Keeping Golf On Your Mind...

[craigstardis1976]

I write this post with trepidation...

How do you keep thoughts of your outside life (family, work, etc) at bay when you are playing golf?

I took up golf not so much as an escape from that but more as a way to find a challenge I would enjoy (I enjoy it immensely, my handicap is now 13.4 and a year ago I could not break 100 and I play once per week) and to help me overcome a very traumatic life changing experience I went through (not the place to go into it and I have professional help for that.)

But I am interested in any strategies you may use when your mind starts wandering on the golf course and you need to retain your focus on the task at hand?

Thank you.

 

[Hobbit]

Its impossible to concentrate solely on golf for 4 hrs. I welcome thoughts of friends, family and football when I'm playing. Its an arena in which I can have those thoughts without distractions, and I'm better able to pigeon hole some of life's problems because of that.

I use the pulling of a club from my bag as the trigger to switch over to thinking about golf.

Rather than shy away from distractions, which often makes them worse, welcome then fully so that you are able to put them to bed...

 

[ADB]

I often find my mind wandering if I know a score has gone or I am playing badly (or both). In these circumstances i try and refocus on 'small victories', such as getting down in two from off a green, or putting a good stroke on a putt for example. I find these smaller targets, which you can constantly change once you have been successful/unsuccessful helps keep my focus through the round.

Other than that, breathe in the air, enjoy being outside and enjoy the company of your fellow golfers.

 

[Norrin Radd]

being a chatty sort when playing ,im not thinking about anything in particular when im playing,i concentrate when its my shot but then its back to the conversation at hand .so i dont really think about too much on the course just go where the chat takes me.
im sure others will be totally different in their strategies ,but i try not to dwell on home life whilst im playing,i play to get away from it for a few hours and have a bit of me time.

 

[Capella]

I have to admit that the outside world is never on my mind when I play golf. That is one of the things I love about it. While I am on the course, I don't think about work or my relationship or the state of the world anything else that might cause me stress in normal life. The only things that might distract me and hinder me to concentrate and commit fully to the task at hand come from golf itself: a badly hit shot that I cannot let go, a playing partner who gets on my nerves with well meant but stupid advice, having forgotten to bring a certain club/piece of clothing/food etc. with me that I now feel like I desperately need etc.

For me it is a lot harder to let go of golf when I go back home than it is to let the outside world go when I come to the golf course. But I still think Hobbit's advice is a good one. You don't need to focus on golf for four hours. You just have to focus on it while you are preparing and hitting your shots. The rest of the time you can let your mind wander.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

The thread is well covered with excellent advice already: Concentrate on doing your best with each shot at a time (shot selection, conditions, lie, plan for the hole etc. etc.) and enjoy the company and view the rest of the time. As long as your nearest and dearest are relatively safe and healthy don't feel bad about the time away and relish a few hours chasing a little white ball.

Hard to switch off entirely when there's stress elsewhere in your life so I wouldn't try to - little will change in 4 hours so you'll be fine. If circumstances will change in 4 hours you probably shouldn't be out

 

[Curls]

If you fancy a good read "Zen Golf" by Jospeh Parent is a great little book, puts things in the correct perspective and gives some good practical advice on when/how to switch on/off.

As above, non-golf thoughts need not be destructive to a round, what is destructive is thinking them at the wrong moment (or not giving yourself the time to give a shot due care and attention, or staying in the moment when its time to swing/putt). A good example of this is my mind used to (and still does) wander off to how great it'll be to tell everyone I know about the great round I played today. This is me on the 5th hole like. Now if I think that I can recognise I'm wandering and get my head back to what I should be paying attention to, but without the tools to do so I'd be forever doomed to repeat this mistake.

Enjoy your golf, that's what we are supposed to do (though you've seen the Forum)

 

[jamielaing]

If you fancy a good read "Zen Golf" by Jospeh Parent is a great little book, puts things in the correct perspective and gives some good practical advice on when/how to switch on/off.

As above, non-golf thoughts need not be destructive to a round, what is destructive is thinking them at the wrong moment (or not giving yourself the time to give a shot due care and attention, or staying in the moment when its time to swing/putt). A good example of this is my mind used to (and still does) wander off to how great it'll be to tell everyone I know about the great round I played today. This is me on the 5th hole like. Now if I think that I can recognise I'm wandering and get my head back to what I should be paying attention to, but without the tools to do so I'd be forever doomed to repeat this mistake.

Enjoy your golf, that's what we are supposed to do (though you've seen the Forum)

I read something on this- mastery v ego golf. If you can shift your focus towards the process rather than the result it prevents you getting ahead of yourself. In other words you are inflating your ego too early! Easy done though. I caught my mind wandering on the 3rd that as I was -1 so far I was going to have bragging rights after shooting a sub par round. Turns out I didn't!

 

[dewsweeper]

Its impossible to concentrate solely on golf for 4 hrs. I welcome thoughts of friends, family and football when I'm playing. Its an arena in which I can have those thoughts without distractions, and I'm better able to pigeon hole some of life's problems because of that.

I use the pulling of a club from my bag as the trigger to switch over to thinking about golf.

Rather than shy away from distractions, which often makes them worse, welcome then fully so that you are able to put them to bed...

I agree with this, even when younger and able to be competitve in medals always liked to let my mind wander.
"Smell the flowers" was a quote from Walter Hagen I believe.
Dewsweeper

 

[PuttPuttSteve]

Entirely agree with Capella . . .

For me it is a lot harder to let go of golf when I go back home than it is to let the outside world go when I come to the golf course.

Always reading golf books, mags (generally GM, of course), viewing vlogs and YouTube and dreaming about the next round.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The thread is well covered with excellent advice already: Concentrate on doing your best with each shot at a time (shot selection, conditions, lie, plan for the hole etc. etc.) and enjoy the company and view the rest of the time. As long as your nearest and dearest are relatively safe and healthy don't feel bad about the time away and relish a few hours chasing a little white ball.

Hard to switch off entirely when there's stress elsewhere in your life so I wouldn't try to - little will change in 4 hours so you'll be fine. If circumstances will change in 4 hours you probably shouldn't be out

You can't focus all the time and it has to be channelled into the few moments before and after the shot. I have an opposite issue and sometimes have problems not letting go especially if I'm doing ok. Rather than switching off and enjoying the moment, I get ahead and start thinking what I need to do to score X and get right out of the moment. Fatal error and one covered in depth by New Golf Thinking and something I've gone back to revisit and will do so over the winter

 

[Spear-Chucker]

You can't focus all the time and it has to be channelled into the few moments before and after the shot. I have an opposite issue and sometimes have problems not letting go especially if I'm doing ok. Rather than switching off and enjoying the moment, I get ahead and start thinking what I need to do to score X and get right out of the moment. Fatal error and one covered in depth by New Golf Thinking and something I've gone back to revisit and will do so over the winter

Interesting. A familiar malaise which has affected me, too. I'm great at making a nice start and then getting into all conquering mode and planning out the rest of the round - soon come back to earth with a bump though. Sounds so simple to say "play each shot in the moment" but a darned sight harder in practice!

 

[Crazyface]

If you've got a decent card going you need some other distraction to take you mind off it. The best rounds I usually have is when I'm just having a laugh with good company and then find out how well I've done.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

For me a good start was to learn how to 'live in the day' by reducing my IFFY thinking - too much 'What IF'...too much 'IF only' - not good for me. When I got better at doing that the thinking transferred very easily to the golf course - and I learned to 'live in the round'; then 'live in the hole', and finally to 'live in the shot' (really useful when you can do that!). Key for me though was getting the first bit - getting rid of the IFFY thinking. Got me able to focus my thinking about what I are doing in the here and now.

 

[Crawfy]

I play golf as my release from normal life (work, family etc) but being a chatty player, I can get caught up in the craic and stop concentrating on the game/shot. As per one comment above, I need to develop a trigger to get back in the game.