Golfers have to cope with an irregular rhythm of the game during a round. It is impossible to maintain focus throughout the game, since the golf round often takes over four hours, and even over five hours if played on demanding hilly courses. It is crucial to concentrate only on the stroke; during the individual shots, always try to relax your brain by thinking about something else.

This applies to both the amateurs and professionals, confirms David Carter. He remembers the conversation with Fanny Sunesson, who carried golf clubs for Nick Faldo during the whole decade. “She was apparently talking to Nick the whole time at the British Open at Muirfield. She asked him questions about his children, house and family, trying to distract him from his permanent thoughts about wind, cut line, or whether or not he succeeds in getting into the top ten. It is important to ask such questions in order to tune the players on a slightly different note,” smiles Carter.

Technique represents just a small part

He tries to pass this message on to his students since, according to David, students pay too much attention to the technical aspects of golf. But this is only one part of the game, and, overall, not so critical. “On the course they’ll have to cope with lots of other things – especially emotions due to bad luck, lack of sleep, poor start, 3-putts, etc. There may be lots of reasons. The technique is the last thing they should have in mind. It must be automatic,” says David Carter.

He likes to use the analogy of throwing a ball. Do you think about throwing technique when you hold a ball? The answer is no, you just simply throw the ball. “You can be very creative and throw it over your head, below the knee, behind the back, and so on. You aren’t thinking about where your feet are, how you hold your shoulders or if the body rotates in the direction of the throw. You need to play golf just like when you throw a ball. We aren’t machines; there is no perfect swing. The aim is for the swing to work,” says the former European Tour’s top player.

Professionals look for various distractions during a round, mainly in the form of light conversation. They talk about women, other sports, family, children, new house, etc. “Such a chat is very relaxing. A golf player should easily sail through the course on a nice wave and mood swings won’t do them any good,” concludes David Carter.