Breathing
/When was the last time you took a lesson from your pro and he informed you that your breathing was causing you to slice? Well fixing your slice may not be that easy but, if your not breathing correctly you could be tense for no reason, which could be causing errant shots. Breathing is as important as anything else you practice, putting, driving, tempo. In fact breathing controls your heart rate which in turn controls your tempo. Try running around the track a couple of times and then go try to hit golf balls. It probably won’t be that great.
When we watch the pros on TV we don’t realize that they are using some form of controlled breathing. They have worked it into their routine, so when their over the shot it is automatic. When we breath correctly it takes our minds off of our fears and on to something we can control. When we learn to be in control of our breathing and tempo we will be able to give ourselves the chance to improve when we work on new technique or just fine tune what we already know.
The next time you practice, work breathing into your pre shot routine. Start by practicing breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, but take twice as long to exhale. Try piercing your lips to make your exhale slow. Now make some practice swings while your exhaling the whole swing. You will learn that you’ll start exhaling before you take the club back to time the finish with the end of the breath. That’s our goal, so we focus on breathing instead of the water hazard or out of bounds. Blocking out distractions will be easier because your focus will be on something controlled. Your body will be more relaxed which will allow better shots to happen instead of forcing them in pressure situations, your playing partners won’t know what hit them!