I’ve spoken with many PGA Teaching Professionals over the years and the most common phrase I hear from them when talking about their students is, “If I could only get my students to…”.

As a former Tennis Pro I understand the frustration of watching a student try so hard to get something “right”, that they end up getting in their own way. Through trial and error I discovered that my students learned more quickly when their minds, bodies and emotions were in a “relaxed” state instead of the pressured state that comes with trying too hard to be perfect. Now, as a Performance Consultant, I teach my clients that TENSION is the number 1 cause for poor play and that tension is not just physical; it’s mental and emotional as well. When these elements are tense, it sabotages your power, rhythm and flow.

People take golf lessons because they want to get better (ok…most people!) and when people are tense their rate of improvement can slow dramatically. I’ve witnessed golf swings that started out filled with tension magically improve when individuals learned to reduce the tension in their minds, bodies and emotions. When they try too hard they create unnecessary tension and it shows in their golf swing. This causes stress for both the student and the teacher!

Here are two suggestions that can help alleviate stress for both of you:

1. Focus on relaxation first
I realize when people pay for a lesson they want to hit as many balls as they can. However, I’ve discovered that if people will take 3 minutes to “slow” down their minds from the days’ concerns and relax their bodies, they can benefit greatly from the rest of the lesson (this goes for the teaching pro as well). When I work with players on the course or at the driving range, we always take the first 5 minutes (at least) to bring the mind, body and emotions back into “sync” before hitting any balls. This positively affects everything we/they do from that point forward.

2. The “Tension Rater” Exercise
This is a real awareness grabber that I use when working with a player at the range. It goes like this. Hit 10 balls and rate your tension level between 1 (very relaxed) to 10 (uptight) immediately after each one. Most clients begin rating their results saying things like, “I liked that shot” or “I didn’t like that shot”. This is not the exercise. You are only to focus on your tension level without editing or trying to come up with the “right” answer. The benefits are twofold. First, you gain awareness of your own tension levels and secondly you create a mental reference point for each number. For example, you recognize what a “3” or “9” feels like because you’ve assigned the experience to the number. When this happens, the mind creates a reference point with that number and that feeling; making it easier to duplicate.

To Your Best Golf!