It' s a well-known golfing saying that 'the biggest distance on the golf course is the six inches between the ears'. About 20 golfers were referred to me during 1994, most between the ages of 20 and 35. All were very skilled in the technical side of the game but had mental shortcomings which they hoped I could correct

Many of them had similar problems: (a) lack of self- belief (b) lack of confidence in their ability (c) problems of concentration (d) concern about looking stupid (e) tension (f) inability to relax (g) competition nerves and (h) negative thinking. For some, these problems were present all the time, while for others, they focussed on particular areas of the game--for instance, putting, the short game or off the tee

Self-assessment
Seventeen of the players came to see me for at least two sessions. The process for each consultation was roughly the same. At the first session, which was for two hours, we would meet and hopefully develop a trusting relationship. The golfers were told to terminate the session at any time if they felt it was of no benefit to them. They were also told that everything discussed was confidential. The golfer then gave a history of his or her golfing life to date, and many highlighted the problems they were having. The player was then asked to fill in a self-report questionnaire on technical ability and his or her mental processes

The questionnaire covered such things as physical fitness, short game, long game, and putting, and some people added on items which were germane to their own experience, such as domestic pressure, problems of travelling, or finance. The golfers rated their assessment of mental skills in a positive way, from O to 10; for example, 10 for maximum self-confidence, 0 for zero confidence, and so on. The mental skills assessed were (a) self:confidence in ability (b) ability to relax before and during match (c) ability to concentrate when required (d) control of competition nerves (e) control of negative thoughts and (f) visualisation techniques. The idea was that as the golfers developed their mental game, they would note their progress by keeping a chart. I also kept a copy to be aware of what was going on

The power of positive thinking
The next part of the session involved teaching the golfer a number of techniques to help relax both mind and muscles. We started with a breathing exercise where the player was told to close his eyes, breathe in through the nose and out more deeply through the mouth, saying 'Relax' to himself on the out breath. We then went on to a second exercise which was the Jacobsen method of muscle tension relaxation. The golfer would again close his eyes and create tension in various muscle groups through the body. Once the tension had been identified, the golfer was instructed to release the tension to show that he could actually take control of this physical phenomenon. As the golfer became more confident in using such techniques, he also felt more in control of his golf

Although the physical and mental areas are separated on the questionnaires, they are very much interrelated in practice. For some golfers, the problem of negative thinking was an issue. One said that every time he had a three- or four-foot putt he would hear a little voice in his mind saying: 'You're going to miss that'. Another golfer felt tension every time he had an 1 8-inch putt. Most golfers had negative thoughts and feelings after a shot went wrong. For example, after a drive into the rough, they would say to themselves: 'My God, I hope the second shot isn't equally bad'. These golfers were generally getting themselves into a negative downward spiral. The corrective technique for them was to fill their minds with positive thoughts and images for them to use before and during the game (for instance, the player with the 1 8-inch putting problem solved it by repeating the simple phrase: 'One, two, three, in'.)

The three-stage visualisation model
Most of the golfers had never experienced visualisation techniques. I know from experience that many players feel anxious when first trying it, so I' ve developed a three-stage model to dispel anxiety. I first ask the player to sit in an armchair, close his or her eyes and start deep breathing exercises as before. When the golfer reports complete relaxation we move to stage one when I ask him to focus on a very pleasurable time in his life, possibly a family occasion or a holiday. He is asked to imagine the sights, sounds and even smells of that occasion: people's clothing, the time of day, the weather, the colour of the grass, furniture, beach, the smells of cooking, perfume, the sea, and so on. By returning to this happy time, the golfer re-experiences pleasure, and thus learns the visualising technique in a non-threatening way before going on to golfing matters

Stage two involves focussing on a great game of golf in the past, a game when the player really enjoyed himself and gained the most satisfaction. This time he is asked to relive the experience, from leaving the clubhouse, from hitting the ball from the first tee, looking at the game shot by shot and savouring the experience, feeling good about driving, the short game, putting. This way the golfer remembers that he or she has played really well, and can play good golf, thereby rebuilding self-confidence

Stage three involves relaxing and focussing on the next competitive game and, finally, focussing on the component parts of it

Setting goals
One difficulty I have found with professional golfers is getting them to establish what they really want to do and then stick to it, so in the next part of the session the golfer drew a large circle on a sheet of paper divided in three. In the first section the player listed his short, medium and long-term goals in the game; in the second, he would list the strategies he would use to achieve those goals, mental strategies as well as fitness or tech nical skill improvement; in the third section he stated what he was going to do as a result of today' s first session. The golfer was thereby in control of his own action plan and the method of achieving his stated goals. To reinforce this, I provide a personalised tape to remind him of the breathing, muscle control and visualisation techniques he had learned

When the golfers came back for their second session, which was to review progress, they listed their assessment of their own mental improvements on another questionnaire. The average scores out of 10 for the 17 golfers went up by the following amounts between the first and second session:
Self-confidence, 2.6 to 6.2 Ability to relax, 3.0 to 5.6 Concentration, 3.5 to 5.9 Control of competitive nerves, 3.4 to 5.8 Control of negative thoughts, 2.6 to 6.0 Visualisation techniques, 2.5 to 9.1
More to the point, their assessment of their improvement in mental skills seemed to be borne out in actual play. The Essex pro, Kevin Merry, for instance, was able to raise his game, win a tournament and then come third in a big Pro-Am. The Kent pro, Danny Williams overcame a crisis of confidence in his short putts. To combat negative thinking, I asked him to repeat a neutral phrase when lining up his four-foot problem putts. It worked.

Jack Lamport Mitchell