Not a week goes by on the men and ladies' tours without commentators making reference to the need for all those in contention to have mental toughness or to maintain concentration and focus.

Those that ultimately prove successful are often acknowledged for their resilience and ability to perform under pressure rather than having superior technical ability.

So why is it that to have a faulty grip, swing path or posture poses less of a threat to our character than poor concentration, emotional control or confidence? Psychology has moved on you know!

Sessions rarely involve lying on a couch and delving into your childhood for answers as to why you have missed that three footer.

Your relationship with your parents will not provide a direct insight into your wayward drives and your inability to play at your best with a scorecard in your hand is definitely not a sign of imminent madness.

That said past experiences are important in influencing how you think and feel about a given situation. Psychology essentially assesses how these thoughts and feelings are linked to behaviour.

With my golf professional hat on I will be interested predominantly with the behaviour (the swing), as a psychologist I understand that sorting out your technique may not be the answer if it is always accompanied with the same thoughts and feelings.

As a player, the example I offer relates to pre shot nerves. As my coach watched my weak first tee shot tail off into the rough or even out of bounds he would be able to accurately diagnose a lack of shoulder turn and incorrect rotation of my lower half through the ball as being the reason for the bad start and a trip to the practice ground would resolve this in no time at all!

I, however, was always aware that feelings of nerves and thoughts of all the possible poor outcomes at my disposal would always override what I knew to be the correct technique.

My challenges were related to self confidence which did not allow me to execute the learned technique well; despite knowing this, my practice time was devoted to the mechanical side of the game.

Whilst golf clearly has challenges that are technical, tactical and even physical; the psychological aspects are more evident than you may think. We know technique is important, but how you acquire skills and learn is psychological, tactics and strategy are also vital for peak performance and again, decision making is a process of the mind.

Even if you recognise physical fitness as being important to lowering your scores; motivation is the mental characteristic necessary to ensure you regularly get to the gym!

Give your game a quick profile and see where psychology may help your development. There may be particular subjects like self confidence, emotional control and performance under pressure that seem most relevant, or particular times in your performance where you think that the mental side of the game plays a more prominent role.

Whatever your needs or interest I look forward to offering strategies, exercises and opinion on how you may be able to achieve your golfing goals in 2011.

Karl

Karl Steptoe BSc, MSc Works with club golfers and European Tour Professionals through his Sport psychology consultancy Golf Mental http://www.golfmental.co.uk he is also a PGA Advanced Professional and is involved in doctoral research looking at performance under pressure in golf.