Sport psychology is a sphere of sports science that uses a wide variety of knowledge and skill in order to enhance the performance of an athlete. In regards to golf, the use of psychological techniques for sportsman are quite significant in order to help them reach their optimal performances. An athlete can reach optimal performance in a number of ways including concentration, relaxation and talent level. Pre performance routines and visualisation are two very common techniques that are utilised by golfers around the world, whether they are elite or amateur. These psychological techniques have enhanced my own golfing ability; they have allowed me to improve my consistency when playing golf.
Pre-performance routines are prevalent in a variety
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It can stimulate the muscles necessary to perform an action and program the mind as well as the muscles prior to playing, to increase confidence. It helps with swing changes, mainly because it strengthens the nerve pathways that are used throughout the skill when my body is too tired to train or when I physically am unable to perform the skill. It allows me to break down the skill into its key components and isolate certain aspects that require development, in doing this you can then discover what you need to train (Amezdroz, et.al., 2004). Imagery and visualisation gives me confidence when performing a skill, smoother actions and it helps to calm nerves for when the environment arises to use the skill (Hede, et.al., 2011). This is a common psychological technique used widely amongst amateur and elite golfers alike to help reach their optimum performance level. In regards to my own use of this technique, I imagine how I want to hit the ball, the contact I make with it and where it lands on the green. This allows me to have a growth mindset, which has proven to aid the performance of a sportsman and allow them to reach their optimum levels (Dweck, 2018). Another key aspect of the way I use visualisation when playing golf is the ability to “switch on’’ and “switch off” between hitting balls. Visualisation is the best way to enhance to my performance of my swing. This is due to most of my problems occurring because I over think the skill I am about to perform. Therefore, visualising my performance and clearing my mind allows me to purely focus on the task and increase my concentration