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Golf Tips: Zen Mind, Golf Mind

Monday, 24 November 2008
Jayne Storey
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Tiger’s doing it. So is Justin Rose. Using Eastern practices like Zen meditation to enhance your golf performance is not a new fad, but a scientifically proven approach to developing key mental game skills like attention control and relaxed concentration.

Jayne Storey has been teaching meditation and T’ai Chi for over 20 years and her unique coaching method for golfers, Chi-Power GOLF™ is part of the PGA’s Professional Development Programme.

Here she talks about meditation and how this simple practise can enhance your golf game.

How to Practise Zen:

1. Sit upright on a stool or hard-backed chair – feet firmly on the ground, palms resting on your thighs. Hold the crown of your head up, as if it were held by a thread. Keep your eyes open. Look down at the floor or gaze gently at a blank wall about a metre or so in front of you.

2. Once you are comfortable, concentrate your mind on your breathing, silently counting each breath from 1 to 10, or silently repeating the mantra “Breathing in – breathing out”.

3. Relax fully. Do not try to take deep breaths, but just keep your mind quiet for the duration of the exercise by gently observing your breathing.

4. As thoughts come into your mind, simply watch them, like clouds moving across the sky on a warm breeze, and take your awareness back to your breathing.

Weekly Practise – the ability to achieve a relaxed yet focused state of mind needs to be trained on a regular basis, and is not a technique that can be pulled from the bag on the day of competition. You need to start preparing your mind now, by learning to detach from all the trivial problems which beset every-day life.

Aim to practise at least three times per week, for between 10 and 20 minutes.

While preparing to play – Once you have been practising for a few weeks, you can start to meditate while in action. For instance, you can focus on your breathing while putting on your spikes, or when taking your clubs out of the bag.

During a game - During the game itself, use your meditation as a trigger to increase your focus and relaxation during moments of pressure. Also use short bursts of meditation when walking to and setting up for the next shot.

Focusing on your breathing will also help timing, balance and rhythm.

For information on personal tuition and workshops, please visit chipowersports.com or contact Jayne Storey on 07986 447 250