Sports Psychology Improves Athletic Performance

In the game of golf, as in other sports, psychology improves athletic performance. If you read golf magazines or tune into a golf telecast you will certainly find evidence of sports psychology being utilized.

We may naively think of the last 25 years of golf as being the era of the big name sports psychologists bestowing confidence building gentle words of encouragement onto their clients, but the use of sports psychology has been used for many years. The great players of the 1920's, 30's, 40's and 50's also used sports psychology even though they may not have referred to it by name. I'm quite certain that sports psychology has been around for centuries however it may have been referred to as something different.

For years, players at the upper echelon of their game have known that sports psychology improves athletic performance. Doing simple things during their round such as staying in their routine on the tee box or on the putting green is the use of sports psychology, whether the player realizes it or not. By placing his ball on the tee and then stepping behind the ball and visualizing his shot, the player has just performed a type of sports psychology and he may not even realized it. By taking two practice swings and then addressing the ball on the tee, then taking a waggle and exhaling his breath, the player has performed a type of sports psychology and he may not even realized it. The waggle and the exhalation were a mental queue to begin his backswing. The visualization, the routine, the waggle and the exhalation are all forms of sports psychology and it has been demonstrated many times in the past that sports psychology improves athletic performance.

Now you may be thinking to yourself that only professional golfers such as Tiger Woods, Trevor Immelman, Adam Scott and Padraig Harrington can benefit from using sports psychology to improve their athletic performance on the golf course. I will remind you that every professional golfer has the ability to hit all the necessary shots that the game has to offer, but what separates the upper echelon players from the rest of the field is their ability to win the mental battles that spring up during a professional golf tournament. Then why do you feel that you would not benefit from sports psychology? An average weekend golfer who has family and career commitments will, in most cases, benefit from sports psychology to improve their athletic performance to a greater degree than a highly skilled, finely tuned professional golfer. Why is this? The reason is that the weekend player has much more room for improvement.

A few things that can help you dramatically in the short term are visualizing the perfect shot as you step onto the tee. Listening to classical music, baroque style if available, on your drive to the golf course as a means of relaxing yourself. And developing a deep breathing routine to keep yourself calm and your swing in an even tempo, no matter what challenges you encounter on the golf course.

Try these simple techniques and see how sports psychology improves your athletic performance on the golf course.