Thai golfers turn to Buddhist meditation

Pro golf is full of emotional stress, but to be successful you need to be calm and steady. A group of Thai golfers tell the Bangkok Post's Life section that they believe dhamma meditation is the answer.

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Thai Pro Golfers To The World of Dhamma camp brought together Thailand’s top golfers for lectures and activities dedicated to developing their mental strength through dhamma meditation. Photos by Kanitha Kowhakul.

Mind games

Yvonne Bohwongprasert

Prayad Marksaeng

Pro golfers can use the benefits of dhamma meditation to enable them to have a more positive approach during crunch moments in tournaments. This was the general consensus of participants that attended the Thai Pro Golfers To The World Of Dhamma camp in Krabi recently.

One of the 50 golfers that attended the four days/three nights event, held for the third consecutive year, was 48-year-old veteran pro Prayad Marksaeng. Ranked 33 in the world, the highly successfully sportsman told Life he found meditation a vehicle in which to soothe his nerves during moments in the game that he found himself most vulnerable.

"I found this meditation camp for golfers most useful because it focuses on how golfers can keep calm and collected during deciding moments in the game. I am naturally a calm person, but I have moments during the game that I can easily get frustrated with not being able to control my game plan.

"This is my second time attending this camp. The previous experience I took back with me helped me keep my mind focussed on the task ahead of me. I seemed to putt at crucial moments during the game with a steady hand, and had a more positive mind set when the game was not going my way."

Prayad said this year participants had monks teach them about mind control methods, and ways of self-transformation through self-observation. While senior golfers are more accustomed to managing pressure, he said his younger compatriots

Kiradech Aphibarnrat

face a more daunting time because of lack of match experience. Some get so worked up by missing a crucial putt that they forget that they can still make it up at the next hole. The Thai Pro Golfers To The World Of Dhamma camp has helped them to address this predicament, and some have even gone on to win tournaments because they can now manage their emotional state of mind better.

Young golf talent Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 24, shared the same sentiments. "I have problems controlling my temper when things don't work on the golf course for me. I once broke a club during a tournament because I was not able to make a putt," he said.

Kiradech, who describes himself as a "lukewarm Buddhist", credits the meditation techniques he picked up at this dhamma gathering for his victory in India two years ago. At the time, he recalls how his performance at a handful of tournaments prior to the one in India had made him settle for second and third place, but never first.

"I was so frustrated and disheartened that I was not able to clinch first place despite being so close to doing so. After the first year of attending this camp, I competed in the Sail Open in India, and found to my delight that when I was putting for victory, I was able to keep my composure.

You can read the full story here:http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/366565/mind-games