Staying Focused in Golf

Anyone encountering road rage can appreciate the golfer's difficulty in controlling irritation on the course. There, on a day when your score is a series of pars, all of a sudden you hit the golf ball off the club's toe and into the woods. Marching to find the ball, you grow angrier with each step, but wait. The enemy here is YOU.

Learning techniques of relaxation and focus can help a golfer deal with mis-hit shots and recoup the game. Such mind control guides it toward pleasant, not negative, things on the walk up to the ball. One recommended technique involves thinking of a satisfying image as soon as something goes wrong with the game. For example, in the case of the tee shot gone wild, if the golfer visualizes a scene of something pleasant (perhaps a delicious meal or an enjoyable game played with a child), then mental emphasis begins to shift. As it does, the body relaxes.

By the time the player finds the ball under the pile of leaves and concentrates on how to hit a shot to get back in the fairway and on to the green, the past is history, and the future looks brighter.