Effects Of Mental Fatigue On Putting Performance In Recreational Male Golfers

Mental fatigue has been shown to decrease performance in many exercise related tasks. However, there is limited information on the impact of and its impact on accuracy of a golf putt in recreational golfers. PURPOSE: To quantify the effects of mental fatigue in distance offline, time to putt (TTP) and putts made compared to control. Methods: Eight recreational male golfers over two sessions; an experimental condition where the golfers were administered a mentally fatiguing task (30 minute Stroop test), and a control session (30 minutes of self-selected music). In both sessions, participants completed 12 putts from each 1,2 and 3 meters from the hole. TTP, average distance offline, as well as the number of putts made were collected and used for data analysis. RESULTS: Brums test results for fatigue were significantly different between control (3.1 ± 2.8) and experimental (1.8 ± 1.6) (p = .002) Similarly, Brums test results for vigor were significantly different between control (7.6 ± 3.1) and experimental (7.4 ± 3.9) (p = .03) There was no significant difference in TTP at any distance, distance offline at one or two meters, or putts made overall from control to experimental (p > .05). Distance offline was increased in the control session (rather than the experimental session, contrary to the hypothesis). CONCLUSIONS: The 30 minute Stroop tests showed significant effects on mental fatigue and vigor. Although distance offline was significantly higher in the three meter putt in the control trial (p < .05), mental fatigue showed no effects on putting accuracy or TTP. Keywords: Mental Fatigue, Stroop Test, Recreational Golfers, Putting, Golf