Mental Skills Training: Literature Review

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Mental Skills Training: Literature Review

Mental skills and psychological wellbeing play a leading role in influencing performance and outcomes in golf. As a result, there has been an unprecedented growth in using mental skills to encourage the deliberate practice of visualization, breathing, mindfulness, and self-talk to yield performance improvement in the golf game. Growing literature in the area of sports and physical education suggests that physical conditioning alone is not adequate and thus golfers who desire to achieve the correct mindset to compete and succeed in their sporting activities usually practice correct mental skills. Systematic and consistent practice of visualization, breathing, mindfulness, and self-talk yield skills is, therefore, necessary to increase enjoyment among golfers while improving their performance. This section provides a review of existing literature and research studies on training and education programs for developing mental skills that encourage the deliberate practice of relaxation, imagery and self-talk yield performance. It begins by discussing the effects of mental skills on golfing performance before going on to identify mental skills essential to positive outcomes in golf game and the training programs required to develop and improve such programs. 

1. Effect of Mental Skills on Golfing Performance

Psychology and mental skills play a pivotal role in performance in golf. Finn (2008) established that four key mental skills required of golfers, their coaches and club professionals include self-talk, imagery, relaxation, self-confidence and goal setting. Finn (2008) further maintained that possession of these skills puts golfers in a better position to improve their concentration, self-confidence and motivation, while reducing anxiety and negative self-talk. In an attempt to establish the relationship between psychology and golf, Finn (2009) found out that majority of successful golfers are “generally more mentally astute”, set higher goals consistently and plan effectively both “on and off the golf course” (p. 256). Psychology is of paramount importance to successful performance in golf for three major reasons: First, golfing performance is largely influenced by the effectiveness of the golfer’s concentration. To reinforce on the effect of concentration on golfing outcomes, Weinberg and Gould (2007) note that golf, unlike most other sports, is played for an extended duration, and thus can lead to fatigue on concentration, and consequently negatively affect performance and decision-making among golfers.

Additionally, golf is among the closed-skill sports, which means that the golf course environment is closed and the player controls where to hit or shoot the ball. Since golf shots are extensively learned and practiced, Finn (2008) maintains that they are highly susceptible to “effects of choking”. This can lead to elevated levels of anxiety that can simultaneously affect the golfer’s level of self-consciousness, and hence influence golfing outcomes. Lastly, golf is an objective and intermittent sport where players consistently evaluate their own performance. This increases their vulnerability to lose of confidence as well as negative self-judgement in their ability to perform certain golf exercises and skills. Such negative self-judgement, overestimated potential and low-levels of self-confidence can negatively impact the golfer’s motivation levels and his/ her ability to succeed. As a result, it is important for golfers to demonstrate high levels of concentration, motivation and confidence, and low level of anxiety if they have to achieve high golfing performance.            

            In a 2009 study, Finn (2009) concluded that golfing performance depends heavily on the way golfers think during a golf game. This implies that golf coaches have a challenge to identify appropriate mental skills interventions that can help golfers acquire psychological techniques and mental skills required to help them think more effectively and in a positive manner.

2. Mental Skills that Encourage deliberate practice of Breathing, Mindfulness, visualization and self-talk yield performance Enhancement

Golf coaches are tasked with the responsibility of assessing players and identifying their different psychological needs through mental skills profiling. The essence is to ensure that golfers are self-aware of the mental demands placed on them and possess the right skills to meet these demands. Various research studies and scholars in sports science have, since the 1990s, identified basic mental skills that can promote performance among sportspeople, including golfers (Hodge, Sleivert & Mackenzie, 1996; Wollman, 1996; Hardy et al., 2005; Moore & Stevenson, 1991). The skills include self-talk, imagery, centring and relaxation, and goal setting.  

1. Imagery

Beilock et al. (2001) describe suppressive imagery as an attempt to avoid errors on golf putting. Imagery, as identified by Taylor and Shaw (2002), can be also classified as negative or positive imagery. In their study, Beilock et al. (2001) established that both suppressive imagery, positive imagery and golfers’ “attempts to replace negative error-ridden images with positive ones” has significant impacts on golf putting performance. Notably, positive imagery was found to enhance the accuracy and golfing performance irrespective of the frequency of imaging. These findings are consistent with those of Taylor and Shaw (2002) who maintained that positive outcome imagery improves golf-putting performance, while negative outcome imagery was found to be detrimental to both golf-putting performance and confidence. This implies golfers should be trained and prepared psychologically to avoid visualizing negative images on golf course since such images can negatively affect their putting performance and self-confidence.

On the other hand, Beilock et al. (2001) determined that trying to replace negative imagery or corrective does not significantly improve the damage associated with negative imaging. It can be inferred from these findings that focusing on thinking about performance errors (negativity) deteriorates the golfers’ performance rather than improving it. Additionally, it can be concluded that it is only through positive thinking (positive imagery) that golf players can attain improved performance. As a result, coaches should focus on helping players to avoid negative thinking, and instead develop positive thinking skills necessary for boosting their self-confidence and motivation (Wollman, 1996; Beilock et al., 2001; Taylor & Shaw, 2002).

The concept of imagery as a basic mental skill for sportspeople also attracted the interest of Hodge, Sleivert and McKenzie (1996) who described it as the player’s ability to create in their minds vivid visualizations of people, skills and objects present in a competitive sport environment while not necessarily being in the given environment. Unlike Beilock et al. (2001), and Taylor and Shaw (2002), the researchers went further to describe what imagery entails and its importance to players. According to the authors, it involves the use of all senses operating in a given situation to create images that can be heard, seen, smelt, felt and even tested. Finn (2008) builds from this description to offer a more comprehensive description of imagery – “an experience that mimics real life experiences” (p.258). In other words, it involves the player “seeing an image, feeling movements as an image, or experiencing an image of smell, taste, or sound without actually experiencing the real thing” (Finn, 2008 p. 258).

Imagery is of vital importance among golfers, like it is to players in other sports. First, it helps golfers to effectively control their emotions and anger as well as enables them manage anxiety and cope with unanticipated situations that may arise on golf course. Imagery also helps players transit from simple skills to more complex skills, sharpens their concentration, prepares them mentally to participate in the game, and more importantly, acts as a replacement for physical exercise or practice (Hodge, Sleivert & McKenzie, 1996).              

1. Self-talk

Golfers and other sportspeople have an inner voice that constantly talks to them and influences their actions. In sports, self-talk generally refers to the “multi-dimensional phenomenon focusing on [players’] self-verbalization, which can serve both instructional and motivational functions” (Hardy, Hall & Hardy, 2005, p. 905). Self-talk, as a mental skill, appears to be present both during practice and competition. As a result, coaches are encouraged to adopt different strategies to help players understand how to use the skill effectively as a tool for improving their performance. According to Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011), self-talk, whether in sports or other settings, offers many benefits that underpin the development of psychology treatment interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapies. For instance, self-talk has been found to be among the most effective strategies for facilitating learning and improving outcomes in golf games. This can be understood more effectively by looking at the self-talk among players in terms of nature, task instruction, player characteristics and structure (Hardy, Hall & Hardy, 2005).

The nature of self-talk among successful players is often positive self-talk, and is structured using motivational words and phrases such as “nice”, “I should train harder”, “I can win this” or “I need to improve on my shooting” (Finn, 2008). Other research studies on self-talk, (Moore & Stevenson, 1991; Hardy et al., 2005; and Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2011), classify the skill into two broad categories namely; instructional self-talk and motivational self-talk. Instructional self-talk can be thought of as the positive self-talk acquired through learning or training, while motivational self-talk is the positive self-talk that players develop over time in the course of their sporting career. Hardy et al. (2005) concluded that both instructional and motivational self-talk improve players’ self-efficacy, which ultimately enhances their performance.

Self-talk has far-reaching impacts on golfing performance. Positive self-talk improves performance whereas negative self-talk can be detrimental as Hodge, Sleivert and McKenzie (1996), and Finn (2008) insist in their studies. Notably, self-talk has been found to promote self-confidence among players by improving their focus on positive thinking, thereby, eliminating detrimental effects of negative thinking. For example, saying certain words such as “putt” just before striking a golf ball can improve the golfer’s focus and concentration, and consequently ensure success (Hodge, Sleivert & McKenzie, 1996).

The importance of self-talk in improving concentration and focus can be also seen in Finn (2008). The author classed motivational self-talk into three groups: motivational mastery self-talk, motivational arousal self-talk and motivational drive self-talk. Motivational mastery self-talk improves self-confidence, focus, coping and mental readiness whereas motivational arousal self-talk regulates golfers’ arousal levels, and drive self-talk is necessary for increasing and maintain golfers’ drive and encouraging them to work harder to reach their potential (Finn, 2008).            

• Centring and Relaxation

Golf is an objective sport, and thus can be frustrating to players. This can lead to elevated levels of anxiety, if left unaddressed, and ultimately reduce golfing performance. To avoid occurrence of such situations, Finn (2008) suggests that golfers should adopt relaxation techniques such as breathing as this will help them to lower their anxiety levels and feel relaxed both during practice and on the golf course. Relaxation, as Hodge, Sleivert and McKenzie (1996) note, is a mental skill that can help golfers and other sportspeople to avoid anxious negative thoughts, and instead engage in a positive, relaxed and more focused thinking. The skill can be developed through relaxation techniques and breathing exercises.

Finn (2008) determined that the two major relaxation techniques are progressive muscular relaxation and centring. Centring is a type of breathing exercise where the player begins breathing from behind his/ her navel; that is, center of body mass. The process produces a relaxation effect by neutralizing tension and controlling pressure in body before making a golf shot (Hodge, Sleivert and McKenzie, 1996). To attain a more centered state, the player slows down his/ her breathing, inhales through the nose, and draws air down to the abdomen, while simultaneously using self-talk words and positive outcome imagery. Other relaxation techniques that can help golfer deal with high levels of anxiety include stretching, maintaining specific routines, positive self-talk and listening to soft music. Despite the situation at hand, the key is to match anxiety symptoms with a suitable relaxation exercise.             

1. Goal Setting

Golfers can find it quite challenging to motivate themselves to practice and attain higher performance since golf is an individual sport. To attain higher morale in the midst of low self-confidence, Burton, Naylor and Holliday (2001) advices that golfers should set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) goals both in practice and competition. The set long term goals should then be divided into smaller short term goals that are easy to manage, monitor their progress and make necessary adjustments as Hodge, Sleivert and McKenzie (1996) concludes. Goal setting is thus a vital mental skill that improves the player’s attention on a given task, enhances persistence in practicing and competing, encourages development of new strategies and mobilizes efforts to meet the demands of a given task (Finn, 2008).  

3. Effective Mental/ Psychological Skills Training Programs

Coaches, club professionals and psychologists use different strategies and interventions to improve mental readiness among professional golf players. McCaffrey (1989) is of the view that mental training programs are necessary as they help golfers to acquire mental factors and skills associated with good performance. Notably, mental skills training enables golfers to develop such mental factors as commitment, goal setting, distraction control, practice and competition planning, mental preparation for effective practice and competition focus control that improve their golfing performance (McCaffrey, 1989). However, a golfer’s ability to acquire these factors and skills is influenced largely by personal and situational variables that affect his/ her adherence to mental skills training programs. One of the key variables identified by Bull (1991) is self-motivation. Bull established that self-motivation plays a leading role when it comes to predicting a player’s adherence to mental skills training programs, and thus called for the need to individualize the programs in order to achieve desirable outcomes.    

1. Attentional Focus

Bell and Hardy (2009) found that attentional focus is one of most effective mental training programs for learning complex motor activities. Effectiveness of attention foci depends on whether the focus being utilized is distal external, proximal external or internal as well as on the prevailing circumstances. In their study, Bell and Hardy (2009) established that distal external focus improves performance accuracy in golf competitions irrespective of anxiety condition, while internal attention focus contributes to inaccurate performance. This implies that the use of attentional focus as a mental skill training program should be aimed at helping golfers understand how to focus their attention distally, rather than internally.    

1. Cognitive-Behavioral Mental Skills Training

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy is yet another common mental skills training program that golfers and their coaches can use to improve their physical skills and golfing performance. In a study on the effects of cognitive behavioral training on the motivation, putting performance and practice among golfers, Beauchamp et al. (1996) concluded that the program can help golfers attain higher intrinsic motivation, improve their putting performance and adopt “more consistent use of pre-putt routines” (p. 157). These findings support existing literature and theories on mental skills training, which holds that cognitive-behavioral approach is more effective in enhancing performance and mental wellbeing due to its positive effects on a person’s motivation.

• Imagery Training

Imagery training program is aimed at helping performers to exploit the benefits of imagery as a mental skill; namely, improved concentration, self-confidence, focus and enjoyment. Cumming and Hall (2009) investigated imagery training and identified that the program enables players develop imagery skills, and accordingly attain higher performance. As such, coaches should focus on training golfers on imagery activities that they can perform to enhance their mental skills. One of the models that coaches can use to achieve this goal is the PETTLEP framework of imagery. According to Finn (2008), the PETTLEP model comprises of seven elements that can help golfers develop imagery for maximizing “shared neural circuitry” (p. 259). The elements include physical activity (standing and holding a golf club); environmental factors; timing of mental image; task (golf shot being imaged); learning; emotions (feeling of excitement or anxiety) and perspective (suitable perspective for a given task) (Finn, 2008; Kirschenbaum, O'connor & Owens, 1999; Sappington & Longshore, 2015; ).

1. Self-Talk Training

Coaches and psychologists can use different approaches or interventions to promote the skill of positive self-talk among golf players. One of such approaches is the self-instructional training. Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011) describes self-instructional training as one of one the most useful forms of self-management strategies that can be used to facilitate “the learning of new skills and [enhance] the performance of adaptive responses” (p. 348). Other effective and common self-talk training approaches as suggested by Finn (2008) include thought stopping, positive self-talk and countering. Thought stopping puts golfers in a position promptly stop negative thoughts and negative self-talk as soon as they arise, and replace them with positive ones. The players are encouraged to practice positive self-talk by constantly countering negative thinking because it (positive self-talk) has been found to enhance sport performance (Thomas & Fogarty, 1997; Theodorakis et al., 2000).        

4. Conclusion

Improved performance and positive outcomes in golf, just like in other sports, requires players to develop a set of mental skills necessary for enhancing their psychological wellbeing. Reviewed literature and existing research studies cite imagery, self-talk, centring and relaxation, and goal setting as the key mental skills required of golfers to attain higher performance in golf putting. Various mental training programs and approaches have been recommended and adopted to help players develop these mental skills. The approaches include attentional focus, cognitive-behavioral training, imagery training and self-talk training.