Why Is Golf Mentally Tougher?
Early into our 1980’s research and work with tour players we noted two primary reasons the golf mental game is so demanding. Both are simply related to aspects of how the game is played. The golf ball is stationary when in play. Very simply, you are hitting a ball that is not moving. That may sound quite easy to do but in reality it is much easier to react to something that is moving than it is to something that is stationary, especially in the heat of intense competition. Why? When it is moving you have less time to “analyze” the complexities of the athletic skill that you will need to use, or to ponder it’s importance, or to determine all the ways you could fail before you actually do! In sports like tennis, football or basketball, the ball and competitors are moving when in play. This makes it quite natural and easy to “react” and perform “athletically” rather than “judge” and perform “intellectually”. If you are not sure what I mean by this, let me explain with this example that we
