| Imagining yourself playing mental golf can be just | | | | One of my favourite stories about the power of |
| as effective for your swing and golf performance | | | | imagination in golf comes from an American |
| as actually hitting shots on the range or playing a | | | | Major, James Nesmeth. He was an average golfer |
| round of golf on the course. | | | | consistently scoring in the mid 90's, until he |
| Golfers and other athletes have used mental | | | | developed a unique way of improving his golf |
| imagery to complement their physical practice. | | | | game. It came when he spent seven years in |
| Sometimes practicing golf in the mind actually | | | | North Vietnam as a prisoner of war. During those |
| produces better results than physical practice. In a | | | | tortuous years, Nesmeth lived in solitary |
| study of medical students in Texas, students | | | | confinement inside a prison cell that measured |
| were given 30 minutes of guided practice for a | | | | four and a half feet high and 5 ft long. To keep |
| complex medical procedure followed by either | | | | from losing all hope, he realized that he needed to |
| 1. no further training | | | | do something to occupy his mind. |
| 2. a further 30 minutes of physical practice | | | | Every day he played 18 holes of golf in his mind. |
| 3. 30 minutes of guided mental imagery. | | | | He imagined everything in vivid detail from the |
| In follow up tests, the students who did the | | | | country club he was playing at to the smell of |
| guided mental imagery performed at the same | | | | freshly cut grass in the summertime. He would |
| level as those who had the additional physical | | | | imagine the grip of the clubs and practice his |
| practice and both these groups were significantly | | | | swing mentally many times until he perfected it. In |
| better than the group who received no further | | | | reality, he had no place to go, so he spent four |
| training. | | | | hours a day on the course in his mind never |
| So why is mental golf practice at least as good as | | | | leaving any detail out. When he was released |
| physical practice? Well other research shows that | | | | from prison and returned home, he played his |
| the act of "Imagining” fires up the identical | | | | first real game of golf for 7 years, he scored 74! |
| parts of the brain that would be activated if you | | | | So when you find yourself with nothing important |
| were actually playing a stroke. The neurons used | | | | to do, maybe when you're travelling on public |
| in the brain are the very same ones that would | | | | transport, when there's nothing worth watching |
| be used if you were actually playing. Indeed, some | | | | on television or you're just daydreaming, just go |
| of the actual muscles involved in the imagined | | | | inside your golf mind and imagine playing a round |
| shot experience tiny movements. You effectively | | | | of golf. You may be surprised by the positive |
| practice just by the act of visualisation. | | | | results. |