TIPS FROM THE TOUR

Five European Tour pros tell us how a strong mental game can be the difference when facing a tough shot or when a tournament is on the line

Prepare yourself the night before, have a bit of quiet time and imagine yourself in the situation the next day. Everyone’s going to feel pressure, it doesn’t matter who you are. You’ve got to prepare in your head for how you’re going to react if the day doesn’t go well, and vice versa. Have a plan for every scenario.

Yes, absolutely! Do it by putting yourself under pressure in practice. For example, hole six footers with some meaning, or play with your mates for a fiver. It focuses the mind.

With Dave Alred, I learnt to simulate practice with real golf as much as possible. There’s nothing wrong with pressure. When people try and stay away from it, that becomes a problem. Lean into it, it’s going to focus you, and if you’ve done the work, you can produce the shots you need to under the gun.

Paul Dunne (PD)

Mental visualisation and planning for how you think you’re going to feel in those situations can be really beneficial. The more times you put yourself under pressure, the more comfortable you’ll get.

PD

I try and relax. I take a deep breath and tell myself I’ve done this tens of thousands of times before. You won’t have forgotten how to hit a ball straight overnight. It’s about having faith in the hours you’ve put in leading up to a round, rather than the 40 minutes beforehand.

MF No, but I definitely think about it when I hit a bad shot. Occasionally you get the odd one that kind of stands out and I think, “Where has that come from?” It’s one of those things you try to push to the back of your mind. I tend to know what my fault is, which is a good thing – then you can control it better. If it doesn’t go right, you work on it at the end of the round.

RK When I’m playing my best, no. At times, I definitely do, though. It’s best when you’re thinking of nothing, but that is hard to do.

SJ you’re trying to do – visualisation, shot shape, being more instinctual.

PD

It definitely hinders, and it’s something I probably do too much. The driving range is the place for technical thoughts. On the course you want to think about targets.

Yes, but it does change sometimes. The number one thing is getting a feel for the shot you’re about to hit. I struggle when I don’t have a connection to what I really want to do, and I just kind of go through the motions. If I am zoned in and know exactly what I want to do then normally I have a better chance of pulling it off.

SJ Yes. Physically it probably changes a little bit shot to shot, but mentally I have a checklist. I stand behind the ball and the target in a direct line and I get in beside it. The club goes in behind, then I have a look at the target. I always have an intermediate target that I’ve picked before and from that I get a feel for where the target is, so that after my last look I’ve got a feeling of where I need to swing.

“It’s about having faith in the hours you’ve put in leading up to a round”