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 (Photo Credit: Courtesy Stockbyte/George Doyle) Take, for instance, breathing. I’ve never given breathing on the golf course much thought, because it’s always been second nature to me. Air comes in, air goes out, I stay upright. It’s worked for me for the better part of 40 years. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an on-again, off-again problem on the golf course that had nothing to do with hooked drives or missed three-footers. My hands would shake uncontrollably for the first several holes. It was a strange and sometimes unnerving experience. It would start around the first tee, and by the time I’d get to the green, they would really be twitching. Have you ever tried to hit a delicate pitch or a putt with your hands shaking? It bothered me to the point that I went to a doctor, who couldn’t find anything wrong physically. In my self-diagnosis, I determined that it had something to do with a less-than-stellar diet, an abundance of caffeine, lack of sleep, lousy physical fitness, the onset of the yips or all of the above. I never thought to consider the fact that it might be a lack of oxygen to my brain. Golf instructor and sport psychologist Dr. David Wright says a failure to breathe properly or inconsistently can cause the body to function improperly. In my case, in tense situations early in the round, I was holding my breath. I would focus on what I was trying to do and visualize the shot I wanted to play, but I wasn’t breathing the entire time. “Someone who is tense will likely have a habit of breathing rapid shallow breaths,” Wright says on his audio instruction CD “Relaxation” (wrightbalance.com) that he provided as part of my study. “Someone who is relaxed will breathe deeply and slowly. Shallow breathing causes changes in your nervous system that promote an acceleration of signs of stress. This acceleration can cause anything from muscle tension to lapses in concentration and poor performance. Relaxed breathing calms the nervous system by promoting a state of relaxation. This state is consistent with good health and performance.” Really, isn’t there enough to think about on the golf course? I’ve tried to narrow it down to checking my alignment, posture and making a smooth swing. I couldn’t believe that I needed to remind myself to breathe. Wright references a few techniques designed to determine breathing patterns and to calm the nerves. The first involves breathing in and out at your own pace for 30 seconds. Count the amount of breaths you take. A person in a calm state will take three to five breaths in this span. I took six. Strike one. Then I was asked to take several deep breaths with one hand on my chest and the other on my stomach. I was to note which expanded more when I inhaled. It was my chest. This was another illustration of shallow breathing. Strike two. “If your chest expanded more than your stomach as you inhaled, your breathing is shallow, Wright said. “This style of breathing promotes stress. If your stomach expanded more, this style of breathing is calming to the nervous system. You should feel like you are filling your stomach with air.” To enhance and promote relaxation, Wright talks you through relaxing every part of your body from your head to your feet. It involves breathing in through the nose for four counts and out through the mouth for eight counts. It sounds ridiculously simple, but sometimes we need reminding to do even the most basic things. You can build it up to longer intervals, but exhalation should always be twice as long as inhalation. The end result is your heart will beat at a more consistent pace and reduce anxiety. You’ll feel a relaxed sensation flow through your body. Imagine playing golf in a relaxed state. For the next several weeks, I checked myself. Any time I got into a tense situation, I recognized that I was holding my breath. I focused on the slow-paced breathing for four counts in through the nose, filling my stomach with air followed by eight counts out through the mouth. It worked. The shakes were gone and my tension level was reduced. With practice, the breathing process became second nature. Who’d have thought that I’d ever need to add breathing to my pre-shot routine? I’m feeling better already. |
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