Ever gotten nervous on the first tee with a bunch of fellow golfers watching you? Sure you have, we all have! Maybe you don’t anymore in that particular situation, but there always comes a point when we might get the jitters for one reason or another. Even the pros go through it and that’s one of the reasons why they have a
sports psychologist as part of their team.
One thing that many people forget is to maintain mental focus. If you’re mentally focused, you are less likely to have those unnecessary jitters that accompany a tense situation.
Remember that you are playing a game of golf, not watching a movie. Make sure that you spend a good portion of your round thinking only about what you need to do as opposed to what you want to do.
Now I know you probably have heard this before but you have to remember that your body reacts to what you do differently than your mind. If you are tense, your body probably feels tense. The easiest way to get your body to calm down is to focus on releasing that tension.
Instead of focusing on too many things, try practicing something relaxing. You’ll find that when you relax and release your tension, your body will naturally calm down as well.
Here’s a few additional methods you might want to try in order to achieve your goal:
1. Visualize Success
Although it may sound strange, taking a moment to visualize yourself succeeding can help you relax. This works by helping you focus on the positive outcome that you’re expecting rather than worrying about the negatives.
The more detailed you can visualize your success, the better this method works. You should see yourself perfectly swinging the club, hitting the ball exactly where you need to, and the ball arching beautifully through the air to land right where you want it to.
2. Live in the moment
When you are playing on a golf course, there is plenty going on and you aren’t necessarily going to be paying attention to everything. That’s okay. In fact, sometimes you should stop and think about other things that are going on around you. What you want to do is learn how to live in the moment and stop trying to think about or do anything. Before you get too caught up in visualizing every stroke of the game, you need to balance it out with living in the moment. Getting too far ahead of yourself can also be risky and may make you anxious about holes you’re not even on yet.
3. Get into a relaxed state
Sometimes, all you need to do to get your body in the right state of relaxation is to go outside and enjoy the world around you. If you go out in the yard and sit under a tree or in a large stone garden, you will find that your body will feel much better. You can practice this when you are on the golf course. In that case, you can practice relaxing by counting ahead one to three in your head and then swinging your club as if you were trying to hit a small ball.
4. Get excited!
What happens to your body when you get nervous?
- Heart rate increases
- Blood pressure rises
- Breathing speeds up
- Sweating
Now, let’s consider what happens when you get excited about something:
- Heart rate increases
- Blood pressure rises
- Breathing speeds up
- Sweating
Once you get your body in the proper state, you will find that you are starting to play better. You will be able to focus on the things you need to do rather than worrying about other issues.
Want one final tip? You can even learn a few special foot movements to help you get over your nervousness or simply, shake em off!
Just take a little time to practice these tips and you will find that you have a much better golf game.
For more tips please visit our
golf tips page. You can find articles ranging from
how to lower your score to how to plan your next
golf holiday in Asia.
