DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997                 TAG: 9704090720

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

BEACH PSYCHIATRIST OFFERS GOLFERS MENTAL LESSONS

At the first hint of spring, some weekend golfers get psyched up for the game. And that, says Dr. Thomas Tsao, a Virginia Beach psychiatrist and champion golfer, is a big mistake.

``. . . Golfers need to get psyched down, not up,'' Tsao says. ``When they get psyched up, they get too aggressive, and their game tends to pay for it.''

Tsao will share his views on the psychological side of golf in a clinic sponsored by Obici Hospital rehabilitative services and Suffolk Golf Course.

The annual clinic also will review the latest in golf equipment, explain how to get golf clubs fitted and include a swing speed analysis by Mark Lambert, golf pro at Suffolk Golf Course.

In the late 1960s, Tsao was so captivated by golf's mental and physical challenges that he gave up tennis to become an NCAA golfer. ``Golf is a game of cumulative anxiety,'' Tsao says, since a few early bad shots can haunt golfers for the rest of the day. Rather than thinking of an 18-hole round as the front nine and the back nine, Tsao recommends mentally breaking the game into six shorter, three-hole games, each with a fresh start.

Tsao, 1995 Virgin Island senior champion and 1992 senior champion at Broad Bay Country Club, has worked with several PGA pros and collegiate players, coaching their mental approach to the game.

``Players need to develop their mental muscle by specifically practicing their game in their heads as well as on the course,'' he says.

``The poet said, `If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you are a man,' '' Tsao said. ``Do that in golf, and you are the man.'' ILLUSTRATION: WANT TO GO?

What: ``Get Into the Swing of Things - Conditioning Your Body

and Mind for Your Golf Game''

When: Thursday, April 10, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Holiday Inn, U.S. 460, Suffolk

Cost: $10.

Reservations: Call Obici Med- Match, 934-4999 , by Monday

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