Expose
Yourself to Competitive Situations
From Focused for Golf by Wayne Glad,
Chip Beck
The discussion about state-dependent
learning and our difficulty in transporting learning from one setting and
circumstance to another illustrates the importance of exposing yourself to as
many competitive situations as possible, during both practice and play, if you
are to become a good competition player.
Sign up for many tournaments—big
tournaments, small tournaments, tournaments where you expect to do well, and
others where you probably won’t. It’s important to pit yourself against
excellent competition, and you should give yourself credit for doing so. No
matter how well you play in the tournament, the experience of playing in elite
competition will strengthen you and add to your playing experience—as long as
you can dismiss your negative shots and not be discouraged.
Second, set up friendly competitions when you play with your friends, as the more play you can experience with something on the line the more experience you’ll have playing in competition and the tougher in competition you’ll become. Third, set up games and competitions with yourself when you practice, such as needing to hit a certain percentage of chips to within 10 feet of the cup from a certain distance to earn yourself a reward. We’ll say more about the details of such practice in the next section, but the point is that the more of this kind of competition you can experience, and the more competitive atmospheres you play in, the more your mind and body will desensitize to the conditions and the more you’ll be able to execute the behaviors that you’ve learned in your competitive practice.
Check Out "Keeping Cool" or "Stay in the Present" from Focused for Golf
The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net
are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute
for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate
health professional. It is strongly recommended that you do not
perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal
physician.
