Six-time Major winner Phil Mickelson uses meditation to try and help him focus for golf events as he gets older.
Meditation Helps Mickelson Win PGA Championship
Speaking to reporters after the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday and again on Sunday, Phil Mickelson described how he’s using techniques such as meditation to try and help him focus for golf events.
With his focus on the mental aspect of his game clearly working, the 50-year-old became the oldest ever Major champion with his victory at Kiawah Island.
However, while Mickelson has worked hard to keep his mind up to speed, it doesn’t necessarily always work out.
At the Wells Fargo Championship at the start of May, Mickelson lamented his concentration after a poor couple of rounds followed on from a strong start on the first day.
The six-time Major winner told reporters that mediation is a technique he has been using in order to improve, especially as he gets older.
"Physically I’m able to perform & hit the shots as well as I ever have. But I haven’t been able to be as present & as sharp mentally, to visualise as well.
I’ve been really working on that, it has been a big part of me being able to pull off some of these shots.”@PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/zmgJOkA31d
— Cathal Sheridan (@catsheridan1) May 22, 2021
“I’m just making more and more progress just by trying to elongate my focus,” Mickelson said on Friday.
“I might try to play 36, 45 holes in a day and try to focus on each shot so that when I go out and play 18, it doesn’t feel like it’s that much.
“I might try to elongate the time that I end up meditating, but I’m trying to use my mind like a muscle and just expand it because as I’ve gotten older, it’s been more difficult for me to maintain a sharp focus, a good visualisation and see the shot.
“Physically I feel like I’m able to perform and hit the shots that I’ve hit throughout my career, and I feel like I can do it every bit as well as I have, but I’ve got to have that clear picture and focus.”
Mickelson elaborated on this on Sunday after picking up the Wanamaker Trophy, when an interviewer questioned how mentally preparing himself has enhanced his performance.
“Just the ability to kind of quiet my mind and get rid of all the exterior noise,” Mickelson said.
“That’s kind of been the biggest – I don’t want to get all spiritual – but that’s kind of been the biggest thing for me.
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