Bob Rotella taught us this 20 years ago and nothing has changed. If you’ve never read his books and would like to improve your score without going near a driving range or practice green, they are well worth the £5 on Amazon.
There are 4 or 5 books in the series. A great read if you are a high handicap player trying to reach single figures, a single figure player trying to make Category 1, or one of the exclusive few looking to get to scratch. It’s often the mental game that holds a player back from reaching their full potential.
A brief summary of Bob’s teachings were that the mind works best when it’s focusing on a small target, your subconcious is better equipped to execute golf shots than your concious and staying calm and relaxed enables a player to produce his best golf. Thinking of swing mechanics on the golf course is unlikely to produce good results and if you’re not spending 70% of your practice time from 100 yards and in you are not attempting to be the best golfer you can be.
I agree with pretty much everything Bob wrote and built my mental game on his principles. I never achieved 70% of my practice time in the scoring zone because as club players driving ranges are more accessible than short-game areas, we prefer ripping drivers to chipping and putting practice causes backache!
Every round I played I tried to carry out Bob’s instructions. I’d focus on a leaf rather than a tree, I’d pick a spec on the hole for my ball to roll over rather than just the cup, I looked at my target and reacted, and I tried to stay calm and relaxed throughout my round.
The hardest thing wasn’t believing in Bob’s plan, it was remembering to do it. Staying disciplined with the mental game through 18 holes and fighting the reactions to poor shots and missed putts that instinctively cause you to get grumpy and sulk.
We are human beings, we are programmed to be disappointed when disappointing things happen. We are programmed to reflect on our mistakes and consider outcomes in advance. We have a system that controls our emotions and the way we react to events.
As we get older careers, children and a busy lives curtail practice time. Sometimes 10 minutes in the nets and a few rolls with the putter is all we get before teeing off.
But one thing is much easier, maintaining Bob’s mental game plan on the golf course. The reason is CBD.
The system I was referring to above is your endocannabinoid system, it controls your emotions and reactions. We can influence it with CBD, so in summary CBD can put you in the state Bob was advocating and make it easier to stay there.
You will find yourself in a good mood, bad shots and misfortune will be easier to accept and you’ll be positive and focused each time you step up to the ball.
As a keen student of Rotella this was one of the first things I noticed when experimenting with CBD. I wasn’t carrying the baggage of previous shots, if I’d opened with a double that was in the past.
More importantly I wasn’t considering the outcome of the round half way through. I was more engaged in the process of playing.
These are the reasons tour pros are using CBD. A natural balancing of emotions, a positive outlook and 100% focus and commitment to each and every shot.
As Bob wrote the shot at hand is the only important one, stay in the present and commit to your process. Pick a club, see the shot, focus on a small target and when it’s time take a last look and let it go.
Execute the process 70, 80, 90 or 100 times. Once that’s done the round will be over and you’ve achieved the best score available that day.
A lot of what Bob was teaching is still popular today with those who teach the mental game. The principles are hard to argue with, it’s the ability to execute them for 4 – 5 hours on a weekend morning that’s difficult.
That’s where CBD can help so if you feel you could lower your score with a better mental game give it a try this Summer.
