Post by Pete Hurrikane on Apr 19, 2012 13:31:52 GMT -5
I would love to play golf without fear and often I do. Fear of looking bad, blowing up, those hanging 3 foot putts, the trees, bunkers and the water hazards.
The secret to playing fearless golf lies in heightening your awareness of the level of fear you feel on the run up to - pre-shot routine - and during each swing.
I start by carrying out the following exercise on the range. Using a scale from 1-5 for measuring fear levels, with 1 being no fear and 5 being excessive. I usually feel some fear and anticipation at address just before swinging, at about level 3. I then step away and re-address the ball and the number drops to 2, and then again and eventually it drops to 1. I then start my swing and halfway through the back swing again fear. I go through the same procedure until I also get this to level 1.
I still haven't hit a ball yet. Some minutes later I have managed to control my fear factor, using this simple number system, in such a way that I am now on the range hitting balls with no fear or anticipation of any kind. It's a wonderful feeling of freedom.
I am now ready to go onto the course and, standing on the first tee, its a little different and the levels go up. I persist with giving my numbers and recognising when these fear factors present themselves. A few holes later, just like I managed on the range, the fear disappears.
Ten rounds later, a few tournament wins and some of the best golf of my life, I no longer need to work on this as it has become implanted or aged. I have managed to take it out of my game or at least reached levels that are almost zero. I refresh this drill occasionally when I recognise that I am no longer playing in the state of freedom I had attained. This procedure takes less and less time the more experienced I become in adopting this routine.
I hear many sportsmen insisting that we need a certain amount of fear to improve our concentration which in turn leads to a better performance.
"Oh, you really think so, do you?"
Fear is perhaps helpful if you have to run across a battlefield or a dangerous animal is chasing you, but for an accurate approach to a green or a tricky putt, I'll take fearless every time. I prefer fearless golf and the wonderful freedom that it brings.
The secret to playing fearless golf lies in heightening your awareness of the level of fear you feel on the run up to - pre-shot routine - and during each swing.
I start by carrying out the following exercise on the range. Using a scale from 1-5 for measuring fear levels, with 1 being no fear and 5 being excessive. I usually feel some fear and anticipation at address just before swinging, at about level 3. I then step away and re-address the ball and the number drops to 2, and then again and eventually it drops to 1. I then start my swing and halfway through the back swing again fear. I go through the same procedure until I also get this to level 1.
I still haven't hit a ball yet. Some minutes later I have managed to control my fear factor, using this simple number system, in such a way that I am now on the range hitting balls with no fear or anticipation of any kind. It's a wonderful feeling of freedom.
I am now ready to go onto the course and, standing on the first tee, its a little different and the levels go up. I persist with giving my numbers and recognising when these fear factors present themselves. A few holes later, just like I managed on the range, the fear disappears.
Ten rounds later, a few tournament wins and some of the best golf of my life, I no longer need to work on this as it has become implanted or aged. I have managed to take it out of my game or at least reached levels that are almost zero. I refresh this drill occasionally when I recognise that I am no longer playing in the state of freedom I had attained. This procedure takes less and less time the more experienced I become in adopting this routine.
I hear many sportsmen insisting that we need a certain amount of fear to improve our concentration which in turn leads to a better performance.
"Oh, you really think so, do you?"
Fear is perhaps helpful if you have to run across a battlefield or a dangerous animal is chasing you, but for an accurate approach to a green or a tricky putt, I'll take fearless every time. I prefer fearless golf and the wonderful freedom that it brings.
