Controlling Breathing To Help With Anxiety Over Short Golf Putts (Video) - by Peter Finch
Controlling Breathing To Help With Anxiety Over Short Golf Putts (Video) - by Peter Finch

Many golfers will be over short putts and they will be extremely anxious about what they're about to do. Now anxiety normally reveals itself when you're over the putt, when you can feel your heart breathing. Some people even say they can see their heart breathing, as they feel that their eyes are pulsing within their head. It really can become that much of a nervous situation over the short putt. Now if you're feeling that way there's a couple of things which will happen. Obviously you are not committed to the line. You're over the putt. You're not in that free flowing motion that you need to be when successfully holding putts. But there’s probably also something else which is happening. And that is the fact that you will not be breathing correctly.

Breathing is something we take for granted. It's something that we do automatically. But golf unfortunately does turn us into not very natural people. And when you're over the ball and you're not breathing your heart will begin to pound. Your body will tense up because it’s not getting the required oxygen that it needs to be relaxed. So before you actually hit the putt, before you're approaching the putt, just take ten fifteen seconds before you hit it to control your breathing. Nothing too complicated, just breathe in very, very deeply. Feel like your stomach is inflating rather than your chest for a very deep breath. And just do that for about fifteen seconds. Continue to do that over a putt as well and the anxiety that you are feeling will start to dissipate. It is very simple. If you are tense, if you're not breathing and you're not giving your body oxygen your brain is going to switch your body into fight or flight mode. And that is not the type of physical reaction that you need to be having when you're over a putt. You need to be relaxed. You need to be calm. You don't need to be harking back to the evolutionary times when you're freezing on the savannah faced with a lion. This is a three foot putt, this is not a life or death situation. So using breathing correctly in through the nose, inflating the stomach, out through the mouth, very basic stuff. But doing that for fifteen seconds before you hit the putt will really help the anxiety leave your body and get you settled for a much more successful stroke at the ball. 2016-10-31

Many golfers will be over short putts and they will be extremely anxious about what they're about to do. Now anxiety normally reveals itself when you're over the putt, when you can feel your heart breathing. Some people even say they can see their heart breathing, as they feel that their eyes are pulsing within their head. It really can become that much of a nervous situation over the short putt. Now if you're feeling that way there's a couple of things which will happen. Obviously you are not committed to the line. You're over the putt. You're not in that free flowing motion that you need to be when successfully holding putts. But there’s probably also something else which is happening. And that is the fact that you will not be breathing correctly.

Breathing is something we take for granted. It's something that we do automatically. But golf unfortunately does turn us into not very natural people. And when you're over the ball and you're not breathing your heart will begin to pound. Your body will tense up because it’s not getting the required oxygen that it needs to be relaxed. So before you actually hit the putt, before you're approaching the putt, just take ten fifteen seconds before you hit it to control your breathing. Nothing too complicated, just breathe in very, very deeply. Feel like your stomach is inflating rather than your chest for a very deep breath. And just do that for about fifteen seconds. Continue to do that over a putt as well and the anxiety that you are feeling will start to dissipate.

It is very simple. If you are tense, if you're not breathing and you're not giving your body oxygen your brain is going to switch your body into fight or flight mode. And that is not the type of physical reaction that you need to be having when you're over a putt. You need to be relaxed. You need to be calm. You don't need to be harking back to the evolutionary times when you're freezing on the savannah faced with a lion. This is a three foot putt, this is not a life or death situation. So using breathing correctly in through the nose, inflating the stomach, out through the mouth, very basic stuff. But doing that for fifteen seconds before you hit the putt will really help the anxiety leave your body and get you settled for a much more successful stroke at the ball.