Geoff Greig
Jul 12, 20212 min
𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭.
Every shot you hit, you can use a routine to prepare you for your shot (please do it in a reasonable amount of time!)
You have complete control of the content, quality and consistency of your routine.
The content, quality and consistency increase dramatically when you spend focused time building your routine at the range... before you test it on the course.
Every tour pro has a routine they have spent hundreds of hours training... most with the help of their mental game coaches.
Routines are often very different for each individual player.
However...
T𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬:
𝟏. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝... 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞.
Being focused means you are in the present moment and nothing can pull you out of that present moment.
Focus and presence are like muscles.
You need to strengthen them or distractions will overcome you (especially pressure which is a results-based focus as opposed to a process-based focus).
The most common distractions are thoughts and emotions.
Both pull you out of the present moment.
𝟐. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮... d𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠.
Sports science research tells us it is critical that you are directing your focus to a picture or a feel that is related to the target.
Directing your focus to pieces of the swing or swing thoughts... triggers the wrong systems in your brain and your body.
Imagine writing your signature thinking of positions of your knuckles or movement of your elbow.
Picture or feel the target related cue you have tested for maximum trust... then let the swing happen.
Never try to make it happen.
When you try to make it happen you are trying to control something that is going to happen as opposed to paying attention to something that is happen.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬.
Accessing the peak mental state will give you the ability to access the highest level of skill that you have trained for your swing (or close to it).
Poor or inconsistent access to the peak mental state gives you poor or inconsistent access to the level of skill you've trained in your swing.
As you can imagine... It takes time to build an effective routine that works for you and that you can trust under pressure.
It is worth the time.
Every small piece of improvement in your routine gives you better access to the mental state that will help you hit better shots more often.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦?
𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳.
There is a LOT of research proven and athlete tested training to help you do it.
My goal is to make sure you understand the important parts of that research relative to you... and that you know how to apply it to your training and to your playing.