Tip of the week
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
This weeks tip is on the mental side of the game and to ensure you are thinking positively to allow yourself to play your best golf.
An important thing to realise is that the brain can not process a negative. For example, if you say to yourself “don’t think about a purple elephant”, the first thing you think abut is in fact a purple elephant. This is important to realise in golf because when you stand by your bag deciding what shot to play, most peoples thoughts are “I don’t want to hit it in the bunker” or “ Don’t go in that bush again”. The brain actually processes that you want to go in the bunker or the bush, and often you hit the ball exactly where you don’t want to. Therefore, instead of thinking where you don’t want to go, try thinking abot where you do want to go. For example “I want to hit the ball into the middle of the green” or “I am going to hit this drive down the middle of the fairway”. This positive talk sounds simple but is actually very difficult to do consistently and does make a big difference.
The other important thing to do is to commit to the shot that you have chosen. Being indecisive and wondering if you are doing the correct thing can lead to a poor swing, in short game can lead to deceleration and a poor strike and often not the desired result. It is much better, even if you end up using the wrong club, to completely commit to that shot and making the best swing possible. The ball may come up short or go slighly too far but you will have struck the shot well and the result will probably be better than a half hearted swing.
Finally, I would encourage everyone to have a pre shot routine that you go through before you hit each shot. When you watch the best players in the world, they will always take the same number of practice swings and the time it takes them to hit each shot will be relatively similar. In a pre shot routine, you should first of all think about the shot i.e. Yardage, wind, uphill/downhill, ground conditions, where the trouble is etc. Then you should decide on what club to use, make 1 or 2 practice swings to make yourself feel comfortable and rehearse the shot you are trying to play, then step over the ball and execute the shot. If you can get into the habit of doing the same things before each shot, you will become more consistent.
I hope this is something that you will be able to put into practice out on the golf course and that it will improve your game.
|