Junior Golfers Should Shift Their Attention |
Play better golf through attentional shifting.
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| by Jeff Troesch |
  As I consult with players this
week who are entering the Final Stage of
either the PGA or LPGA Qualifying
tournaments, one of the discussions that I’ve
had with virtually all of my clients is
related to attentional shifting. This
concept has application for junior golfers as
well as professionals and refers to the
notion of making sure that what one is paying
attention to at any one time are the most
effective and productive things.
“When I start worrying about my swing, what
should I do?” Shift your attention to your
target. “When I start getting ahead of
myself and think about the outcome of the
round before I’m done, what should I do?”
Shift your attention to the task that’s
immediately in front of you. “Sometimes I
get too caught up in how my playing partners
are playing, how do I stop this? Shift your
attention to something more productive.
The solution to many of the mental challenges
with which players struggle has to do with
shifting one’s attention. How do you do
that? How do you shift your attention?
Let’s use an example. As you are reading
this column, I want you to be aware of what
your left hand is touching right now. Then I
want you to listen closely for whatever sound
you might hear. Then visually take a broader
view of the computer screen that you’re
looking at and see in your peripheral vision
the things behind or around your computer.
Now…how did you do that? I cannot explain
HOW someone does that, I only know that if
you are conscious about what you’re paying
attention to, you are able to shift your
attention from that to something else if you
desire.
Purposefully practicing shifting your
attention from visual (what you’re seeing) to
auditory (what you’re hearing) to kinesthetic
(what you’re body’s touching or feeling) to
olfactory (what you’re smelling), is a way
that great athletes become more in tune with
themselves and helps to train yourself how to
do this during competition or practice
situations. Looking down the fairway taking
a broad perspective with your eyes, then
narrowing your attention to a small target…
Noticing when you’re “stuck” in mechanical
thinking and shifting to a feel of tempo…
Recognizing when you’re worrying about making
a putt and paying attention to taking a long,
deep breath instead… These are among the
many examples of how you might help yourself
play better golf through attentional
shifting.
Try this both in and out of your golf
settings and see if you can improve this very
important mental skill!
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 Back to The Mental Game
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