Psych Of Golf

Psych of Golf

I recently received a packet of information from a friend who is a former professional golfer. He gave me a packet on the psychology of teaching and playing golf. The packet is written by Rick Jensen Ph.D. from Boca Raton, Florida. Dr. Jensen is the President of the Performance Enhancement Center located in Boca Raton, Florida; he is also a nationally recognized sport psychologist. Dr. Jensen also is the Director of Sport Psychology at PGA National Resort and Spa, where he works extensively with the top touring professionals on the PGA tour, Senior PGA, and LPGA tour.

The first article that I have read by Dr. Jensen was "Lay the groundwork for success" this article covered the issue of why a golfer scores can vary from one round to another. Players scoring average of 72 obviously do not shoot 72 each time the tee it up. Some days they shoot 68 and some days they shoot 78. Variations in score are controlled by statistical laws which assert that variance around one's average is a naturally occurring phenomena.

Unknowingly, players do not understand or accept the day to day fluctuations in their golf scores. Dr. Jensen added, instead, they attempt to explain each and every score. Just sit around the 19th hole for a while and you will hear players attempting to explain away their scores. I didn't putt very well today." Conversely, one very rarely hears a player saying "What a day- I should have never shot that score- I was so lucky to shoot 72."

The unfortunate truth is this- one's golf score on any given day is out of his or her control. Then Dr. Jensen went on to say "Obviously, a player's score is likely to be around his or her scoring average," but keep in mind a player has a 50% chance of shooting above