Peak mental performance

[huskydawg]

Which do you think is optimal:

 

1. See target, hit target

 

2. I fully understand and trust my swing.  If I do ____________ I will hit my target.

 

Couple weeks ago I had a round that started bad, but I settled in and played great the second 9, 7 strokes better even with a tee shot barely OB.  I felt like if my arms dropped correctly, I had a higher than 80% chance of hitting the green.  Now the course was only 6300 yards from the tees we played so there were lots of mid to short irons, but it felt great.  I think this hot stretch fell into category #2.

 

I think Rotella favors #1, but when I try it, my swing gets sloppy and really bad shots can pop up from time to time.  Maybe both are correct?  I'm not sure.

[buckethat72]

I think Rotella's position is that it wont guarantee you good shots but gives you the optimal mental state to give you the best chance to make good shots compared to if you are using an active mind to think about your swing.  A lot of recent research supports this idea that best motor mechanics result from an unconscious approach to hitting shots.  So the see target, hit target - or train it and trust it - they are all methods of reducing conscious thought and relying on the subconscious at the point of executing a shot.

[Kuuuch]

I’ve played good with both categories you listed but I think 1 is far more optimal over time. Category 2 I’ve found successful when my swings been in a funk and you learn a new move/feel and it gives you a lot of extra confidence knowing “if you do it right” you hit a good shot. 
 

Personally I play my best when I just relax and don’t think much. Pretty much like DJ seems to do lol. 

[Zitlow]

"The thought precedes the eventuality" so get your mind right. 

[tatertot]

I'm more like a squirrel with ADHD that just finished a 32 oz Red Bull, so I can't help you out.

[me05501]

I was wondering about this today. 

 

I think one of the main differences between ams and pros is that pros often talk through their shot with their caddie before taking it. This is considered normal in that environment. I tend to think it helps them set their intention before they step in so they can focus solely on execution over the ball. 

 

By contract a lot of us are probably still questioning our intent even as we're waggling over the ball. This indecision is part of the reason we end up with such wishy-washy plays where we think we deserved more from the shot. 

 

It is a little bit unusual for an am to talk through his shot in an individual format, but I've found that the process of setting a clear intention makes me a lot more confident over the ball.

 

There've been times when it was appropriate for me to describe the shot I wanted to hit, such as when playing with a less experienced player or someone seeing the course for the first time, and it seems to help my own game. 

 

The other day I was playing with a buddy at his course and we came up on a par three that played 220 yards to the middle. The challenge of the shot caused us both to talk through our shots before hitting them. 

 

I told my friend "I'm going to line up at the gable of that house behind the green. If I draw it, it'll track toward the pin. If it goes straight or cuts there's plenty of room to miss." I ended up pulling of a great shot that drew right off my intended line and rolled straight at the pin. It felt amazing to pull that off.

 

My buddy congratulated me on a great shot, and then while he was over his ball he said "What I usually do is aim right where you did and then push the ball right into those trees over there." And that's exactly what he did. 

 

We have to respect the impact our thinking has on our games. Good thoughts and clear intentions are better than negativity and not taking the game seriously. 

[MelloYello]

I absolutely love what @me05501 said above! Good players definitely commit to something they've planned out and even imagined in their heads.

 

 

It's also a lot about how much you're trying to think about, too, especially for developing players. For me, it's about managing my mind's bandwidth.

 

There are so many variables you could have in your mind when you step up including your swing mechanics to your game as a whole to what you did on this hole last time to the lie you've got today to the last swing you made to what you're aiming at to the weather....the list is literally endless. 

 

Golf is best when you're able to somehow condense all that down into something simple and easy.

 

However you do that is kind of up to you. Most golfers end up feeling that the less they "think" about stuff, the better. You just have to find a way to process the necessary info and then commit to your shot.

 

If you can clear you head of all but 1 final swing thought right before you pull the trigger, that's ideal, but it's hard.

Edited May 19, 2022 by MelloYello

[me05501]

The single biggest idea I take from Rotella's books is that our bodies work best when we can engage pure target commitment. 

 

He compares it to basketball players or even office workers chucking paper wads at a trash can. You're most successful when you let your lizard brain engage: see target, hit target. As soon as you start thinking about your wrist angle or how hard to throw your accuracy falls apart. 

 

Golf is hard and every shot is different. It lends itself to technical thoughts.

 

The key to performance is to compartmentalize those thoughts into the pre-shot process. Make all your adjustments before you step in. Then pick a target and go into pure execution mode. If your brain tries to pull you back into planning/aiming/adjusting mode over the ball, you have to step off and reset. 

 

I fully admit that this is a work in progress for me, but I'm getting there. 

Edited May 19, 2022 by me05501

[hwturner17]

20 minutes ago, me05501 said:

The single biggest idea I take from Rotella's books is that our bodies work best when we can engage pure target commitment. 

 

He compares it to basketball players or even office workers chucking paper wads at a trash can. You're most successful when you let your lizard brain engage: see target, hit target. As soon as you start thinking about your wrist angle or how hard to throw your accuracy falls apart. 

 

Golf is hard and every shot is different. It lends itself to technical thoughts. The key to performance is to compartmentalize those thoughts into the pre-shot process. Make all your adjustments before you step in. Then pick a target and go into pure execution mode. If your brain tries to pull you back into planning/aiming/adjusting mode over the ball, you have to step off and reset. 

 

I fully admit that this is a work in progress for me, but I'm getting there. 

I've found this to be the case lately. A good drill is to putt while looking at the hole. I even do it on the course if I'm a little out of whack or can't figure out the break. The "lizard" brain takes over. Trust your inner lizard 

[Wham49]

Crash Davis a great minor league baseball player and one of the coolest cats in the Carolina league states, " If you think it helps you, then it does. "  so I think no matter what approach you take if you think that will help you it will

 

now that is a great mental approach, not true at all but will help your mentality before you swing the club

[MelloYello]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

The single biggest idea I take from Rotella's books is that our bodies work best when we can engage pure target commitment. 

 

He compares it to basketball players or even office workers chucking paper wads at a trash can. You're most successful when you let your lizard brain engage: see target, hit target. As soon as you start thinking about your wrist angle or how hard to throw your accuracy falls apart. 

 

Golf is hard and every shot is different. It lends itself to technical thoughts. The key to performance is to compartmentalize those thoughts into the pre-shot process. Make all your adjustments before you step in. Then pick a target and go into pure execution mode. If your brain tries to pull you back into planning/aiming/adjusting mode over the ball, you have to step off and reset. 

 

I fully admit that this is a work in progress for me, but I'm getting there. 

 

That's the best explanation / defense of Rotella's view I've seen. At his best, I think that's what he's trying to convey. 

 

I also think you're spot on when you mention how "golf...lends itself to technical thoughts."

 

The upside to that sad fact is that in my experience, golf becomes a lot more fun and interesting as you get beyond the physical challenge and begin to experience it more as a mental game. For that to happen you obviously have to spend many years grooving a good swing and you have to learn many different types of shots but golf as a mental game is (IMHO) exponentially more enjoyable as it doesn't come with all the frustration of simply struggling to hit decent shots. 

[Ross_Albatross]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

I was wondering about this today. 

 

I think one of the main differences between ams and pros is that pros often talk through their shot with their caddie before taking it. This is considered normal in that environment. I tend to think it helps them set their intention before they step in so they can focus solely on execution over the ball. 

 

By contract a lot of us are probably still questioning our intent even as we're waggling over the ball. This indecision is part of the reason we end up with such wishy-washy plays where we think we deserved more from the shot. 

 

It is a little bit unusual for an am to talk through his shot in an individual format, but I've found that the process of setting a clear intention makes me a lot more confident over the ball. 

Great point - found it interesting as my GF and I are newbie to the sport and when playing together; she asks me what is the intent + target of my upcoming shot and I found out verbalizing it like you mentioned in your example below helped me focus beforehand, commit and only execute thereafter

[me05501]

1 minute ago, MtlJayMan said:

Great point - found it interesting as my GF and I are newbie to the sport and when playing together; she asks me what is the intent + target of my upcoming shot and I found out verbalizing it like you mentioned in your example below helped me focus beforehand, commit and only execute thereafter

 

I'm going to experiment more with this, if not out loud at least internally.

 

There may be some magic in saying it out loud since it sort of locks you into the play you described. But I can imagine it would wear on your playing partners after a while! 

 

One of the best driving rounds I ever had was one where I committed to choosing a tree way out in the distance to aim at. I'm talking about a tree on the next mountain over, or a radio tower...any distant target that didn't relate to the hole I was playing. This seemed to take my mind off hitting that fairway and instead made me commit to my start line. 

 

I need to start making notes of these mental cues alongside the ones I keep for my physical feels. 

[deh]

2 hours ago, tatertot said:

I'm more like a squirrel with ADHD that just finished a 32 oz Red Bull, so I can't help you out.

Boy oh boy do I understand this feeling...

[Barfolomew]

It all matters where your game is at...

 

If you're playin everyday and your swing is purring like a German V12 engine...... see target hit target

 

If you're game aint running at peak performance..... If I do_____ I will hit target

 

🐄

[golfortennis]

6 hours ago, Wham49 said:

Crash Davis a great minor league baseball player and one of the coolest cats in the Carolina league states, " If you think it helps you, then it does. "  so I think no matter what approach you take if you think that will help you it will

 

now that is a great mental approach, not true at all but will help your mentality before you swing the club

 

Don't think meat, just hit.  That gets thrown out in our groups almost once a round.

 

The Bulls should never have cut him....