How to Improve Your Golf Mental Preparation

How to Improve Your Mental Preparation

Are You Making Preround Mental Game Mistakes?

One critical contributor to confidence is preparation…

The more prepared you feel, the more confidence you carry into golf tournaments.

What if your preparation is disrupted due to injury? What if you cannot train or practice for a lengthy period of time? Is it possible to maintain some degree of confidence when preparation is limited due to injury?

There are Three Levels of Preparation that Contribute to your Readiness to Compete:

  1. Technical Preparation – Refining technique or practicing shots on a daily basis help develop trust in your swing. Practicing rounds helps you feel comfortable and confident when it comes time to compete.
  2. Physical Preparation – Preparing your body, whether its strength training or rehab exercises, is another method that increases your confidence to perform.
  3. Mental Preparation – Mental preparation is the most overlooked but, also the most important component of preparation. Improving mental skill, such as: focus, emotional control, confidence, attitude, and composure can take your golf game to the next level.

Another added benefit to mental training is that mental preparation can make up for time lost due to injury.

A layoff due to injury, then, doesn’t mean you cannot prepare at all.

There is always something you can do to prepare and mental preparation is the ultimate difference-maker.

If your back is injured, you can perform visualization. If you injured your knee, you can watch tournaments to see how the pros handle bad shots. If you have shoulder tendonitis, you can refine your pre-shot routine.

There are Many Ways to Improve your Mental Game during Injury:

  • Learn relaxations strategies
  • Start a collection of inspirational quotes
  • Talk to a mental game coach
  • Create a goal plan to improve an area of your game that is weak
  • Find effective strategies to build confidence, etc.

There is always something you can do!

Jessica Korda entered the 2018 season with little preparation due to jaw surgery during the off-season.

Instead of winding down from the season or starting preparations for the upcoming season, Korda was dealing with a procedure that required her surgeons to break her nose and jaw and reset all the bones. Korda was out of commission until mid-January.

Korda won the 2018 LPGA Thailand, with limited physical preparation with rounds of 66-62-68-67 including 25 birdies and three eagles to win by four strokes.

KORDA: “I didn’t know how I was going to do. I was just coming in here just happy to be able to play and be able to be back out. I’ve missed it. It was hard sitting home watching everyone on TV… All the hard work I was putting in during the off-season, when I could, has paid off rather quickly.”

No matter what interferes with your physical training, see it as an opportunity to take your mental game to the next level.

How to Improve your Mental Preparation:

Review past rounds where your didn’t feel mentally ready to compete.

What mindsets contributed to your poor play?

  • Did you have high expectations?
  • Did you leave confidence to chance?
  • Were stuck in a practice mindset?
  • Did you focus too much on the competition?
  • Were you worried about outcomes?

What mental game mistakes did you make with your preround approach?

Before the next round, work to improve one aspect of your mental approach to the game.

Don’t go it alone… Enlist the help of professionals (coaches, golf pros, mental game coaches) to help be the best golfer you can be!

There is ALWAYS something you can do to improve your game. Start today with The Golfer’s Mental Edge.

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Boost Your Self-Confidence With Expert Mental Game Coaching!

Expert mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues in sports with personal coaching. We do mental training with athletes of all levels and ages–about 12 years and up. And mental training is not just for elite or professional athletes.

You can work with us in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone from anywhere in the world. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer

If you are interested in mental coaching, try our free 15-minute introductory session. Contact Peak Performance Sports today with your name, sport, and what mental game challenges you are having.

You can learn more about our mental coaching programs for athletes here.

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