Golf Information


Mental Concentration, Golf, and You


All players, when they are concentrating on a stroke, are in some respects mad; for a second they become monomaniac; you are possessed with an idea that is fixed in your mind; your singleness of purpose is absolute if you really are concentrating. And I cannot imagine how anything can disturb them unless they allow it to. If this does happen, then, in my opinion, you cannot be giving your whole mind to the stroke, you aren't concentrating.

When you are out on the course there are many minor distractions that you may encounter, from coughing or sneezing, all the way up to load and obnoxious crowds or players. But once a player gets into the habit of being put off their game by these little worries, you are unlikely to make any progress in the game, and you run the risk of wandering around the course looking for things at which to be annoyed, actually seeking them. Few golfers realize that their game cannot stand still, whether their handicap is scratch, eight, or eighteen; their standard of play must progress or retrogress, improve or deteriorate, according to the amount they play or practice.

In connection with this notion, a friend of mine suggests the obliteration from the mind of a bunker that is directly in the line of play. I might say (but I have not any intention of doing so) that my friend has chosen the wrong word. My argument is this: Was the player who landed in the bunker thinking of the bunker when he played his stroke, or was the golfer imagining that it was quite likely that the ball would land in the bunker?

By a law to which there are no exceptions, the will yields to the imagination. As an illustration of this, any one can walk along a plank a foot in width when it is lying on solid earth; but place that plank across the two trestles of a bridge, twenty feet up in the air, and not one person in twenty will walk calmly across it, because they imagine that they are likely to fall off! Undoubtedly this player in the aforementioned match actually imagined the ball hopping into the bunker, and that was the last conscious act before making the fatal stroke.

Can there be any other meaning to the word concentration, in a mental sense, than a focusing of the attention? And further, can you focus your attention on such a thing as a golf ball? I answer these questions with another question: Doesn't the golfer focus his attention, not on the ball itself, but on some action connected with the ball? I grant you that you can concentrate on a golf ball, on the size of it, on its marking, or on the dents you may have made in it, but no player wishes to do this in the middle of a close match. So that when a golfer is "concentrating on the ball," he or she is in reality concentrating on the stroke they are about to make. The golfer is focusing their attention on the desire to put the ball as near the hole as possible; and can it be doubted that the average golfer starts concentrating on the second shot long before he or she reaches the ball? This appears to me to be a fatal policy. It is well enough for a golfer to plan the method of play for the whole of any particular hole when they are on the tee, and yet I do not think that even this is a good plan. You may hit your tee shot, "as per schedule," only to find that your ball is reposing in an old divot mark and that it is thus quite impossible to use a the proper club for your second shot. So the whole of your concentration is wasted.

The ideal method of playing golf is not to use your mind until you have to. When you reach your ball, concentrate as hard as you can, for upon your powers of concentration your next stroke depends. I have said, in common with every other writer on the game that hesitation is fatal, but it seems to me desirable that I should now amplify that statement. "Those who hesitate are lost," because they aren't concentrating. If you concentrate hard enough you cannot hesitate, provided you are clear about what you are concentrating on.

© 2005 BlackCash Enterprises, LLC - All Rights Reserved

Jarrod Cash and Michael Black have created "The Lost Golf Secrets Collection" available at: http://www.LostGolfSecrets.com

Are You Too Busy Practicing Your Swing to Improve Your Game? Stop Playing Golf the Hard Way!


MORE RESOURCES:

Kansas City Star

GOLF - Creamer aims for back-to-back majors
San Francisco Chronicle
"I enjoy links golf," she said. "It's a nice change to come out, put your five layers on and play in your rain gear. It makes golf a little bit more ...
Shin, Inkster take early lead at British OpenAtlanta Journal Constitution
Thompson playing the role of an old proBoston Globe
Sierra Golf birdie & bogey, holes-in-ones and charity tournamentsReno Gazette-Journal
Newnan Times-Herald -Pro Golf Now (blog) -Examiner.com
all 497 news articles »


Times LIVE

Intriguing Person: Local golfer Jim Ferguson
Hilton Head Monthly
Almost a month removed from one of his biggest accomplishments in a rather accomplished amateur golf career and two weeks shy of the most significant ...
The Senior Open's top 10 contenders | GolfSeattle Times
You can't see the golf course for the treesThe Olympian
Sahalee firm and fast for 1st round of Sr. OpenUSA Today
Bleacher Report -HeraldNet -Cybergolf National
all 242 news articles »



Modesto Bee

Third Annual Jim Boeheim Golf Classic
SUAthletics.com
The Third Annual Jim Boeheim Golf Classic at the Shenendoah Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, presented by Metro Mattress, is scheduled for July ...
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim talks up driving skills during shootaround with NASCAR ...USA Today
Once And For All We Will Know The Greatest Golfer In Syracuse HistoryTroy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (blog)
Boeheim Classic supports foundationUtica Observer Dispatch
ESPN (blog) -WBNG-TV -The Associated Press
all 136 news articles »


The Guardian

Golf Power Rankings 2010
Nascarbet (blog)
There are different Americans in the PGA Golf through the tour. Among all the different American players few PGA golf players are selected and rated as the ...
Underdog Story: Why Unknown Major Champions Are Good For GolfBleacher Report
Golf analyst Feherty tees up citizenship, WoodsSioux Falls Argus Leader
Tiger may be hated by some, but he's still relevantThe Desert Sun
PGA Tour -Sports Business Journal (subscription) -MediaPost Publications
all 41 news articles »


Callaway Golf Q2 edges past view
Reuters
July 28 (Reuters) - Callaway Golf Co (ELY.N) reported a quarterly profit that edged past market expectations on slightly improved sales but said the ...
Callaway Golf Company Announces Second Quarter and First Half 2010 ResultsMarketWatch (press release)
Callaway Golf Company Q2 Profit Rises - Quick FactsRTT News
Callaway Golf moving its assembly operation to MexicoExaminer.com
North County Times -PR Newswire (press release) -San Diego 6
all 44 news articles »


Times LIVE

Golf-Clarke's Ryder Cup hopes boosted by bright start in Ireland
Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Darren Clarke carded a five-under-par 66 in the Irish Open first round on Thursday to maintain the good form that could land him a surprise spot in the ...
3 Irish Open 2010 European Tour golf tournament at Killarney GolfFront Page Reader (blog)
Co-leader Rock disqualified for making scorecard error at the Irish OpenThe Canadian Press
Golf dilemma for sports fansThe Kerryman
Belfast Newsletter -BetUs.com -Belfast Telegraph
all 233 news articles »


Volkswagen Posts Biggest Quarterly Profit in Two Years on Golf, A5 Demand
Bloomberg
... Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch said today on a conference call, citing demand for the Golf compact, VW's best-selling model, and the Tiguan SUV. ...

and more »


Mississippi Press (blog)

Mobile teen golfer shots historic round
Mississippi Press (blog)
(GM Andrews Staff Photographer)Bobby Wyatt hits his second shot on the 17th fairway as he fires a course record 57 in the second round in the Alabama Golf ...
Alabama Golf Recruit Shoots a 57 in State TournamentRoll 'Bama Roll
UA golf signee likely set world recordSelma Times-Journal
Alabama 17-year-old golfer shoots 57MaxPreps
Orlando Sentinel -BamaMag.com (subscription) -About - News & Issues (blog)
all 182 news articles »


Google News

home | site map
© 2007