If your teacher or your parents ever told you to “stop daydreaming”… well, the jokes on them. It turns out your daydreaming ways could help you become a better golfer.
By harnessing that active imagination, you can focus your thoughts into ‘visualising’ success. It’s a massive part of every pro’s game, and it takes no physical skill to master.
So, how do you paint a picture of success and then actually make it happen?
Let’s take a look.
Why Visualise?
Many amateur players simply focus on their swing mechanics, then just turn up at the course and start slashing away at the ball. But if you neglect your inner-game you’re missing out on reaching your full potential.
And when you consider how easy it is to work some basic visualisation techniques into your game, you’ll realise that it’s something that every golfer should be doing.
Visualisation helps to stimulate the muscles used during the swing, relax your mind before the next shot, focus on positive outcomes over negative outcomes and implement changes to your swing.
Above all, it helps you to approach your golf game with an extra degree of dedication and thought.
The Two Types Of Visualisation
There are two main types of visualisation in golf. Outcome visualisation and process visualisation.
Outcome Visualisation
The late American legend Billy Casper once said: “Try to think where you want the ball to go, not where you don’t want it to go.” And it’s absolutely true… imagining a positive outcome before you approach the ball or while you’re standing over it can have a huge impact on each shot.
Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, who won 117 professional tournaments including his 18 major championships, was also a great believer in outcome visualisation: “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head,” he said.
“First, I see the ball where I want it to finish…” Then, Jack shifts to a different visualisation: “…the scene quickly changes and I ‘see’ the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing.“
This is known as process visualisation.
Process Visualisation
In a way, process visualisation is actually a physical process. This is because, when you create a mental picture of something, your brain sends signals to the muscles in your body, stimulating them as if they were really performing. This process is known as ‘functional equivalence.’
Every time you visualise an action, you’re laying out neural pathways. These pathways, or grooves, become stronger the more you visualise. So, when you perform an action, it’s almost like it’s already been performed. The brain’s pathways to the body have already been laid out, leading to an increased fluidity.
“Visualisation is the most powerful thing we have.” – Nick Faldo
How To Visualise A Golf Shot
To create a picture of a good shot, you have to get into specifics. What sound will the ball make when you connect? Are you going to hit a draw or a fade? How high is the ball going to fly? Will the ball bounce several times before settling nicely on the fairway or stop stone dead on the green?
All these details are going to help you hit your ideal shot. You could even imagine your ball leaving a trace in the sky if it helps you to picture the flight path.
It’s great to practise visualisation before you even get on the course. When you have a moment, try to remember a tricky shot you’ve taken on in the past; one that might not have ended up where you wanted it to. Now, let’s rewrite that particular piece of history.
Picture yourself standing over the ball. Your stance and posture are pitch-perfect. You feel like a champion. As you assess the hole, you can see exactly where the ball will go. Before you bring back your club, you can feel the smoothness of your swing, and you can see all the elements of your swing coming together.
Then… that beautiful sound of hitting the sweet spot.
Visualisation In Between Shots
So much of the game of golf happens in between shots.
The average round takes 3–5 hours, maybe a little longer for those first starting out. Each shot takes around 50 seconds for most players, again a little longer for newbies. So, the vast majority of your time spent on the course is going to be walking and thinking.
What goes on in your mind while walking the course plays a big part when it comes to the quality of the shots you make. It’s crucial to make the most of this time and use positive visualisation to reinforce your mental game.
A good use of visualisation between shots is to use outcome visualisation as you’re walking to your ball and preparing for the next shot. You can assess the lie of the ball, the shape of the fairway, the positioning of hazards etc. and start to form a picture of the perfect shot, with plenty of time to imagine and reimagine the shot until it seems right in your head.
It’s also a great idea to use the time in between shots to relax and quieten your mind. Stress can be hugely detrimental to your next shot, so being able to visualise a peaceful place is a very useful skill to have.
So, get daydreaming and stop worrying!
Will Visualisation Always Work?
Now, it pretty much goes without saying that, just because visualisation is a great skill to use on the course, it doesn’t mean a rookie can rock up to a par 4 tee and slam a 300 yard+ drive straight onto the green, Tiger Woods style.
Like everything, it’s all about practice. The first few times you try visualisation, it might work and it might not. But one thing is certain – the more you do it, the greater effect it will have on your game. After a while, you’ll start to notice that you can quieten your thoughts in between shots, that you can actually push negative thoughts out of your head and that you can genuinely influence the quality of your swing and the placement of the ball, just by positive visualisation.
Your physical abilities are what they are – you’ll need to put in the hours of practice to improve in that respect. But with clear and simple visualisation techniques, you can take your inner game to a new level, helping your overall game to be as good as it can possibly be.