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Improve your game from your inbox – Focus

Improve your game from your inbox – Focus

Golf Psychology by Coen Welsh – Si Woo Kim became the youngest player ever to win the Players Championship on Sunday. He carded a bogey-free round to achieve this feat.

After the win his playing partner for the day Ian Poulter said: “As good as he played yesterday, he’s obviously gone out there today and played even better,”

Poulter said. “He’s gone clean out there today, which is extremely impressive under that pressure. . You have to respect some good golf, and that’s exactly what he’s done.” (from PGATour.com)

In response to the inevitable question if he felt the nerves of leading going into the final day of such a big tournament (the biggest outside of the majors), Kim said: “I wasn’t nervous at all because I was leading, I just focused on the middle of the green.” This is the topic for this weeks tip: Focus.

Tip of the week – Focus and Concentration

Bill Cole, a leading authority on sports psychology, peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, suggests the following guidance to increase your focus on the golf course, and to maintain it over 18 holes.

His advice is to down-size your vision. With this he suggests that the closer you get to the ball as you walk towards it, the narrower you want your concentration. So as you approach the ball you want your external focus to become almost microscopic.

At this stage you do not want a broad external focus. Forget about the surroundings and the hazards in your way. As you get into your stance as part of your pre-shot routine, look closely at the ink on the ball, focus on any shadows around the ball, the blades of grass around the ball, and let that help your mind become calmer and more tuned in.

Also attempt to incorporate this strategy into your pre-shot routine to improve your focus. (Source: Sport Psychology Coaching http://bit.ly/1DfiGQK)

Quote of the week

“Yeah, all in all a good week,” – Louis Oosthuizen, who has now also finished second or tied for second at THE PLAYERS (2017), U.S. Open (2015), The Open (2015) and Masters (2012). At least he won the 2010 Open Championship.

For more tips visit www.capacitytrust.com

Coen Welsh, a qualified industrial psychologist, is an expert on the Antecedents and underlying Psychological Conditions predicting Employee Engagement.He has worked in diverse teams in the UK, Egypt and Namibia. Coen regularly gets invited to speak at HR and other conferences. He is a regular contributor to NBC National Radio as well as Tupopyeni and Off-the-Hook on NBC Television. He is a founding member of the Professional Speakers Association of Namibia. You can visit him at www.coenwelsh.com.

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