the mental side amateur style

[Andrew Bush]

Little background I am a RN at Vanderbilt University medical center on a neuro/neurosurgery floor. There are many receptors in ur brain positive negative etc how they make u feel in lamiens terms but maybe the mental side cant be taught at all for golf in my opinion. Most people in my mind are predispostioned to act certainly in different situations, fight or flight, always jumpy nervous anxious the anal type of person etc. Tru u can train ur brain to not think about things be positive etc but at the same time more than anything that matters is ur genetics one how ur made and two how ur were raised brought up the mentality u develop along the way of life basically.

 

So in my mind people with the nerve back bone to hit the shots and not have those receptors in ur noggin firing the bad stuff are more likely to handle the situation better, but when ur a pro golfer the situation is always ball in hole somehow or way so as the saying goes these guys are good a blind squirel does find a acorn from time to time./

 

Andrew Bush

[jamo]

Mentally, people generally have a hard time changing anything, but they can be pushed in the right direction. It is never a bad thing to think good thoughts or too be relaxed over the ball.

[Andrew Bush]

u can be trained pavlo with the dogs type of thing tru but what i am trying to say is some of us are born with that ability to block out the negative alreadya nd dont need the training i guess

[mudfish]

As a high school teacher I have seen a lot of how people think, and it is definitely hard to get people to change their ways, but with repetition and practice it can be done, but it take time...

 

On thing I always tell my students is that the old saying "practice makes perfect" is wrong... you can practice something all day, but if you are practicing it wrong, you are still wrong.

 

It's kinda like studying for a test... train your brain to do things right and before long they will come naturally...

[GolfSpy Dave]

From the teacher side of the equation, I think that mental toughness and concentration can be learned. All thought and memory is based upon the neural connections as the OP stated. However, the connections are only formed through learning. Often times we only associate learning with remembering facts, but the learning greatly affects the subconscious as well. Gradual immersion therapy for anxiety is a prime example. Incremental exposure to a phobia lessens the overall psychological and physiological stress of the event. The phobia may still exist, but in a lesser state. The physiological basis of this is the new neural connections formed.

 

As with any learning, repetition is key. You mention Pavlov, I always think of Skinner in this situation. When the bell goes off, if someone electrifies the floor, you will learn to freak out when you hear the bell.

Confidence and calm also comes with repetition. Think about the amateur who just shanked a tee shot OB into water the hole before vs. a similar handicap player who has hit the last three fairways. Their state of learning is quite different. This is why golf is a nasty mistress. To play better, you must be calm. But to learn to be calm, you must learn that feeling through playing better.

 

As individuals, we are born with slight variations in our physical and psychological make-ups, but the functioning of a human falls within a relatively small range.

 

Just my 2¢, YMMV