Have you read the title and felt put off by a sport alongside an e-sport in the same sentence? Although golf and CS:GO are two entirely different game genres, they share a common feature: they are both highly mentally-focused games, even if it may not seem so on the surface.
You might think golf is just a physical sport that involves hitting a ball with a club on a course, and CS:GO is just a video game that requires shooting enemies. Both sports require mastery of several mental skills and have certain aesthetics. Players of both games can get motivated with items like a unique CSGO skin or a customized golf club, which can lift their spirits with a great look but do not directly influence their performance.
Let’s explore the mental game in golf and CS:GO and check out the similarities. We’ll discuss how strategy, focus, and composure are essential for golf and CS:GO players, and how players can improve their mental game.
Strategy Matters
One of the most important mental skills that both golf and CS:GO players need is strategizing. Strategizing consists of your ability to plan moves, analyze the situation, and adapt to changing circumstances. Both these sports require you to make strategic decisions that can affect the game’s outcome.
In golf, players must choose the right club for the situation, the shot they want to play, and the direction for each hole, considering the distance, wind, and terrain. Similarly, in CS:GO, players, must pick the right weapon for the conditions, the map they want to play, and the position for each round, considering the economy, possible enemy locations, and time remaining.
Enter the Zone
So that means being able to come up with good strategies will put you at an advantage, right? Well, almost. You also need enough focus to implement the strategies you think of. Concentrating on your performance and blocking distractions, or ‘entering the zone’ as some call it, can take you from being an average player to becoming head and shoulders above the rest in both CS:GO and golf.
Both sports have their sources of distraction, despite which players must learn to maintain their focus. These can include but are not limited to the crowd, the player’s thoughts and emotions, and the voice chat.
Keep Your Cool
It’s easy to see how focus and strategizing are important for golf and CS:GO. The third mental element that completes the picture is maintaining composure throughout matches. Maintaining composure goes hand in hand with good strategy and concentration. If you let your emotions get to you, you won’t be able to strategize and focus like you usually would.
Good composure allows you to perform to the best of your abilities, but maintaining such composure is tough. It will require you to face the frustration, stress, and anxiety that both sports can induce.
Conclusion
To sum it up, from the green to the screen, golf, and CS:GO are sports that can be challenging for even the toughest people. Thus, players need to have a strong mental game to win. This also means that playing golf and CS:GO, you’re helping your brain develop healthy mental abilities, which can be useful in other areas of your life!
