1. POSITIVE Thoughts
Positive thoughts on the golf course are very underestimated. You can potentially shoot better by 6 strokes based on your thought process.
It is extremely vital to your golf game and is a common mistake made by amateurs. Instead of having thoughts like:
“Don’t shank this”
“Don’t hit it there”
“They’re watching don’t miss this”
You can replace them with positive ones such as:
“Hit it there”
“You can do this”
“Show them how it’s done”
“You know how to hit this”
“It’s going in”
It is actually not as hard as it sounds. Once you start to fill yourself with positive thoughts on the golf course you will end up playing better and your attitude will change for the better.
2. Why Have FEAR?
DO NOT BE SCARED. If you really think about it, you cannot really control the outcome of your shot. The result is something you cannot control.
However, you can control giving it your best stroke. What really helps is having the thought process like:
“If it goes in great, if not at least I gave it my best stroke!”
“Come on man lets just give it the best stroke I can”
What do you even have to lose? Give it your best shot. SO WHAT if you hit a bad shot. WHO CARES about what your playing partner thinks. SORRY to break it to you but your playing partner is worried about their game and could not care less about yours. Having this thought process will help you tremendously with your game and will help you shoot lower scores!
3. 10 Second Rule
This rule really helps a lot. Everytime you hit a bad shot, give yourself 10 seconds to get as upset as you want. Think whatever you want to & say whatever you want, but once those 10 seconds are over. GET OVER IT! Move on from the bad shot, because the sad reality is that you cannot change it anymore.
You cannot re-hit it in the water or go back and redo it(Imagine if you could). Taking your anger from the previous shot on to your next shot is the number one mistake amateurs make and can only do bad for you.
Tiger Woods uses this method along with many other professionals on tour and it really does work.
Try it out, whats the worst that could happen… oh right nothing. There are no negative effects to thinking positive on the golf course. You will be surprised by how much this will improve your game!
4. Pre-Shot Routine
Having a Pre-Shot Routine is a lot more important than you think it is. It gives you a lot of confidence because no matter the situation you’re in, the routine calms you down. It helps put you in the zone.
To develop a Pre-Shot Routine is not that hard either, all you have to do is decide what you want to do before you hit the ball and then just replicate that before every shot. I would practice doing it with a bucket of balls just so it starts to become natural and you start to subconsciously do it. You will get more focused and the ball will start to go where you want it a lot more!
5. Diversion Of Thoughts
When you have already hit your shot, I strongly recommend you think about other things besides golf. Instead of thinking about:
“I shouldn’t have bogeyed 10”
“Ok so I can just par in”
Having thoughts about things not golf related can take a lot of stress away, and help you feel less pressure. Instead of thinking those thoughts you can think about different sports games going on, what your favorite scene from your tv show is or even what you want to eat for dinner. Believe me, it really makes a huge effect on your game and will only help you for the better.
Thoughts like these will really help you shoot lower scores and help you enjoy the game a lot more!
