Golfers will spend hours on the driving range working on their golf swings, but what do they do to mentally prepare for their round? What do they do to insure that they play their best during their rounds? This article will explore the mental side of golf and how the hemispheres of your brain determine how well or poorly you perform during your round. We will look at golf from two perspectives and how they influence your performance during your rounds. We will first explore the Mind and then the hemispheres of the brain.

The Mind is made up of two parts. The Conscious Mind, and the Subconscious Mind. The Conscious Mind is known as the “knower” because it has the ability to be aware of itself. It is the Conscious Mind that allows us to use volition or free choice. The use of volition gives us the capacity to set goals. The Subconscious Mind is known as the “doer” because it merely does what it is programmed to do. The Subconscious Mind stores information from every experience we have had, and will use this stored information at some point in the future.

Once you set a goal, like playing a round of golf, your Conscious Mind will send instructions to your Subconscious Mind, “Send me all the information you have stored relating to playing golf.” The information you access from your Subconscious Mind will dictate how well or how poorly you perform during your round. If you set a goal to shoot even par, your Conscious Mind will send a memo to your Subconscious Mind, “Send me all the information you have stored relating to shooting even par today.”

If your Conscious Mind accesses information from your Subconscious Mind that contradicts the goal (shoot even par), it will immediately create stress in your body and you will be in for a long day. Whenever there is conflict between your Conscious Mind and your Subconscious Mind, it will always manifest in your physical body as stress. Whenever stress is present in the body, the body is in a self-sabotage state. I will explain how stress affects the brain and ultimately your golf swing later.

The second element we will examine is your brain and how it affects your golf swing and putting stroke. The brain is made up of three elements. The right hemisphere, left hemisphere and the corpus callosum. The right hemisphere of the brain relates to physical movement and provides us with imagination, creativity and emotions. The left hemisphere of the brain allows us to structure physical movement and provides us with analysis, organization and logic. Since the hemispheres of the brain can function independently of each other the corpus callosum are nerve fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain and allow them to communicate with each other.

I have worked with players on the PGA, LPGA and NIKE Tours (Now the Nationwide Tour) over the last 20 years doing a muscle testing technology called Hemispheric Kinesiology. HK is a technology that allows me to access, isolate and remove subconscious blockages preventing golfers (both amateur and tournament players) from playing their best. I noticed that even tournament players have a tendency to weaken or switch off one or both hemispheres of the brain while executing their golf swings.

When I would work with these players on the driving range I would have them pick out a target off in the distance as a reference point. The object was to aim for that target while striking a golf ball. I would then muscle test them to determine which hemisphere was switch on or switch off at the moment of impact. What I discovered was astounding. Every time the player’s ball went to the right of the target his right hemisphere was weak or switched off. Every time the player’s ball with to the left of the target his left hemisphere was switched off.

Here’s why that happened. The right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body, while the left hemisphere controls the right side. When the right hemisphere switches off, it weakens the left side of the body causing the player to hit to the right of his target. The opposite occurs when the left hemisphere is switched off. If you ask any PGA teaching professional they will tell you that if you hit a golf ball with a weak left side you will hit to the right of your intended target.

The way to execute a consistent repeating golf swing is to make sure both hemispheres of the brain are switched on so that both sides of the body remain strong throughout the golf swing or putting stroke. What causes the hemispheres of the brain to switch off during the golf swing? STRESS! When stress is present in the body during a golf swing or putting stroke it cause one or both hemispheres of the brain to weaken or switch off. And, that is when a tournament player, for instance, will miss a three foot putt that would have won the tournament for him.

If fact, back in the mid 1980’s, a player missed a two foot putt that would have won the Masters Tournament. It’s a testament to how pervasively disruptive the presence of stress in the body can be to something as simple as making a two foot putt. I’ll bet this guy, on the practice putting green, would have made 100 of those two footers out of 100.

So, what’s the secret? The secret is to remain relaxed throughout the golf swing or putting stroke. When you are relaxed, your brain functions at maximum capacity and allows both hemispheres of the brain to remain switched on. When you execute you golf swing with both hemispheres of your brain switched on, both sides of your body remain strong allowing for a more consistent repeating golf swing and putting stroke.

One of the things I suggest to tournament players is the incorporate a pre-shot routine with a trigger into their golf swing and putting stoke. Here is what you do. Let’s assume you are teeing off on the first hole with your driver in your hand. While you are standing behind your golf ball mentally state your goal for the shot, i.e. “My goal is to hit this drive and have it land in the left center of the fairway 280 yards.” After you mentally make that statement state or think the word “relax” and touch the thumb and index fingers of both hands and then open them. Before you pull the club back to start your golf swing mentally state the word “relax.” That is your “trigger.”

This trigger is effective because of a phenomenon known as “compounding.” Compounding occurs when you layer one statement on top of another, and another, etc. In effect you are brainwashing yourself to relax. I gave this same trigger to Billy Mayfair before the start 1990 Nabisco Championships (Now The PGA Tour Championships). Playing against the top 30 players in the world, he shot 11 under and finished in second place. The only purpose for the trigger was to get him relaxed because that is when you achieve peak performance. I also gave the same trigger to Danielle Ammaccappane during the 1993 Ping Register LPGA Tournament. She won the tournament by two strokes for her first tournament victory after four year on the LPGA Tour.

Ernest Solivan is a Peak Performance Kinesiologist who developed Hemispheric Kinesiology. He has worked with tournament players on the PGA, LPGA and NIKE Tours to help them achieve peak performance. He created a program for the mental side of golf called Mind Mastery For Golf. It includes the DVD Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, and a CD titled Mind Mastery For Golf with two tracks. One track for tournament players, and one for non-tournament players. He has also written a book titled Mastering The Mental Side Of Tournament Golf. His website is www.hk-relax.com. He may also be contact toll free at (877) 296-1930.