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A good game of golf—mind over matter

Ever stood on the tee and as you feel the eyes on the other golfers on you, your heart starts to race, your palms become sweaty, and you worry about making a mess of the shot? If this has happened, you are experiencing performance stress. A new study from the University of Alberta shows the strategies that elite golfers use to manage performance stress effectively.

A study of 18 of Ireland’s best young international male golfers aged 14 to 21 revealed differences between golfers’ attempts at coping with stress. The golfers were asked to report on times when they coped very well under stress, and times when they coped badly.

"We found some interesting differences between effective and ineffective coping. In general, effective coping involved gaining a sense of control, while ineffective coping involved the golfers trying to force their play," said co-author Dr. Nick Holt, a professor of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, and a Certified Consultant with the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology. The study, published in the June edition of The Sport Psychologist, was conducted jointly with Dr. Adam Nicholls from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Bev Betkowski | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.ualberta.ca

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