4: Mind Game
Golden Rule: During your pre-shot routine you learn to visualize the shot, in your mind you can see the target area; you see the flight path of the ball (trajectory) NO negative thoughts. Stand over the shot with confidence and be positive. Now all you need to do is trust your swing and your club selection, focus on balance, tempo, and rhythm.
Golfers with a strong mental game realize that the present is all that they can control. (Forget your bad shot) Learn to play in the present without dwelling the bad shots. Realize the power of just being in the moment with the full intention and expectation to play a good shot, once a good player.
Has gone through his pre-shot routine, they address the ball and concentrate.
For just 10 seconds, one they start the back swing they switch to natural swing the one they use every time for that shot, they play on instinct and trust their subconscious or and muscle memories to make it happen for them.
Learning to play in the present on instinct requires time and effort. That is why experience is such a priceless commodity. Because when all else fails, the truth emerges from one's experiences if you are honest with yourself. By training your mind to play in the present, you can shorten the time required to experience the power of being free to play on instinct and in the zone. Unfortunately, many golfers never learn to stop dwelling on their past and future outcomes.
The trick to being in the present is to allow yourself to learn from the feedback each shot provides without your ego being involved in the outcome. By being honest about your present mechanical, strategic, physical and mental limitations, you will increase your awareness of what you can do to improve your present abilities. Then, it becomes a question of how strong your desire is to make the necessary changes or adjustments to improve.
Only the lucky few are born with natural feel, balance, tempo, even they need to know the correct mechanics of golf and practice for hours to perfect a smooth repeatable swing.
Most high handicap players have two common faults; they swing too hard and look up before impact.
