| |
7 Tips For Improving Your Golf Game
With Peak Performance Mental Skills
Pete Koerner
Peak performance mental skills are critical for anyone who
wants to take their game to the next level. Mental skills
are essential in any sport; and, to improve performance, to
step-up to the next level, or to excel at any sport which
requires focus and concentration, you must improve your mental
game. In a sport like golf, which is primarily a "mental"
game, peak performance skills are the difference between winners
and losers; and, at higher levels of competition, these mental
skills separate the professionals from those destined for
the Hall of Fame.
Yet golf is not the only sport which is primarily played in
the mind - ALL sports fit this description if you ask those
who excel in each of those sports. More specifically, sports
involving targets - both moving and stationary - such as balls
which must be struck with some sort of stick, club, or racket,
or fixed targets, such as a goal, hole, or mitt, ALL require
specific mental skills to dependably hit the target.
Furthermore, the mental and physical mechanisms involved in
all of these endeavors are exactly the same. Throwing an object
at a target (a dart, ball, etc.) requires a specific set of
programs; we've all heard the phrase, "You throw like a girl!"
Typically, girls just don't throw balls when they are growing
up; as a result, they have not acquired the programming to
do it smoothly and effectively. When people use that phrase,
what they are truly saying is, "You throw like someone who
wasn't programmed to throw very well." Trust me, if you have
ever watched college softball, you know that a girl who has
been properly programmed to throw can throw much faster than
a man in certain situations.
Swinging a stick in a trajectory designed to intercept and
redirect a smaller object, or catching a moving object with
a glove or some other device, all require a tremendous amount
of programming. But this is just the first step; these programs,
to be effective, must be able to run under pressure in order
to generate the desired results.
Pressure is the kind of stress athletes typically feel - the
pressure to succeed, the pressure to perform, the pressure
of getting in and out of tight spots, etc. Pressure is also
programmed into us from early childhood; and it typically
increases as the "stakes" are raised - but it is still pressure.
All such stress can impede your performance programming until
it is neutralized or removed. Some athletes are naturally
able to redirect the energy of stress into performance modalities.
Such people are called, "Naturals," or are said to "handle
the pressure well," or do well "under pressure."
Still there are others who learn these skills - all of which
are mental, and all of which can be learned. In the end, the
only difference between a "Natural," and someone who has been
trained with peak performance mental skills, is that the "Natural"
probably can't explain why they do so well - and the person
who learned these skills can probably teach these skills to
others pretty well having recently learned the process by
which all sports skills unfold.
We commonly work with baseball players, football players,
tennis players, and golfers - as well as Olympic and Pan Am
athletes in various endurance sports. All of these individuals
are target-oriented, goal-oriented, and driven to succeed;
and all of these individuals must master their own mind if
they are to perform at peak levels. Even endurance is a mental
skill; the ability to focus on something other than pain,
for instance, is critical in the fight to KEEP GOING!
Whether you use mental skills training, or not, you still
must use mental skills in order to succeed in sports. How
honed those skills are will determine how far you go in your
own sport. So, here are a few tips to help you along your
way:
1. Focus on your desired outcome - not what you have been
told is likely to happen, not on statistics, not on what you
are afraid might happen, etc. Keep your eye on the prize.
2. Breathe in deeply through your nose - filling your belly
- and out forcefully through your mouth. Repeat this until
you feel relaxed; and then re-establish your focus on your
goal.
3. You can only take one swing at a time, or throw one pitch
at a time; so get completely into the moment. This swing,
this pitch, are the only ones you can affect in this moment.
4. Before going to sleep, and immediately upon waking, mentally
rehearse your performance as if it were a prayer to live this
"dreamed of" victory in your physical reality - it is and
this works!
5. Relaxation is critical to peak performance; and visualization
is essential in creating specific outcomes.
6. Don't think about, or comment on, problems - or current
realities that you don't want to maintain. Keep your mind
open to creative solutions; it can't be if it is full of the
problem.
7. Never, Never, Never speak negatively about your body, skills,
abilities, luck, or possible future outcomes; all of our words
have power to alter our subconscious perception of ourselves
and our situations in such a way that our greatest fears often
come upon us.
Life is a game. Play.
If you are ready to take your Golf Game to the next level,
try using EFT; this is one of the most effective peak performance
tools being used by Olympic, Pan Am, Professional, and other
elite athletes! To download your FREE, Illustrated Emotional
Freedom Techniques (EFT) Manual, go to: http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com/free_download/
(It only takes about 10-seconds to get your Free EFT manual
and start erasing stress and managing your emotions more effectively!)
Pete Koerner is the author of The Belief Formula:
The Secret to Unlocking the Power of Prayer. The Belief
Formula is a look at how you can use ancient wisdom and modern
scientific awareness to learn how to use your mind to reclaim
your health and create the life of your dreams.
For a Free Report on Making The Belief Formula Work for You,
visit: http://www.TheBeliefFormula.com
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Pete_Koerner
Return to The Mental Game of
Golf Articles directory.
|
|
