Golf is a Mental Game and not just about swinging a golf club

Golf is a Mental Game


We hear people talk more and more about the importance of the mind in golf. I tend to be one of the biggest culprits. I m fascinated by dilemmas the game throws up. Why is it that we fear shorts putts? Why do some people freeze when they have to play over water? What drives us to make a mess of a relatively simple shot at a crucial stage in a match? And why is that we are able to hit the ball well on the practice ground, but never play as well as know that we can in competition?


These phenomena – and there are many others – cannot be explained in purely physical terms. We spent much of out time learning about the theory of swinging a golf club, and yet we lack the self – control to be able to put that knowledge into practice. The point at which we recognise this is usually the point at which we consider learning about Golf is a Mental Game .


As spectators, it is often the mental side of golf that gives us such drama and excitement. The Ryder Cup matches have perhaps proved more than anything else that at the highest level golf and shows that golf is a mental game . Even the world’s greatest players feel the strain. Some crack under the pressure of intense competition, while others seem to thrive on a challenge and shift up a gear when the heat is on. However,  few of us ever perform up to the level of our true potential for more than a brief period of time. We might play the odd good shot, or produce a good round once in a while, but we find it hard to sustain our performance over any given length of time. The game That we play against ourselves is much more difficult than the one which we play against the golf course. We hit great shots some of the time, and it’s these that keep us going when our game won’t come together.


I ‘ m not a professional golfer, and  I will attempt to teach you the technical or physical skills that are necessary to play the game. They are covered in more than enough detail elsewhere.  But I will talk about the importance of learning and perform these skills as well as golf is a mental game.