PGA Player Introduction:

Chuck contacted a sport psychologist at the end of May, approximately halfway through the year. At that time he was about 90-100 on the money list and had made about $65,000.

Chuck indicated that he had an inability to concentrate on the course. He was very indecisive about club selection. He was also very intropunitive (self blaming), demanding, and negative self-talking.

Intervention:
The sport psychologist traveled to Chuck's home and spent 2 days with him. He utilized a paper and pencil "Golfing Profile" form to gather some intake information. This inventory proved very useful. They talked for 2-3 hours, went to the course and hit balls, played 9 holes and met again the next day with his wife, also a very good golfer. It was determined that Chuck's concentration problem was due to high internal overload; that is, he was thinking too much on the course.

Chuck was able to hit shot after shot where he wanted the ball to go. Yet, he was always overly critical of the result. Nideffer's Model of Attentional Control was utilized to explain to him where his attentional difficulties occurred. SCORE was utilized as a way to go over his pre-shot routine, S (Scan),C(Contemplate), 0 (Overall feeling), R (Ritual), and E (Execute). It was decided that Chuck would cut down the amount of time in the scan and contemplate areas and to concentrate on the feel, ritual and execute stages.

The plan was to eliminate or cut down the time for second guessing club selection, negative self-talk time and accentuate the good feelings associated with past performance. Chuck needed to literally learn to play out of his head.

Outcome:

Four personalized audio-cassettes were made over the following 3 months and the sport psychologist stayed in communication over the phone; usually after competitive rounds from the tournament site. Chuck had 3 top 10 finishes in those months including ties for 2nd, 5th, and 7th. He has also had several top 20 finishes, including a major, and has not missed a cut.

His income increased to where he has broken into the top 50 on the money list. He has become less intrapunitive and more trusting of his decisions on the course. Questions: Answer one of the following two questions and comment on at least one other student’s response who answered a question different than your own.

1.Incorporate what you have learned about the three stages of memory to explain how Chuck was able to improve his golf game.

Chuck was able to improve his golf game with the help of the sport psychologist by utilizing the SCORE method. By chunking the SC and the ORE Chuck was able to use his short term memory to rehearse and process larger amounts of information from his long term memory. Chuck was over thinking on the course, so they eliminated the Scan and Contemplate steps in the SCORE method. This individualized plan worked because Chuck relied more on his long term memory of what his good golf swing felt like, what he has done before a successful shot, and use his situational awareness to select clubs. This helped Chuck with the ORE steps (overall feeling, ritual, and execute). By using his short term memory to rehearse smaller amounts of information in his working memory from his long term memory to strengthen his game.

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2. Consider the Yerkes-Dodson law and the Inverted-U relationship. Explain which variables a sport psychologist might consider adjusting if high arousal was determined to be part of Chuck's problem and suggest other remedies for his problem.