The “mental” game of Golf
May 28th, 2007 by Olaf Bound.sIt has been said by many a wise golfer that there are two sides to the game of golf. Is there? I had always thought that there had only been one invented by the Scots. But No! That wasn’t the point that these wise golfers were talking about. It is more towards the “physical” side and the “mental” side of golf. Olaf, never one of the intellectuals of any games (to start with) had a look at this “mental” side from his angle and bought a book called “Golf is a game of confidence” by Dr. Bob Rotella. It has been a good read thus far and helps me to understand why Olaf has never been able to break 90 in a round.
The concept of “staying in the present”. What does it mean? Well, according to Dr. Rotella this is the one of the main reasons why we are not playing to the best of our abilities. Of course, it definitely is not the reason why we should accept this completely and stop going to the range! It should always be reminded that if your swing is not dependable, grabbing the bible and praying before you hit the shot would help tremendously. But let’s look at this concept in a bit more detail.
What does it actually mean? Staying in the present! What is so difficult about staying the present, when in fact we are living it? Dr. Rotella explained to his readers and it goes something like this. Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez both have shown an interest in you and wants to meet you afterwards in room 201 at the Hotel at 8:00 tonight. Upon reaching the room, they will both perform a sexual act together in front of you and then start ripping your clothes off. After which you will be able to join in and make hot passionate love to them until the next morning. Here are the keys to your room. Only there’s a catch! If you so much as think about either of them or the night before then, the deal is off! Now CAN YOU DO IT? Not really possible is it?
The point is, most of us are always going forwards and backwards in our mind! But before we hit every shot, in our minds we tend to look at what mistakes we made beforehand and what will happen as a result of this shot. According to my understanding of this logic, the more important thing is to just focus on where you want the ball to go and hit it. The old axiom “One shot at a time” is the best example of this. Sound confusing? Well, I’m into the fifth chapter and find it a really good interesting read. I mean if Dr. Rotella can help people like Brad Faxon, Tom Kite, Davis Love III and plenty of others, hopefully he can help a hopeless golf addict like Olaf. Grab a copy of “Golf is not a Game of Perfect” by the same author and maybe you can understand it in more detail. I’m off to read some more!