You Cannot have Golf Fitness without Good Sleep!
The ability to perform on the golf course, your golf fitness, is directly impacted by the quality of your sleep. Too little or poor quality sleep prevents your golf fitness from increasing as fast as possible. You need quality sleep for your body to repair and recover from exercise and from playing a round of golf.
You need good quality sleep to be able to think well and use the mental skills you have on the golf course.
Poor quality sleep directly impacts your golf fitness both physically and mentally. It also affects your creativity and learning.
To hear some people tell it, a good night’s sleep changed their world!
It was reportedly during sleep that the Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements tumbled into place. And during a dream that Paul McCartney discovered the tune for the song “Yesterday”.
Best selling books were inspired, famous lyrics written, and even Champions were made with a good sleep.
Jack Nicklaus has talked of discovering an important simple correction in his golf swing, as well as strategy for a playing tough golf course during dreams in the depths of a good nights sleep.
The majority of studies on sleep and creativity have shown that sleep can facilitate insight and flexible reasoning, both of which make for better creativity and problem solving. And what competitive golfer doesn’t need these skills!
How Can Good Sleep Help?
If you’re the type that needs to asks “how” before you do something, scan this quote from an article on sleep and problem solving by Wanda Leibowitz.
“One reason why problem solving may be easier after seven or more hours of sleep and dreams is the effect of sleep on memory.
When you’re asleep and dreaming, you may actually be moving information from your short term to your long term memory, thereby delivering the problem solving information that you need to the parts of your brain that will know what to do with it.
Some scientists point to the type of brain wave activity during sleep and dreams as evidence that sleep is when we solidify the memories of what we’ve seen and done during the waking day.
When these memories are consolidated and organized, we may be able to better access the information they contain that is pertinent to the problem solving task at hand.
Current research suggests that memory consolidation is a primary function of sleep, and dreams may be the vehicle that the brain uses to transfer information from short term to long term memory.”
Tips for a Night of Good, Rejuvenating Sleep
If you are now convinced that a good nights rest could help your game, here are a few tips for getting your best sleep…
- Exercising regularly. Exercising for at least 30 minutes everyday, if not too close to bed time, can help you get better quality sleep.
- Avoid fluids within 2 hours of going to bed. This will reduce the likelihood of needing to get up and go to the bathroom or at least minimize the frequency, allowing for better sleep.
- Avoid alcohol. Even thought it can make you feel drowsy, it can also keep you from falling into the deeper stages of sleep, where the body does most of its healing.
- Avoid late night snacks, particularly sweets. These can raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep, or cause you to wake and not be able to fall back asleep when your blood sugar drops.
- Journaling. If you often lay in bed with your mind racing, it can be helpful keep a tablet or notebook within reach to write down your thoughts and symbolically “put them away” before turning off the light.
- Sleep in darkness . If there is even the smallest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your sleep. If you cannot control the light consider using an eye mask, or a hand towel over your eyes to block out light.
Give yourself a chance to get a good nights sleep and see what great things come to you and how your golf fitness increases!
