIVE.



For more information and tuition reservations contact 966 704 752 or 661 345 931 or michael.probert@terra.es with lessons starting from only €25 per hour and with gift vouchers ideal for birthday or Christmas presents.

[Mike Probert]

Article 16 - Visualisation

You may have heard of visualization and mental rehearsal and wonder just what it is but it’s simple to understand and will improve your game when you learn how to apply it.

When you take any shot, be it a drive or a putt, you have to ask yourself to play a ‘particular’ shot but if you fail in the thought preparation before you play it is not difficult to see that the body cannot respond with the required shot.

How often have you stood in a bunker and instead of thinking how to play the ball onto the green you only consider leaving the ball in the bunker?

You then attempt to play the short with your automatic self having been instructed to fail, and failure is what you get.

Mental rehearsal is the pre-shot preparation, which simply explains to your reliable automatic just what you expect of it and is also a way of filling your mind with positive thought.

Perhaps we find the most important time for correct mental rehearsal in the short game where you spend far too much time reminding yourself of the many physical movements required to make the shot and fail to rehearse “what” you are trying to do.

It is not so much “how” but “what” you are about to do and we have all been guilty of this sort of inadequate preparation

Working out how to play any golf shot has one other requirement often over looked by the golfer because shot preparation must be governed by the knowledge of your personal capabilities and do not attempt to play shots outside of your ability because this type of negative rehearsal can only result in failure.

The obvious way to success is to ‘ask’ for it, play the shot you wish to play, within your mind, and then without hesitation step up to the ball and play it.

For tuition or further information contact Mike Probert on 966 704 752 or 661 345 931 or e-mail michael.probert@terra.es with lessons starting from as little as €25 per hour.

[Mike Probert]

Article 17 - The Time Between shots

To prepare and play any golf shot takes quite a short period of time.

If a top professional takes one minute, then adding up for a full round, shows that the total “work” time is not much more than an hour, therefore what do they do with the rest of the time?

The expression “Don’t forget to smell the flowers” has been used quite frequently over recent years, and what Walter Hagen meant when he made the statement many years ago, was that time between shots must be used wisely.

We often hear golfers say that they find it difficult to concentrate and to  “think golf” from the start of a round to the end of it but the golfing mind has to be organised more intelligently, to avoid the build up of stress and keep the golfer in the contented mood which is essential for good play.

Between shots, and just as importantly before starting to play, the golfer must occupy his or her mind with pleasant and positive thoughts and it is no good considering the possibility of “getting things wrong” or engaging in wishful thinking and hoping that you can perform better than your ability suggests.

You have to behave this way to remove the negative effects of fear, anger and doubt, before, and after the shot has been played because confidence can only be maintained by distracting oneself from the problems ahead and just as importantly, from earlier shots – ‘Just smell the flowers’.

One golfer who found a good way to overcome stress between shots was Lee Trevino, he talked a lot to distract himself by joking his way round the course, eased the stress and made sure that the “smile” which was so much evident in good play, was there to help his game. 

Perhaps the most stressful time of all at golf is the waiting time, particularly the time waiting to putt and there is a very simple and effective way to solve the problem, think about something else, organise your bag, clean the grass from the spikes in your shoes, anything to take your mind away from the putt so that when it is your turn to play, you are still “in control”.

“Spare” time at golf must be used wisely, don’t use it on negative thought.

POSTIVE thinking provides POSITIVE golf.

For more information and tuition reservations contact 966 704 752 or michael.probert@terra.es

[Mike Probert]

Article 18 -Golf and Adrenaline

Over the past few years we have been advised on the effects of adrenaline and how it provides the so-called “pumped-up” feeling.

It may seem to some golfers that they should promote and use this as it offers some sort of an advantage but this is not so because the two main reasons for adrenaline flow are anger and fear and these are the two main feelings in golf, you must avoid as much as possible.

It is also produced when you are too excited or at times when you find the pressure much too difficult to handle and if you add to this the lack of control provided by the fear of ’getting it wrong’, then you are really in trouble and often allow yourself to become a quivering jelly which just can’t cope.

One thing you must remember to do on these occasions is to take one club less because you will almost certainly hit the ball further than you normally would, and obviously on those days when lethargy is more prominent than excitement, one club more.

You have all seen players hit the ball too far, particularly in the professional game, and in the Open at Troon a number of years ago you saw Greg Norman drive the ball a tremendous distance on the 18th hole but into a bunker considered ‘out of reach’ and this was the direct result of adrenaline, which limits the ability to control our actions.

Obviously, there are times in life when you do need this extra energy to cope with an emergency and this is the reason why the human body can supply such energy, however playing golf should not be one of these times because it is a game which demands peace of mind, and all the feelings which are associated with contentment.

You must strike the ball with peaceful authority, then you will hit the ball the correct distance and have a much better chance of it going in the right direction and at all times you must avoid being too excited, try not to become angry and not allow the fear aspect of golf to reduce you to an also ran.

Peaceful authority is POSITIVE power.

For more information and tuition reservations or discounted green fees or car hire  contact 966 704 752 or 661 345 931 or e-mail info@costa-blanca-greenfees.com

[Mike Probert]

Article 19  - In the Zone

In previous articles you will recall that I have discussed the need to enter your own personal bubble before you start your pre-shot routine.

The terms that you will have heard on the television is to be ‘in the zone’ or to be ‘focused’.

Why is this necessary?

This is not just about concentration but it is also a method employed to preserve your mental energy so that you do not feel so tired and weary after a game of golf.

Consider the following:

Each shot requires approx 40 seconds of concentration therefore a round of 72 shots takes 48 minutes and one of 90 shots takes 1 hour.

However as it take 5 hours to play a game of golf here on the Costa’s, you need to be able to enter and leave the zone when required otherwise you will be mentally drained by the end of the round.

How do can I do this I hear you say?

Local experts such as Martin Glover advocate the use if anchors.

You need one anchor for getting into the focused state (the zone) and another for leaving it and returning to peripheral vision.

Make a note of your own personal anchors.

For entering the zone: e.g. Enter, Start, Begin, Soften, Focus, etc.
For leaving the zone: e.g. Leave, End, Finish, Relax, etc.

There are some mental exercises that you can practise both at home and on the golf course so that it becomes second nature.

Exercise 1
Close your eyes, focus on your breathing and relax.
Imagine using your anchor (i.e. a word or a sound), and being totally focused and ready to play your shot.

Exercise 2
Close your eyes, focus on your breathing and relax.
Imagine using your anchor (i.e. a word or sound or putting the club back in the bag) and coming back to peripheral vision.

If you use these techniques you will see an improvement in your ability to visualise golf shots and you will fill your mind with positive thoughts and images.

If you consider that this is a load of mumbo jumbo then ask yourself, why do all of the world’s best golfers employ these techniques and the services of golf psychologists?

Do they know something that you do not?

If you would like to know more about how to improve the way in which you think on the golf course or would like to improve your golf swing call me today for lessons and see the results for yourself.

The price of the golf lessons start from only 30 Euro’s per hour and gift vouchers are available which are ideal as birthday presents.

For more information and golf lessons contact 966 704 752 or 661 345 931 or e-Mail info@costa-blanca-greenfees.com