IT'S THE MIND

Did you attend the Standard Register Ping golf tournament held March 14th-21st, at Moon Valley Country Club? If not, you missed the opportunity to watch some great golf played by the top women golfers in the world.

These women are good!

Actually, it's no secret that everybody on tour, either the LPGA or the PGA, can strike the ball well, and much more consistently well than amateurs, and that they score lower as a result. Yet, if you look at the scoring averages from the number one ranked LPGA player to the number 50th ranked player, you will see that their average score is only 2.48 strokes apart.

As Nancy Lopez said, "Everybody hits the ball well on tour."

It's also true that folks with a 9 handicap, or players with a 30 handicap, will have similar shot making skills relative to their own group. That's why amateur tournaments are flighted, each person gets to play with others who are close to the same level in the development of the mechanics of the game.

Clearly there is variety to the skill sets you will see, among amateurs or even the pros, with some players having a great short game, while others are known for shot shaping, or for driving the ball particularly well. But in the end, it averages out and the final scores in each group, over time, are more similar than different.

The winning "edge" then, between similarly skilled players, is not about mechanics, it's about mind. At any given point in time the edge that any player has over opponents of similar talent is not physical ability, it is mental ability.

"The mental part is the most important. To me it is more important then the technique for sure. I've always believed that golf is more mental than physical. It's who can think the best," said LPGA Hall of Fame star, Nancy Lopez.

"The winners are the ones who are thinking the best, using their mind the best. You don't think about much (when your're playing well), just positive things, good positive things," Lopez added. "Nothing negative ever comes into into it when you're into that positive focused place. It's easy when you are just totally concentrating."

As we all know golf is easy when it's easy and nothing is harder than when it's hard. Lopez talked about her last couple of years, "I went through last year really struggling because I was not enjoying being on the greens because I knew I had to putt. Putting is real mental! I was mentally very, very negative and had lost alot of confidence."

When that happens? And it happens to everyone from time to time.

"I got a lesson on my putting technique, and I started working harder, practicing more," said Lopez. "The more I practice the more my mind is positive, the more I feel like its going to happen. My mind is more positive now and I feel good out there. It takes practice and I keep working because it doesn't happen overnight. "

Lopez used her mind to get herself unstuck, learning from experience that she believes in the power of practice and hard work to build her confidence, to help her create a belief that she can win out there. Not all players believe that more practice is the answer.

Some, like Laura Davies, might even take time off if they were in a slump, because they hold a different belief about what works for them. Is one right and one wrong? No, each is right for their own style and personality.

Pat Bradley, another member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, and Michelle McGann, winner of 7 LPGA tournaments, agreed with Lopez' notions about the importance of the mental game, and each added some thoughts about the fact that it's a constant out there on the course.

"Most of all," said Bradley, the mental game is the positive energy you have to give yourself every minute of the day because there's so many ups and downs in the course of play that it's a never ending process from start to finish. Talking to myself--inner talk is important to me. From the moment I leave that first tee until the last putt I am doing that inner talking to myself at all times. That's a key for me. I block out all negative thoughts and areas. I don't even look at them."

Bradley is describing the skill of "active choice," actively choosing where she puts her attention and what she wants to say to herself in each and every moment of play.Such intense inner focus can sometimes give a false impression.

"I stay within myself," Bradley went on, "You almost have to block everything else out, and some people don't understand that, they think that Pat Bradley has no personality because of that. But to get the best out of myself I have to get into that state, that area where I block everything and everyone else out." (The female Ben Hogan?)

"It's a constant process, and it's nothing you can buy. You have to develop it," remarked Bradley. "In my case it's the result of 26 years of playing out here and finding what works for me."

Michelle McGann counts on her mental game to work for her too, "The mental side is definitely more than half of the game. If you're not swinging well but if you think you're going to make it, or get it up and down, you're going to play pretty decent. And on those days when the mental part's not on your side you can be hitting it well, but maybe missing some putts and you can just go down and down."

What you believe is what you see!

Neither Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley nor Michelle McGann won the Standard Register Ping golf tournament, but all three are winners, as proven by their outstanding records on the LPGA tour. Each will go out to play in their next tournament with their mental "tools" packed into the golf bag in their mind and they will bring them out with their club of choice on each and every shot. They will even use these tools between shots, which in the game is golf is the overlooked area of performance. Their use of the mental skills will be just as personalized to them as are their golf swings, and they will rely on those skills, maybe even more than their golf mechanics, to set themself apart from other players of equal physical skill, and to see them through to a future winners circle.

Dr. Paula King, Golf's "Head" Coach®, is a licensed sports psychologist in private practice in Phoenix. Specializing in work with golfers her clients include tour pros, juniors and amateurs. Comments or Questions?