As the official mind coach for the main UK amateur tour GTour, I was asked a very pertinent question on golf psychology from a player a while back. After reading my reply, the player in question won his very next event! This same question arose a couple of weeks ago when working with Sussex Ladies so I thought I’d share it with you now. Let me know how it helps…

Q: “I seem to be able to focus OK on my game when I’m in a comp, either at my own course or another. But struggle to get over the line so to speak. As soon as I know it’s nearly in the bag my game takes a dive. I’ve managed to pull it back to win a few times but a couple of times I’ve let a 2 or 3 hole lead slip. Any advice?”

A: Great question – you’re in the highest company with this question - Greg Norman, Jean Van de Velde, Kenny Perry, Tom Watson…the list goes on!

To answer it I have to make some assumptions about what happens to you. It sounds like you play your round picking your targets, going for each shot, UNTIL you “know it's nearly in the bag”. At this point your attention turns from your shots to your score and winning. Your mind jumps ahead in time, your body gets filled with excitement about the possibility of winning which turns to nerves when you realise you’re not there yet! Rather than focusing on your targets, you then start playing defensively, focusing on not messing it up. We all know what happens when you think “Don’t MESS IT UP”! Minds don’t do negatives that well! Ever seen what happens when England go ahead and try to protect their score? Am I on the right track here?

The simplest way to tackle this is to take this “in the bag” idea out of the equation and keep going for it, accelerating through the line, just like Usain Bolt is learning to do! In order to keep doing what you were doing for the first 15 holes, you need to remove any trigger that tells you to jump ahead and think about whether it’s in the bag or not, as this is where things go wrong. At Pebble Beach in 2000 Tiger Woods won the US Open by 15 shots. He didn’t do this by wanting to get it “in the bag”. He ONLY wanted to play his very best golf for 72 holes, decimating the competition one shot at a time. Here are some tips to help with this:

1. To avoid dipping for the line too soon, never aim to win by a small margin – greed is good when it comes to winning, always aim to run away with it! As 100m runners imagine they’re running 150m to keep accelerating through the line, imagine the 18^th hole is not the last. Another way to do this is to split your rounds into 3 “rounds” of 6 holes, not 1 round of 18. Your aim with each “round” of six holes is to beat your previous six. This will help you stay focused on your own game for 18 holes and go for it at the end.

2. During the round, remove your focus from winning – you can’t control whether you win or not. Focus on the thing you can control – this moment, this shot. Use a Think Box and Play Box for every shot. The Think Box is the area behind the ball where you do all your thinking – you check the lie, wind, slope, landing spot, choose your shot and club. This I where to spend your time getting ready. Only leave the Think Box and step up to the Play Box when you clearly see and feel the ball going to the target. The Play Box is where you simply play the shot you have already planned. Most players do this the wrong way around – not much time planning and lots of time thinking over the shot, allowing lots of “what if” thoughts to come in. Having an automatic routine like this for every shot makes the pressure shots MUCH easier.

3. Trying to positive think away the feelings won’t work! When do you start thinking/feeling differently? How do you know it’s time to do this? As soon as you recognise the shift, what would happen if you let yourself feel those nerves and enjoy the excitement, whilst in your Think Box. Then when you see and feel your shot, step up to the Play Box and play your shot, maintaining your connection to the target?

4. In your practice, add in pressure to help you get used to it. For example, put bets on practice games with friends and create measured games at the practice ground.

The key, whatever the situation, is to stay present for each shot by seeing and feeling the ball going to the target before, during and after each shot. This will keep you out of your head, and direct your nervous energy into what you want. The more you practise this consciously, the more you know what to do when the excitement is on!

I hope you find these mental golf tips useful yourself. Please write in with questions to develop your own golf psychology – I’m more than happy to give you ideas. Also, I’m giving away audio mental golf tips through a series of six free tipcasts to help you through the toughest parts of the game. Sign up for my newsletter now if you would like to receive these.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling

Mental Golf Coach