Golfers Attention Deficit Disorder (GADD)

There are numerous reasons for why golfers experience ADD-like symptoms while playing.? This leads to GADD or Golfer's Attention Deficit Disorder and destroys performance even for the most gifted players.? Let me tell you about two of my students.?

The first is a collegiate golfer named Justin.? Justin is a solid ball striker, but his putting is suspect.? He could be playing great but then miss a putt he thought he should make.? Then it's all downhill from there.? While discussing a recent round, he related the following experience.?

“It was the third hole.? I was playing great; my putting was even working! My approach shot on the third hole was fantastic!? It left me a 2-foot birdie putt.? I was really excited about the possibility of shooting a low score.? I assumed my address position and just began my backstroke when I thought about what I had for breakfast.? I don't know why that thought popped into my head; it just did.? “

“I was so disconcerted that I missed the putt.? I worried the rest of the round I would continue missing putts.? Naturally I didn't putt very well the rest of the day and the frustration of putting poorly infected the rest of my game.? It was not much fun.”?

The second student, Bill had been playing for a little more than three years.? During this time, his basic skills had improved considerably.? He also experienced some rather painful relationship problems for which he sought professional advice.?

When he played, he constantly discussed his problems, telling his playing partners what the counselor advised and asking them what they thought.? Since his personal problems were overwhelming, his mind was not properly focused when he played and so he played far below his ability level.?

These examples highlight the effect interfering thoughts exert on attention and performance.? In the first example, Justin's interruptive thoughts occurred because he was not satisfied with his putting.? He used the interference of those thoughts as an excuse for his poor putting.? When he learned to turn off his fears and disruptive thoughts, he became a very good putter and did great things in golf.?

Bill was unable to separate his life from his golf life and so his life problems interfered with his golf performance.? Once he understood the relationship between talking about his personal problems and their effect on his golf performance, he knew what he had to do.? I provided him with the tools necessary to keep his mind focused on golf while practicing and playing.?

Other disruptions may cause your performance to deteriorate.? Some have nothing to do with golf while others are golf-related but irrelevant to the task at hand.? Regardless of the nature of the distraction the effect is the same.? So is the solution.?

How many times have you been thinking about one thing when a thought about something else popped into your head?? Like Justin, the interruptive thought could have been about a fear, uncertainty, or flaw in your game.? Or like Bill, deep emotional or unsettling life problems may make it difficult for you to concentrate on your game.?

Are your interruptive thoughts so destructive that you never regain your train of thought?? I'll bet it does, at least on occasion.? That's part of being human.? What is the effect of the interruptive thoughts if you let them continue?? Will you have a hard time concentrating?? Does it affect your golf performance?? You already know the answers to those questions.