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Our special guest,
Dr.Bob Phillips "Golf
Psychologist" will be here exclusively every
month to reveal to you techniques used by top
level professional golfers to mentally prepare,
maintain focus, bring about their peak
performance and to help you improve your score!
NOVEMBER, 2001:
Focus for Putting
Focus
has to do with paying attention to not only what
is important, but also paying attention in the
correct order. Focus itself has three primary
dimensions. The first is board verses narrow. The
broad in this meaning has to do with scope or how
much is taken in or paid attention to. The more
broad the more you take in. The more narrow, the
less you pay attention to or take in.
A
narrow focus might be as limited as one factor or
thing. A broad focus may take in literally
thousands of factors or things. A starry sky
might include thousands of stars and would be a
broad focus. Looking at one star with your
attention focused on that one star would be a
very narrow focus.
Another
dimension is that of internal verses external
thinking or focus. If I look at you, and you are
near me, I am looking externally. If I recall
what you look like, but I am not looking at you,
I am looking at an internal picture. Therefore, I
am internally looking at you. In this case my
focus is internal.
The
third dimension of focus is in time. I can be
thinking or paying attention to the present, the
past or the future. Of course all external focus
is in the present time. Internal focus can be in
any of the three time frames.
Now
how can we use all of this fine talk to putt
better? Think about how you get ready for a putt.
You walk around the green getting a good look at
the green and your line of putt. This is
external, broad and present. Next, you decide if
you have been in a similar situation and what you
did. This is internal, broad and past. Then you
select a specific memory, yourself or of a
professional golfer, and you take that for your
choice as to how to manage this putt.
That
is more narrow, still internal and still past.
You would also, if you have a strong mental game,
recall the feel of the putt. The feel would be
internal, narrow and past. You line up your putt.
External, narrow and present. Then you imagine
the ball following the line and dropping in.
Internal, narrow and future. You settle over the
ball, complete your pre-putt routine, take two
deep breaths and hit the ball. External, narrow
and present. When you are ready to make the putt,
always be in the present and with narrow focus on
the target (internally) and seeing the ball
(external).
Focus
is staying on track and not going where you do
not need to go. What benefit would it be to
recall a poorly played putt. It would make no
sense to go into the future and feel how good, or
bad, you will feel if you make, or miss, the
putt. Unless the past or future can directly
increase the chances of making this next putt do
not go there.
Focus
is understanding and using the four quadrants and
the time factor. You don’t lose focus, you
leave it behind when you go off and engage in
thinking that is not goal directed. You can also
lose focus by getting stuck. You can get stuck in
the past and be unable to shake a putt you missed
three holes ago. You can get stuck in the future
and be distracted by how great it will be to
finally break par. You can get stuck in the
narrow dimension and fail to play the wind or
notice you are two up and do not need to force
your last hole. You can also get stuck in the
broad dimension and not pay attention to
critical, but small factors, that cause you to
miss an important putt.
Practice
understanding and using all of these dimensions.
Focus is important to your golfing success. Take
the time to plan out and use the most productive
mental procedures, you will be very glad you did.
RETURN
TO DR SPORT MAIN MENU
Bob
Phillips, Ph.D.
Aspire
Training and Coaching Personal coaching for
success in sports, business and life. Helping you
achieve your goals. 748 Holcomb Bridge Rd.
Norcross, Ga. 30071 (770)729-0030 Fax
(770)449-5758
Ask Dr. Phillips about any
mental game of golf question or problem you have
and he will e-mail you an answer.
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Bob Phillips, Ph.D., has
been helping athletes, sales people and managers
perform at their best for over fifteen years. As
a leading performance psychologist and coach, he
has developed several methods of evaluating and
maximizing performance.
In this series of articles
Dr. Phillips gives golfers the information and
techniques used by top level athletes in all
sports -- especially golf -- to mentally
prepare, maintain focus and bring about their
peak performance. A number of articles will focus
on Junior Golf.
ONE-ON-ONE
COACHING
Now Available
- First Session Free -
Dr. Bob Phillips offers
one-on-one coaching by phone to home or office
for golfers who are "stuck" and want to
move up to the next level of play, taking 5-10
strokes off their game. For more information,
call Dr. Phillips at 770-729-0030 or e-mail him
below.
E-Mail
Dr. Phillips
"Check
out your mental game for FREE"
Visit
Dr. Phillips'
web site
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