Golf on the Couch© is an android app and has been developed by two sport psychologists, Dr Paul McCarthy and Dr Marc Jones to help you better understand the psychology of golf. The quote from legendary golfer, Bobby Jones, that “golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course – the distance between your ears” clearly illustrates the importance of psychology in golf.  Golf on the Couch© provides a unique insight into the psychology of golf by drawing on both the scientific literature and the people who have ‘been there and done it’ – the top professionals. We have presented a sample from our app below.  Please click on the icon at the bottom of the page to download a copy.

To Putt Well, Try No To Think!

A group of novice golfers were given instructions on how to putt from typical coaching guidelines and used these to practice putting. A separate group of novice golfers were asked to practice putting but not given any coaching guidelines. This second group were also prevented from forming any rules when putting by having to pay attention to a task requiring them to shout out a random letter on the beat of a metronome. Both groups were then asked to perform under stress.  The performance of the group who had learnt with instructions decreased, while the performance of the group who had not formed any rules about putting actually increased. The findings suggest that under pressure performance gets worse because golfers revert back to focusing on the rules they have for doing well – rather than just putting normally. This “paralysis by analysis” happens when golfers are placed under pressure and in an effort to do well consciously focus on making sure the movement is done correctly.  An example is a golfer who concentrates hard on making sure the movement of his putting stroke is correct – when actually trying to play the shot.  Paradoxically concentrating on controlling a motor movement (like a putting stroke) usually leads to a worse performance as the movement becomes less fluid. Anything that occupies the mind to prevent a conscious control of the movement, such a trigger word or phrase, can be useful when performing under pressure.

Masters, R.S.W. (1992). Knowledge, nerves and know-how: The role of explicit vs. implicit knowledge in the breakdown of a complex skill under pressure. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 343-358.

Be Careful What You Think!

Undergraduate students took part in a golf putting task and began by taking some practice trials with no specific instructions.  They then took two putts, and for one of the putts were told to land the ball on the target and on the other putt were told to land the ball on the target but to be particularly careful not to hit the ball past the target.  Some of the participants did these putting tasks while asked to keep a six digit number in mind.  It was the participants who were asked to keep a six digit number in mind that were more likely to hit the ball past the target when told explicitly not to. Under normal circumstances we are able to avoid making mistakes because our mind unconsciously monitors threats to what we wish to achieve.  But when we have a lot on our mind (such as trying to remember a six digit number) our conscious minds are occupied and thoughts that we tried to suppress about we did not want to happen, such as overshooting the target, pop back into our head. This study showed that thoughts about what we do not want to happen may end up coming true – under conditions of high mental load. Obviously golfers do not try to putt while remembering a six digit number but another, more common example of a high mental load is when we are anxious and our mind becomes preoccupied with worries and concerns.  So under conditions of high anxiety we may end up doing exactly what we tried to avoid. When playing golf keep a focus on what you wish to achieve, or reduce mental load by relaxation. When our mind is occupied, for example with worries or concerns, we may end up doing exactly what we tried to avoid.

Wegner, D. M., Ansfield, M., & Pilloff, D.  (1998). The putt and the pendulum: Ironic effects of the mental control of action. Psychological Science, 9, 196-199.

The Psychological Approach to Golf Makes a Difference

Data were collected from golfers with a range of handicaps on their psychological approach to golf.  Skilled golfers, that is those with the lower handicap, had higher concentration, commitment, better mental preparation and were more able to regain attention following distraction. Also, the lower handicap golfers were less prone to negative emotions and thoughts. The psychological approach to golf does matter. So taking time to develop the right psychological approach and using techniques like, imagery, self-talk, and relaxation techniques is worthwhile. It is a continuous process but just like all mental skills you can get better at it.  It takes time and effort just like any physical skill.  To illustrate the first time you consciously try to reduce your negative thoughts then your total thoughts during a round of golf may consist of 80% negative thoughts but if you consciously try to think of task relevant, positive, or even neutral thoughts then your negative thoughts during competition may only be 75% of your total thoughts – an improvement. Next competition it is 65% and so on.  Keep progressing. It is a process that you can actively control – don’t feel that your thoughts and what you say to yourself just happen – you can work hard to control them. Skilled golfers have better psychological to golf and this is something that can be developed by any player over time to improve performance.

Thomas, P. R., & Over, R.  (1994).  Psychological and psychomotor skills associated with performance in golf.  The Sport Psychologist, 8, 73-86.

Top Professionals Think Better

Fourteen top professional golfers and a comparison group of nine golf course teaching professionals were interviewed about their psychological approach to golf. Top professionals were more focused during tournaments reflecting a special depth of concentration compared with club professionals and were better able to cope with distractions. The results from this study are interesting as it illustrates that even within a group of talented golfers (tournament and teaching professionals) differences in psychological factors can be seen.  These differences again highlight the importance of having a good psychological approach because the best professionals had a better psychological approach than the teaching professionals. Even among professional golfers differences in psychological approach occur with the more successful golfers having the better psychological approach.

 McCaffrey, N., & Orlick, T.  (1989). Mental factors related to excellence among top professional golfers.  International Journal of Sport Psychology, 20, 256-278.

Sticking to a Pre-shot Routine will Help Performance

Three elite American collegiate golfers were encouraged to be consistent in the use of their pre-shot routine. The golfers did initially show a more consistent use of their pre-shot routine, and  four months later all three participants were recording fewer shots during rounds than prior to the intervention. A consistent pre-shot routine can help improve performance by focusing attention on the task at hand and occupying the mind.  Not only can elements of a pre-shot routine help performance in themselves, such as the use of imagery can increase the likelihood of a successful shot, but they can also be effective by occupying the mind and preventing unwanted distractions taking hold. Once you have a routine that is effective in helping you be relaxed and focused for each stroke then apply that routine consistently in both practice and competition.

Cohn, P. J., Rotella, R. J., & Lloyd, J. W.  (1990).  Effects of a cognitive-behavioural intervention on the preshot routine and performance in golf. The Sport Psychologist, 4, 33-47.

On What Should I Concentrate to Hit More Accurate Shots in Golf?

Golfers are often unsure about what exactly they should pay attention to during the golf shot. The accumulating research encourages us to pay attention externally rather than internally. An external focus of attention means that the golfer pays attention to the motion of the club (something outside the golfer’s body) whereas an internal focus of attention means that the golfer pays attention to the movement of their arms (something within the golfer’s body). Gabriele Wulf and colleagues at the University of Nevada examined this idea between two groups of novice golfers practising pitch shots. The external focus group was instructed to focus on the pendulum-like motion of the golf club whereas the internal focus group focused on their arm movements. The external focus group were much more accurate in their pitch shots than the internal focus group. We perform better in golf when we pay attention to aspects of the golf game that do not interfere with executing golf skills. It seems sensible to find a focus outside your body (e.g., a pendulum motion, a spot on a golf ball) to hit shots accurately. It seems that our minds cope best when attention is focused outside our bodies. Our minds cannot work well when we analyse actions we can execute without analysis.

Source: Badami, R., VaezMousavi, M., Wulf, G., & Namazizadeh, M. (2011). Feedback after good versus poor trials affects intrinsic motivation. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 2, 360-365.