How To Master The Mental Mechanics Of Golf

Matt Eldridge

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Your physical abilities only create in you the potential to be a great golfer. What will make you a great golfer is combining these abilities with a great mental game because you need to know how to use your abilities.

When a good friend of mine first started to play golf, he tried to kill each and every drive. He wanted big shots and lots of distance – he had the power to make it happen. Not only could he make it happen, he frequently did. You see the problem came every now and then when he would get a lot of distance, but the ball would fly madly off course. This one bad shot, despite all previous drives, made him angry and lose his focus.

What frequently made matters worse was that his golf partner never went for the big drive, never got a lot of distance of the tee, but he won almost every round. He could tee off, hit with excellent accuracy, but his shot would only travel around 180 yards out.

At first, he had trouble realizing how someone with such a weak tee shot could beat him. Then one day he realized: he kept losing because his partner used his mind well. He hit 180 intentionally because he knew his limits and played within them.

He played a smart game and that’s what you need to do.

A lot of golfers I know get discouraged by this because you can’t buy a better set of clubs, try a new ball or pick up new golf shoes to help your mental game. No, it takes work and effort and there aren’t any shortcuts.

Here are some tips that will help you master your mental game.

1. Focus On The Present

It can be too easy to get distracted. Too easy to think about the work emails building up in your inbox. Too easy to get excited for a beer after your round. You can’t let yourself succumb to these or any other distraction.

You need to put all of your focus and attention on you, your ball, your surroundings, and your shot. It starts by looking around and taking an inventory of all the important factors that will demand your attention. What do you need to focus on to kill it off the tee? Which way are the leaves blowing on the trees? How are your feet positioned? What do you need to avoid on the fairway?

Once you know what’s important, it’s time to zoom in. This is where you block out anything that’s not important. Stop worrying about the beer cart. The chatter coming from the next whole doesn’t matter. Your performance up to now doesn’t matter.

2. Know Yourself

Not to sound too introspective, but you do need to know who you are. Well, you at least need to know your personality.

Are you conservative? If you are, you probably shouldn’t swing for the pin every time. Are you aggressive? Don’t club down too often because you’ll probably get bored and frustrated.

Knowing yourself on the course takes more than just knowing your personality, though. You also need to know how events off the course impact your play on the course. Do you usually have a terrible round after you get in an argument? Does a stressful day at the office hurt your score? If they do, avoid those situations before you tee off.

3. Use Your Emotions To Your Favor

Losing your temper is a quick way to make a bad impression on others at the course – it’s poor golf etiquette and it’s also bad for your game. If your temper takes hold, you’ll have a harder time keeping your concentration and hitting straight.

If you find yourself getting angry, think about another round where you goofed and then recovered. Remind yourself that one bad shot (or even a couple) doesn’t totally ruin your round. Force yourself to think long-term instead of shot-by-shot or hole-by-hole.

4. Be Confident, But Not Overconfident

No matter how great your previous shot was, your next shot needs to be just as good (or better). You also need to be able to move past bad shots. If you’re not confident, you’ll have a very hard time moving on.

Look at Tiger Woods. When he’s owning the course, you know it. Like Loren Fogelman writes over at Golf State of Mind, “There’s a presence that he commands, keeping him focused on one shot at a time. Even the difficult shots don’t throw him off. He has an uncanny way of picking the right target. He pulls from previous experience to confidently follow a hunch on difficult shots.”

She also notes that Tiger has two other states of mind – cold and warm. He’s not always a commanding presence, he’s not always owning the course. He’s smart enough to realize when his shots aren’t working and he seeks out advice. If you know when to ask for help, you’re not overconfident – you’re able to walk the fine line between the two states of mind.

If you’re not trying to master the mental game of golf you’re adding unnecessary strokes to your game. Don’t let that happen.

What mind tricks do you use when you hit the course? Leave a comment below and let us know.