This week I had the pleasure of connecting with Canadian Tour (PGA Tour Canada) player Michael Gligic who recently took the ATB Financial Classic at the Windermere Golf and Country Club in Edmonton, Alberta. Michael is a Burlington Ontario native and won his first start this season after winning the 2011 PGA Tour Canada Fall Qualifying school.
Michael provides another exciting contribution in my series of mental strategies interviews with the 2012 Canadian Tour (PGA Tour Canada) Champions.
Like all Champions I’ve interviewed, Michael set a goal to win on the PGA Tour Canada. It all starts with knowing where you want to go. Although he doesn’t typically write down all his goals, he does keep focused on the most meaningful and immediately attainable objectives.
Michael has a definite desire for the PGA Tour and he has the confidence that his game is PGA Tour capable but maintains his focus on consistent improvement and thinking well daily.
Recently he has started to increase his focus on the mental side of golf and started working with Paul Dewland, from Brampton Ontario who is associated with the Core golf academy.
Michael has worked with Paul on several aspects of his game including breathing and course management.
Controlling his breathing helps with relaxation and allows him to stay focused on the task at hand.
With course management, Michael used to be a very aggressive player and would always “go for it” in the past. Now he manages his game more effectively and plays the numbers, meaning he plays more percentage shots. He now manages his game a lot more off the tee and uses driver much less.
Michael evaluates the course before an event and prepares for the shots he would like to play. As part of his assessment, he thinks about each hole from the perspective of being downwind and up wind and considers shots required to prepare his mindset for either scenario.
Pre-shot routine and visualization are key success factors for Michael. He uses two boxes, one to think and figure out the plan and the second gets him into executing the shot. He visualizes the shot similarly to the shot tracker images we see on the PGA tour.
For chipping he picks a spot to land it and for putting he only sees the last few feet of the putt to see the ball breaking into the hole. He repeats his vision of the ball going into the hole and expects his body to react to that vision as he starts his stroke.
Michael shares a great story of visualization from his practice round that related directly to his win. Standing on the 18th green after his practice round he visualized and felt emotionally connected to a putt for the win. Just like the kid putting to win the Masters. Coincidentally he ended up with a very similar scenario a few short days later in having two putts to claim his first Canadian Tour title.
Being able to add that feeling of nervousness or emotional charge to your visualization seems to make a special connection in your body. I can tell this is a considerable strength of Michael’s and making that visualization as real as possible with feeling and emotion helps to make his vision feel real and become real.
One of my favorite sayings is “What the mind dwells upon, the body acts on” and Michael certainly believes in the value of visualization in realizing that outcome.
Similarly, Michael visualizes shots in the practice area with that same level of intensity that he feels in a competitive environment.
Michael also credits a great team to keep focused on developing and moving toward his bigger goals. Beyond working with Paul, Michael has known and worked with Sean Foley for many years, has a short game coach and also considers his room-mate Ryan Corbin as important and influential to his success.
Michael spoke briefly about his second round 60 in last years Seaforth Country Classic event. He stayed in the present all day and described it as feeling like he was at even par all day. I took that to mean he felt emotionally level and comfortable, focused on each shot without really considering his position relative to par.
He did consider his position on the final hole and knew he had a putt for 59. As exciting at that was, he left that putt short in the center and it was probably the only shot all day where he was distracted by score.
In the end, everything from that round was like a blur and he describes it as being in the zone most of the day.
Michael’s final word is all about visualization. Visualization is a strength of his and he uses it very effectively in all aspects of his game. Combining that vision with emotion and feeling gives a realistic and real life connection to his mind and body. It is a big success factor for Michael Gligic.
Enjoy our interview.
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golf confidence
golf psychology
visualization
