It really doesn’t matter if you’re aiming to win the Australian Open or your weekend game with your friends – either way you’ll need every competitive advantage you can get. A strong and consistent level of play relies on gaining that intangible competitive edge over your opponents. Here’s how to get that competitive advantage, and give yourself the best chance of meeting your golfing goals.
Mental toughness
Many golfers consider the mental aspect to be an important part of their game, but very few actually do anything specific to develop their mental skills for golf. If your self-belief evaporates under the pressure of the game and your mind starts to be dominated by negative and self-defeating thoughts, your scorecard will reflect your mental implosion. There is a lot about golf that players can’t control – such as the weather conditions, the condition of the course or the performance of your opponents – but the one thing you can control is yourself. Focussing on the areas that need improvement and developing your mental skills might be just what you need to take your game to the next level and overtake your competition.
Here are a few mental toughness tips:
- Focus on the positive. Even if you’re having a day when nothing seems to be going your way, try and find something positive to focus on. Chances are there’ll be something you’re doing well – and what you focus on will increase.
- Leave the past in the past. There’s no point dwelling on bad shots, as you can’t change what is done. The only thing you can change is what happens next. Learn from your mistakes, sure, but move on and focus on the next stroke rather than the last one.
- Stay in the present. In a similar vein, if you let your mind get ahead of you by focussing on the rest of your round, you’ll find it hard to focus on your immediate task – hitting the shot in front of you right now.
- Have a mental routine. Develop a mental routine that you can perform before each shot, to ensure you are physically, mentally and technically ready to perform at your best. Having a pre-shot routine of repeatable actions and thoughts increases control over your performance and enables you to remain focussed.
- Commit to the shot and don’t doubt yourself. Successful shots in golf require total commitment. Poor shots happen when you doubt yourself – maybe your choice of club, your choice of shot or your ability to execute your shot. Be confident that you have made the best choice you can under the circumstances, visualise a successful shot and commit to it.
- Treat each shot as a new challenge. Every time you approach a shot, focus on how to get the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible. Even if your ball is in a difficult spot, think of it as a challenge rather than a predicament. Stay logical and rational and just focus on the best way to get your ball from its current position to the hole in as few shots as possible.
- Stay composed. Don’t allow pressure to change your emotional state, as an excess of emotion can cause you to become flustered, rushed, make poor decisions and execute shots poorly. You need to be calm, cool and collected from hole to hole, no matter what has just happened. Calm your breathing and focus on what you can control, not on your emotions.
Fuel your body well
Golfers need to provide their body with clean, healthy fuel throughout their round – and prior to their round. Filling up on soft drinks, sports drinks, sugary snacks or big serves of refined carbohydrates and processed foods will have a huge negative impact on energy, concentration levels and mental focus, not to mention your recovery and performance.
The best drink to hydrate you while playing golf is good old H2O – it may not be particularly exciting but it’s the best performance drink out there. As much as you can, eliminate sugar, junk food and processed food, and consume more highly nutritious and nutrient-dense foods. This is important not only during your round but the day prior to your round as well.
Avoid “junk fuel” and fuel your body with quality foods to give yourself an extra competitive edge.
Keep your body in the best condition
Your body is an important tool for golf. If your body can’t do what you need it to do, then your golf game will suffer. You’re limiting your potential as a golfer if you don’t have enough stability, range of motion, strength or force production to perform at your peak.
It’s really important – and will give you a competitive advantage – to have your body in peak condition for golf. Your first step is awareness – first, how your body is feeling, and second, what needs work or improvement.
It’s not enough for golfers just to practice and play golf – a strengthening and conditioning program that involves some weight training, some core conditioning and some stretching will give you a big advantage in your golf game. Strengthening the muscles in your arms, legs, chest, wrist, hand, hip, back, shoulder and stomach will produce a much more efficient swing, and regular stretching will give you a smoother swing by improving your range of motion.
Golf can be tough on your body, so making sure you are in the best physical condition will go a long way towards ensuring your best level of performance. It will also lessen the potential for injuries – for more about how to minimise golf injuries, click here.
A good night’s sleep will offer an advantage throughout your entire round, as anyone who’s tried to play while feeling groggy, half awake and fuzzy will attest. And managing your stress levels will give you a physical and mental advantage that’s hard to beat.
A combination of proper nutrition, good hydration, adequate sleep, good stress management and achieving the right amount of exercise will release a physical competitive edge that is priceless on the golf course. Your body can only perform at its best when it’s getting everything it needs, so make sure you are keeping your body in the best shape possible for an improved performance.
Get the right equipment
If you’re serious about your golf, it pays to get the best equipment you can afford. While you don’t need to spend a fortune on the best clubs available if you’re an amateur golfer, it’s wise to choose a set which gives you the right length and shaft stiffness to suit your current game. Consider getting custom fitted for your clubs – this will cost a little more but will ensure that your clubs are a perfect fit for your swing and can help to optimise your performance.
Is buying expensive golf clubs worth the cost? Find out here.
Know the rules
Knowing the rules thoroughly is a simple but under-utilised strategy to get an advantage over your opponents. If you lack an in-depth knowledge of the rules of the game, your score can be torpedoed by penalty shots after you’ve unintentionally bent or broken those rules. You’ll play a better round if you not only know the rules, but how they can work to your advantage.
See a professional
To get the best out of yourself, it’s worth booking time with a professional golfer every so often to get a technique tune up, refine your swing and ensure your technique is solid. A professional will be able to identify areas where your technique is breaking down and give you strategies and drills to fix it, as well as advise you on club selection and the type of physical conditioning or stretching you need to do to improve your strength and mobility in certain areas. This will definitely give you a competitive advantage and help you maximise your strengths and improve your weaknesses, leading to a better overall game.
For more on how to improve your golf in 2019, read this article.
