Mental Skills

Mental Skills - The Game For All

Throughout the sporting world there is a growing realization of the importance that mental skills play in the attainment of optimal performance by athletes. Golf is no different.

The holistic approach to the development of the elite golfer proposes training and development in terms of 5 components namely:

• technical,
• tactical,
• physical,
• lifestyle
• and mental skills.

Many argue that last-mentioned is the greatest determinant and predictor of success and failure for those fortunate enough to play the game at the highest level. This too is so for those gifted amateurs who wish to enter the professional ranks. While this fact is widely accepted by many talented sportsmen, most spend very little time mastering their mental skills.

In correspondence received from the retired South African opening batsman Gary Kirsten he writes;

"During my playing days my learning happened purely through experience - by coincidence rather than deliberately or by design. The knowledge I gained from 10 years of international competition could have been gained in half of that time had I been more diligent and proactive."

Prof. Justus Potgieter who acted as the sports psychologist to our team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 writes as follows;

"It is estimated that mental toughness contributes between 40% - 90% to success. However, when sportspeople are asked what percentage of training time they set aside for mental preparation, their estimates seldom exceed 10%."