Dr. Bob Rotella, who is regarded as the top psychologist in sports, wrote a book years back titled, Putting Out of Your Mind. In the book, Rotella walks the reader through everything putting from the mental aspect. It is a book that I highly recommend reading; however, another sports psychologist and Olympic Gold Medalist, Lanny Basham, has a couple of great books out on the psychology of sports. When I think of putting out of my mind, I think of Lanny’s work. What I learned from reading Lanny’s writings is that mental practice can be just as good as actual, physical rehearsal. Lanny is known for winning a gold medal in the field of rifle shooting. He would rehearse shooting just in his mind. He got so good at going through the senses he felt, from the nerves to smells, that mental simulation became just like actual competition and, to an extent, even better. When he rehearsed mentally, he never messed up and only shot perfect scores, which was not always the case with “live” ammo. Now is a great time to practice mental rehearsal of your golf game, not just putting but also all facets. It’s important to learn how to visualize more putts going in and shooting lower scores. At first, this could be difficult for most people. Attention span may only be a minute or two long, but with practice comes improvement. Be detail oriented and picture everything from the weather to the wardrobe. Also, this is something that can help in any aspect of life as well as with a hobby like golf.
