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Peak performance in golf is a combination of 4 factors — technical, physical, tactical and mental preparation. Weakness in any of the four minimizes the golfer’s chance of success. This is especially true in competitions where little separates the winner from the also ran. In competitions, it is usually the mental strength of the golfer that determines the outcome.
PEAK PERFORMANCE
Although there are several areas linked to training golfers for peak performance, the fundamental area to develop is the golfer’s focus — in particular his ability to “stay in the now” and to “think process.”
“Staying in the Now”. To perform to his potential a golfer must mentally stay in the here and now of his performance. Time traveling is frequently the cause of poor performance during competitions. This occurs when the golfer shifts his focus from the present to either the past or the future. Golfers periodically lose their focus and travel to the past where they relive a mistake and begin to second-guess their ability; or to the future where they think about the consequence of not sinking the next put. Either way, the end result is that the golfer’s focus is no longer in the now and this prevents him from “automatically” responding to the cues in the environment. In the short term, these distractions will result in the golfer underperforming…
