Top Strategies to Improve Your Mental Game
When it comes to improving your golf game, most players zero in on perfecting the mechanics—whether it's honing your swing, sharpening your short game, or mastering bunker shots and putting. But how often do you focus on the mental game? Often overlooked, mental strategies can be the game-changer that elevate your skills and help you achieve a truly great round.
Geoff Dean, a former tour professional and Director of Player Development at PGA WEST® Private Courses, knows a thing or two about getting your head in the game. He's all about helping golfers harness their mental strength. We asked Dean to dig into some of the common mental roadblocks that golfers hit and his tips for pushing past them to play better and have more fun out there.
Give yourself time between arriving and teeing off
Regardless of whether you're a beginning golfer or more advanced player, one of the first mental challenges can be getting started, often accompanied by a certain level of nervousness.
Dean notes that most golfers will arrive last-minute leaving themselves little time before teeing off, so they are really not ready to play.
"Taking the time to get there a little earlier, warm up and get your mind out of whatever you were doing earlier can make a big difference," he says.
Balance ambition with reality
Push your limits but keep your goals reasonable. When you focus on reachable targets, you'll stay relaxed out there, and your game will naturally improve.
"It's not about lowering your standard, but rather recognizing that you can't expect to play like the golf pro you watched on TV yesterday," emphasizes Dean. "Set realistic expectations and you'll most likely perform better."
Stay in the present
"I often say to students, 'We can get discouraged about the shot we just hit, and anxious about the shot we're about to hit,' so if you want to avoid that, stay in the present," he says. "The more you're able to remain in the moment, the more you'll enjoy yourself on the course."
See it, feel it, do it
Dean highly recommends an essential mental strategy from which all golfers can benefit:
1. Before taking the shot, visualize the shot you want to hit and imagine the ball flying through the air. (Visualize what you want, not what you want to avoid.)
2. Take a practice swing of the image you envisioned. In other words, first see it in your mind; second, practice it.
3. Once you've done both, step up and hit your shot.
"When you get into a routine like that," he explains, "you take out the indecision; you take out the 'well, if I prepared enough.'"
And he adds that rather than label a golf shot with an opinion, take a fact-based approach. "It will help you get out of the emotional side of it, take a better assessment of what went wrong, and plot a course for doing better on the next one."
Breathing exercises
Dean also guides his students through specialized breathing techniques, design to calm the body's stress response, promoting mental clarity and focus. As an added bonus, abdominal breathing exercises not only center the mind but also help strengthen your core, ultimately enhancing your golf swing.