As a Mental Performance Coach, PRESSURE is one of the main reasons golfers and golf teams come to me for help.
● Every competitive golfer experiences pressure on the golf course.
● Your ability to manage that pressure determines the quality of your most important shots in competition.
● If you want to successfully manage competition PRESSURE you need to stop “TIME TRAVELLING” when you are preparing to hit your shots.
What is “Time Travelling” and How Does It Influence Pressure?
“Time Travelling” is when you FOCUS on the SCORE you want to shoot or the RESULT you are hoping to achieve.
Score and Results are both IN THE FUTURE… Time Travel.
When you DESIRE a RESULT in the FUTURE… you create PRESSURE to Achieve That Result.
It does not matter if the Score/Result is for the hole/9 holes/18 holes or the entire competition… when you FOCUS on RESULTS you increase the feeling of PRESSURE to achieve the RESULT.
The more you FOCUS on the RESULT YOU WANT as opposed to the SHOT YOU ARE HITTING… the more PRESSURE you feel.
Did you ever wonder why you can hit great shots at the range or in practice rounds BUT struggle to hit the same shot under PRESSURE?
It is because the RESULT does not matter as much at the range or in practice rounds.
Outside of competition you are fully FOCUSED on hitting the shot you have chosen… with no anxiety/fear of the RESULT of that shot.
The Challenge is to be able to hit high quality shots when they matter… in competition.
Here is a brief video to further explore Time Travel and Pressure:
Now it is time to dive into the key concepts and methods for minimizing Time Travel and managing Pressure.
PRESSURE is a Dial not a Switch
Pressure is NOT a switch that you can turn on and off.
Anytime you are playing in a competition it is normal to want to achieve a score/result.
This will create feelings of Pressure.
It is not realistic to believe you can flip a switch and not feel Pressure at all… unless you are able to not care about results at all.
In my 30 years of coaching experience that Mindset is very rare.
It IS Realistic to visualize Pressure as a DIAL that you can learn to turn up and turn down on command.
Two Keys To Effectively Controlling Your Pressure Dial:
· How to Turn Down Your Pressure Dial
· When to Turn Down Your Pressure Dial
1. Presence is HOW you Control Your Pressure Dial
The Opposite of Results Focus/TIME TRAVEL is Presence.
When you are fully PRESENT “IN THE PROCESS” of hitting a shot, you turn the PRESSURE DIAL to its lowest setting.
Presence in the Process of hitting a shot requires turning up the Dial of your SENSES.
· Sight – Clearly See the target or the flight of the shot
· Feel – Accurately Feel the movement required to hit the shot you see.
Some golfers also find it helpful to imagine the sound of the contact.
The more you turn up the VOLUME DIAL for your senses to “UHD” the more PRESENT you become and the less PRESSURE you will feel.
Here is an analogy to describe how PRESSURE and PRESENCE work in your brain:
Imagine that you have THREE SYSTEMS in Your Brain and all three are controlled by Dials:
When you Focus on Results/Score you are turning up the Dial of the Thinking System in your brain. The Thinking System is all about the Future and the Past.
When the Results/Score is Important to you this will also turn up the Dial of the Emotion System and cause you to experience the negative feelings of PRESSURE.
When you learn to turn up the Sensory Dial in your Action/Presence System you become ENGAGED in the PROCESS of what you are doing.
You are Focusing on what you are DOING instead what you WANT.
This turns down the “volume” of Thinking System Dial and the Emotion System Dial… and minimizes the feelings of PRESSURE.
Which means…
Performing well under PRESSURE is about learning to CONTROL YOUR DIALS so you can stop “TIME TRAVELLING” on command.
2. Use The Right Dials at the Right Time
You do not need to Turn Up the Presence Dial for your entire round.
Presence is priority #1 in the 30 seconds before each shot and during each shot.
This is the time when it is critical to be engaging all your Senses fully in the Process of hitting the shot.
In between shots is when you can “Time Travel” a bit to accurately map out a strategy for your round.
The Thinking Mind (and looking into the future) can be very helpful in assessing where you are in your round and what needs to be done going forward.
However… you need to be careful!
If you spend too much of the round Assessing/Strategizing/Time Travelling it can make it more difficult to turn up the Presence Dial when you need it.
The IDEAL method for minimizing PRESSURE in competitive golf is to “Time Travel” as little as possible and be PRESENT as much as possible.
This is because PRESENCE not only helps you hit better quality shots under pressure, it also helps you keep your energy battery charged up for the entire round.
The more you are thinking/strategizing the more energy your brain is using to Time Travel and the less energy it has for decision making and full commitment to the PROCESS of playing quality competitive golf.
Helpful Hints
1. Practice Presence Off The Course – If you have not done any Presence Training in the past you will need to do some strengthening of your Presence “muscles” at home before you test them on the course.
2. Breathing Exercises Are A Great Presence Workout – There are LOTS of great breathing exercises specifically designed to help you strengthen your ability to turn up the Presence Dial and Turn down the Pressure Dial. Alpha breathing is one of my favorites. Look for my Alpha Breathing Video for more info.
3. Build Your Pre-Shot Routine Around Presence – When you create a routine designed to turn up the Presence Dial for each shot you build a strong foundation for being able to successfully manage pressure in competition.
Like any worthwhile skill in golf it takes time and dedication to learn to CONTROL YOUR DIALS and stop Time Travelling.
BUT… when you do get Control you will have a powerful tool for successfully managing competition pressure and accessing your best shots when it matters the most.
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