When living in Florida in the eighties I was lucky enough to see Couples play, several times and up close. What a super swing. Elegant, relaxed and loose, that gave him great distance and the nickname "Boom-Boom".
But also, a great and intense competitor.
From the Mental Golf angle, I have learnt a couple of very good lessons from Fred Couples.
The first is that it is never necessary to force in order to hit a longer ball. On the contrary. Couples shows us that a relaxed, easy and loose swing allows us to hit it longer.........and, obviously,with much better control and less risk.
The second lesson is one I picked up from a Golf Digest interview. Couples was asked what he was thinking about when hitting an important shot. Freddie´s answer.......just perfect from the Mental Golf point of view:
" I don´t think of anything. I just remember a great shot I hit in similar circumstances and shoot".
What Couples does is utilize a very recommended mental technique.
Visualization.
There are two ways to make use of this technique just before hitting the ball. Visualize a perfect shot in detail, or, like Freddie, recall a similar great shot we have hit in similar circumstances.
With this great win Fred Couples now has three Majors to his credit: One Masters, one Senior Player´s Championship (earlier this year) and this British Senior Open, that gives him a spot in the British Open field in Muirfield 2013.
Can we dream of Freddie winning another Major ????. Something that Tom Watson missed out on by, just, millimeters in 2010 ?.
To win a British Open as a Senior would indeed be a crowning moment to Fred Couples´outstanding golfing career.
No comments:
Post a Comment