MENTAL SKILLS FOR GOLF

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MENTAL SKILLS FOR GOLF
Presentation by Sean McCann, Ph.D. USOC
Sport Psychology
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What DO You Need? Distinguishing mental skills

• Technical mental skills (using your brain during
  skill acquisition)
• Including (imagery, concentration, thought
  control)
• Competitive skills
• The skills that help separate winners from losers
• This presentation will discuss a model of these
  skills
• (Offensive Defensive Mental Skills)

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A Model Of Necessary Mental Skills Good
Offense, Good Defense
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Role Of Offensive And Defensive Skills

• Offensive Skills
• Allows an athlete to DOMINATE
• Attacking, aggressive approach
• Put YOUR imprint on the event
• Essential For Greatness
• Defensive Skills
• Allows an athlete to be RESILIENT
• Always under control
• Adaptable to any situation
• Essential for Consistency
• OLYMPIC SUCCESS
• Requires BOTH

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OFFENSIVEMENTAL SKILLS

• Do They Have The focus of a PREDATOR?
• (Luc Longleys One Word Description Of Teammate
  Michael Jordan.)

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OFFENSIVE MENTAL SKILLS INCLUDE

• Desire to dominate
• Drive To Set and Achieve Goals
• Ability to Visualize Success
• Confidence
• Develops Effective Competition plans
• Willing and Able To Commit
• Comfortable With Risk

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Desire To Dominate

• Intrinsic Extrinsic Motivation
• (I want to win with a World Record)
• Dominate The Situation- Navy Seals
• Genuine Push For Personal Best

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Drive To Set Achieve Goals

• Athlete Sets Goals Without You Asking
• Athlete Sets Challenging But Realistic Goals
• Bobby Knight The will to win is less important
  than the will to prepare to win
• Example Has asked coaches for feedback on
  weaknesses, as well as extra work over winter to
  work to strengthen the weaknesses.

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Ability To Visualize Success

• Dreams Big
• Looks To Emulate Champions
• Doesnt Always Need Evidence, Can Take Leap Of
  Faith
• Example Compares herself with NCAAs best, not
  her other College Teammates, even though she was
  only 2nd or 3rd best on her team as a freshman.

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Confidence

• Athlete Actively Works On Confidence
• Optimistic World View
• Solution Oriented
• Can Look Arrogant When Young Unproven
• Example Not afraid of great golfers. (Moneyball
  quote)

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Develops Effective Competition Plans

• Athlete Analyzes Data
• Takes Control Of Competition Day
• Athlete Anticipates Challenges
• Example Has a detailed plan for what works well
  at tournament. Will work hard to maintain that
  plan.

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Willing Able To Commit

• Once A Plan Is Made Action Mode
• Able To Shut Down Brain When Useful
• Willing To Give A Plan Time It Needs
• Example After an analysis of 03 season, decides
  to re-make swing, even though early season
  results in 04 likely to go down.

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Comfortable With Risk

• Athlete understands that staying aggressive is
  usually the smart play.
• Athlete doesnt compete differently when in lead.
• Doesnt calculate cost of mistake, instead
  focuses on performing cleanly.
• Example Once the shot has been decided upon, no
  hesitation, no caution thoughts in backswing.

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Offense Wins Games,Defense Wins Championships
When It REALLY Matters, Everything Gets Tougher,
At Big Competitions, Things Are Rarely Easy
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Defensive Mental Skills- The Key To Winning The
Big One?
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Key Word For DefensiveMental Skills

• RESILIENCE

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Defensive Mental Skills

• Can control emotions
• Can regulate energy levels
• Can recover from bad performance
• Can stay focused amidst chaos
• Flexible when schedule or conditions change
  quickly
• Doesnt lose control of thoughts under greatest
  pressure

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Controlling Emotions

• Has learned how to channel strong emotions
• When faced with reality of Olympic Medal chance,
  does not get overexcited
• Can respond to bad start without panic or
  frustration
• Example A bogey on first hole of tournament
  doesnt lead to athlete taking dumb risk on
  second hole.

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Regulating Energy Levels

• Knows how to control over-arousal
• Actively works on anxiety management exercises
• Can bring Heart Rate, Muscle Tension, and
  Breathing under control in a minute or less
• Can bring up intensity when needed (like at
  smaller competitions, or at the end of practice)
• Example Athlete takes the extra time to breathe,
  which leads to patience, and better control of
  putter.

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Recovery From Bad Performance

• Fairly Slump Resistant
• Competes The Same After A Win Or A Loss
• Takes information from bad result, but never
  loses hope
• Doesnt Try Too Hard After an error
• Example Bad experience at last qualifying
  tournament doesnt lead to over-careful
  approach to this current tournament.

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Flexible

• Although plans are followed when appropriate,
  they are not rigid.
• Can adapt to changes in time schedule.
• Is willing to try something new, even at biggest
  match.
• Example Can handle television time changes,
  weather delays, and media meetings that accompany
  the Majors.

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Focused In Chaos

• Sticks to program, even as rest of team is
  frantic
• Keeps thoughts simple and effective, doesnt
  overthink
• Can effectively manage friends and family at
  competition
• Doesnt get caught up in team discord
• Example Despite playing partner being Tiger
  Woods, can focus on own game.

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Keeps In Control

• Keeps thoughts very simple at competition
• Doesnt panic at competition
• Pressure doesnt change thinking, just increases
  effort to keep to plan
• Example When leading after third round, with a
  night to think about it, athlete doesnt melt
  down. Keeps thoughts on process, not on result.

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OFFENSE/DEFENSE- WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

• Great Offense/ Poor Defense- Brilliant, but only
  every once in a while. Can disappear off the
  front page of results, then pop into the top 5.
• Great Defense/Poor Offense- Consistent, but
  still, you get the sense they could be much
  better. Sometimes wonder if their main goal is
  simply making the tour. Get the sense they
  arent Comfortable Being Uncomfortable.

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Can You Change These?(Well Either They Have It,
Or They Dont)

• What Options Do You Really Have?
• Do you stop trying to change basic technical
  mistakes?
• Why would you stop trying to change mental
  mistakes?
• How Long Does It Take To Change Technique?
• If both coach and athlete agree, you can give
  feedback, and make modifications to a mental
  approach, just as you would a technical approach.

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Thank You!