Golf - it's all in the swing and the mind

Introduction

Ben Seal explains how to prepare your annual golf training program and the benefits of including psychology training into the program.

The study of Psychology in the world of sport is a rapidly growing field of interest and involvement. Described by Williams and Straub, (1986, cited in Murphy, S. 1995) as "the youngest of the sport sciences", sport psychology has, until recent years, been over looked by both players and coaches alike. This Coaching Portfolio relates the theme of psychological coaching to the sport of golf. The mental concentration and cognitive ability required in golf, makes this an excellent sport to involve psychological training methods.

Golf is classified as an individual, target sport requiring predominantly fine motor skills (i.e. smaller, precise muscular contractions). Although the golf swing is a self-paced executive programme, the game itself is an open one, vulnerable to environment impacts. The average club level golfer is usually described in the 8 to 12 handicap bracket. This may include less experienced, but improving performers who are looking to reduce their handicap and develop further as players, or more experienced participants who have peaked at this standard of play. Club level golfers will be well into the associative stage of learning, where there is good knowledge of the activity and models of the swing. Performers will also have the ability to detect and correct errors in performance, however technique may be variable and potentially inconsistent. Some club level golfers will be heading towards the autonomous phase of learning, whereby movement has become automatic and attention can given to environmental aspects and strategic play.

Planning

A club level golf season would begin in April and continue through until October. This period of play would gradually increase in intensity, peaking around July and August, before reducing into September and October. Over the season, players will regularly practise physical elements of the game (e.g. swing fundamentals). During the closed season, very little physical practise will occur, and during both periods, very little or no psychological practise/coaching will take place.

In order for a coach to design and implement a coaching programme, he/she must consider when each type of training would be best suited in relation to the athlete's calendar of events. The majority of club level golfers will do very little training during the off-season and begin work shortly before the season starts. Psychological training is most effectively used during the pre-season months (January - March). This period is an excellent opportunity to educate the performers in mental development and also can be introduced gradually as not to put the athletes under unnecessary stress due to their lack of experience is this area of training. Methods learnt pre-season will be fully understood and feel more natural by the start of the season and will strengthen the participants' performance during the season. The coach will study the schedule and reinforce techniques prior to key times in the season to aspire towards peak performance for important competitions. Psychological training can also be of particular use during rest periods between events or more so during spells of injury and recovery, when physical training may not be possible.

Setting objectives

A crucial area for a coach to begin a programme with is that of setting goals. Setting goals in the industrial and organisational world has proved to be a tool to motivate and enhance performance. To a certain extent, sporting success and setting performance related targets have been apparent, however, Burton, D. (1992, cited in Horn, T. 1992) explains of the 'Jekyll and Hyde' problems that can occur when goals are not set appropriately. It is paramount to a teams' success that the coach and players create and record realistic, specific and challenging, long and short-term goals. The coach should take the performer through the stages of setting goals, usually beginning with an evaluation of the athlete. 'Performer Profiling' is one way a coach can brake down areas of a sport and let the athlete rank themselves on their own ability in each. Viewing the results (usually displayed on a web chart) can help players set more specific goals and hopefully increase motivation. Once goals have been set, they should be discussed between coach and performer and decide what steps or measures need to be taken in order to reach the targets. For the golf season, its will be necessary to set a long-term goal, which should contain aims to meet by the end of the season. Short-term goals are equally important, stating specific targets for a shorter period of perhaps a week or a month and hence will be evaluated regularly and changed according to the intensity or schedule of forthcoming events.

Goal setting

By setting goals, you will be able to focus on areas you wish to improve, while continuing to perform in strong areas of your game. Goal setting helps to motivate during practise.

Where do you want to be?
Which parts of your game need most attention?
What specific measures will you take to succeed?

Goal setting is a simple, yet often misused motivational technique which can provide some structure for your training and competition program. Goals give a focus, and there are two well known acronyms to guide goal setting.

SMART or SMARTER

S - goals must be Specific
M - training targets should be Measurable
A - goals should be Adjustable
R - goals must be Realistic
T - training targets should be Time based
E - goals should be challenging and Exciting
R - goals should be Recorded

Make specific targets for:

Fairways hit
Greens hit in regulation
Putts per round
Up & downs (chipping rate)
Sand saves

Goals should be both long and short term and written down to refer back to. Discuss them with your coach so you can both work towards these shared goals. Recording your emotions before and after competition can also help future results.

Sports psychology

Relaxation and Imagery are techniques that have proved effective in improving golfers' performance. Relaxation coaching aims to teach players how to completely remove tension, both muscularly and mentally, before a shot is performed. To begin with it will take a while for a club level performer to relax each muscle group, but with practise, this time can be reduced and eventually can be used in a competitive situation in the form of a pre-shot routine, which the coach will help the pupil to create. To increase the chance of a successful shot being performed, the coach will stress how important the behaviour prior to the shot is and that it should be the same every time a shot is played. Within this routine, a coach will include the use of imagery and will work on a one-to-one basis with the performer in a number of short, intense sessions. Imagery training, taught following relaxation periods, will involve the golfer using all necessary senses (vision, hearing, touch) to create a mental picture of both the flight of the ball and the swing mechanics, using muscle memory. The athlete must remain focused without speaking, listening to the coaches calm descriptive tone. The players may visualise in the form of watching themselves complete the successful shot from outside their body (external), or by actually experiencing the shot through their own eyes (internal).

If such psychological training methods are incorporated around physical swing practises as part of a full training programme, club level athletes should benefit enormously. A varied and structured coaching programme should raise self-motivation for training and consequently increase confidence and competitive success.

Incorporating psychological training methods into your game

By using relaxation and imagery techniques in your Pre-Shot Routine, you increase your success rate and repeatability of golf swing. Your routine must be practised and when used in competition, it must remain exactly the same, shot after shot. Try to block external distractions out - 100% concentration is required whether it be a tee shot with the driver or a two-foot putt.

Steps to success

Decide on club selection and type of shot to be played (spin/wind/flight path)
Take a practise swing, feel the muscles in position. Rehearse movement
Stand behind ball. Focus on breathing. Relax muscles and entire body
Look at the ball and the target. Visualise a line between both, this is the flight path the ball will take
Visualise the perfect swing, smooth tempo and balanced finish
Take stance over ball, get comfortable, check target last time
Use a 'mantra' (a word or phrase to trigger the movement to begin, recalling all feelings from muscle memory.) e.g. "turn and release"
Swing and believe

Recommended Books

Bompa, T. (1999). Periodization - Training for sports. Human Kinetics
Bompa, T. (1999). Periodization - Theory and Methodology of Training. (4th ed.). Human Kinetics
Cross, N. & Lyle, J. (1999). The Coaching Process - principles and practise for sport. Butterworth Heineman Publishings
Duda, J. (1998). Advances in Sport and Exercise Psychology Measurement. Fitness Information Technology Inc.
Horn, T. (1992). Advances in Sport Psychology. Human Kinetics
Murphy, S. (1995). Sport Psychology Interventions. Human Kinetics
National Basketball Conditioning Coaches Association. (1997). NBA Power Conditioning. Human Kinetics
Saunders, V. (1984). The Golfing Mind. The Hutchinsons Publishing Group
Wooten, M. (1992). Coaching Basketball Successfully. Leisure Press.

About the Author

Ben Seal studied Sports Development with Coaching BSc(Hons) at Sheffield Hallam University (UK). This article has been produced here with his kind permission.

Article Reference

Seal B. (2008), "Golf - it's all in the swing and the mind", BrianMac Sports Coach: www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article004.htm

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Associated Pages

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