The golf course has become a safe haven for many players amidst the pandemic. Laguna National is the perfect place to be, not just because of its natural social distancing, but because it provides an opportunity to escape from work, unplug from our devices, and feel free.
Research has well documented the adverse effects of living in busy, dense, urban cities on our health, and Psychologists are saying it is more important than ever during these times, to ‘create space’ in novel ways, because the weekend getaway or travel escape that created the feeling of space and revival in the past is so highly restricted at present.
Here are some very simple but powerful strategies from mindfulness training that can enhance focus and clarity on the golf course to create space and level headedness during these challenging times.
First review your habits on the golf course during a typical game.
- Do you check your email or intermittently answer messages on your phone?
- Do you continue your conversation mid-way through your shot preparation, or worse; when your playing partner is teeing off?
- Do you often play “there-abouts” golf, hitting the shot when you know it isn’t the correct choice?
If these scenarios sound familiar, then you could be in a perpetual state of multi-tasking that is negatively impacting your focus, performance, and enjoyment on the golf course.
In today’s information rich society, we have greater opportunity and temptation to engage in two ore more tasks at once. There is an illusion that this approach makes us more productive and powerful. In contrast, multi-tasking reduces efficiency and focus contributing to poor decision-making, more mistakes, and higher levels of stress.
Performing multiple tasks in rapid succession requires an individual to reorient to each new task, which itself takes time and other attentional resources. We don’t notice the effect on our performance with mindless tasks such as checking our phone while eating lunch, but when it comes to skills demanding intricate synchronisation of the mind and body a heightened sense of awareness is crucial for performance.
If we consider how the world’s best golfers create peak performance, it is through an approach that combines fearsome focus in the present moment, a singular focus on one shot at a time, and total immersion in the task until to the end result takes shape. Psychologists call this approach a mindful practice or mindfulness and it is essentially the opposite of multi-tasking.
In golf, mindfulness is like “zoning in” one shot at a time. Instead of dwelling on your last bad shot or thinking ahead and predicting your score for the last three holes, you bring careful attention to what is happening in the moment. It is a state of raised consciousness that allows you to make non-reactive, purposeful decisions over the shot at hand. For example, rather than ripping your driver off the tee because you three putted the last green, you will be ready to commit to a smooth, calm swing and focus on your target instead of your score.
Here are four ways to bring mindfulness training into your next game for greater enjoyment, relaxation, and improved performance.
Minimise multi-tasking and distractions:
Instead of reacting to your phone when ever you hear it, choose to reply to messages and emails in these two zones: 1) before the round, 2) after the first nine holes and before the 10th tee.
Let go of a poor shot or bad hole:
In his prime, Vijay Singh had one of the most prominent post-shot routines to leave poor shots behind. Vijay would re-engage his practice swing and visualise the ball going exactly where he wanted it to go, moving to the next shot with a positive image in his mind. To enhance this practice further, place your club back into your bag only after you have wiped the poor shot from your mind.
Don’t play “there-abouts” golf:
Acknowledge that feeling of indecisiveness over the ball. This is an important habit in playing mindful golf. Walk away from the shot and start again if you are not fully committed and take multiple clubs to your ball if needed.
Bring more Zen into your pre-shot routine:
The pre-shot routine isn’t just about practice swings and club selection. The pre-shot routine is for letting go of tension in the body, enhancing commitment and clearing the mind right before you hit your shot. Think of Jason Day’s routine before he walks into the ball. He gently closes his eyes to visualize the shot and takes a slow deep breath relaxing his mind and body. In his prime, Tiger would talk about feeling so clear of thought but yet so focused on the target before playing a shot he felt his body was on auto-pilot and he couldn’t hear a thing around him. Probably my favorite example of Zen in a pre-shot routine (although in a different sport than golf), is owned by the major league baseball player Ichiro Suzuki. I had the pleasure of watching Ichiro at-bat for the mariners in 2005, and for a sport psychologist like myself, who observes pre-shot routines all the time as part of my day job, there is nothing more memorable than Ichiro’s routine. Like a Samurai, he created an effortless, rhythmic flow of movement with his bat and body. As he moved into position at the plate you could literally feel the poise, clarity, and commitment he had at every hit. If you’ve never seen Ichiro’s at-bat routine before, check it out on youtube because it is sure to give you some new inspiration for bringing more calmness and clarity into your pre-shot routine. Experiment with finding a little more zen in your pre-shot routine with a deep exhale before you address the ball, or try creating a rhythm and flow in your actions with only the target on your mind.
