Two Mental Components of Golf

Golf, like all competitions, is at least 90% mental and at most 10% physical. 90% how you look at it, 10% how you do it. The mental side of the game can be broken down into 2 components: confidence and decision-making.

CONFIDENCE:

Ben Hogan once said, "The more I practice, the luckier I am". When a player is confident in their ability they produce a more natural swing. One of the most important components of a good golf swing is allowing the arms to swing without any tension. When the arms are supple, they return the club to the target with more club head speed creating a longer shot. In addition, when supple, the arms allow the release of the club to be timed correctly creating a straighter shot. These longer, straighter shots build more confidence. This added confidence builds more flexibility in the swing. The flexibility creates better results&and the circle of improvement begins - CONFIDENCE leads to FLEXIBILITY leads to LONGER/STRAIGHTER SHOTS leads back to CONFIDENCE.

DECISION-MAKING:

There are an infinite number of decisions a player makes in the course of an 18 hole round of golf. Simple examples are club selection, and aiming decisions. I would like to offer some tips that can help players of all ability levels.

• Since most greens are pitched from back to front, it is better to miss greens short than long.
  
• In chipping, the bigger you swing (lob shot vs. pitch and run), the more risk you assume.
  
• Never aim such that a straight shot leaves you out of play.
  
• Be sure about all of your decisions (i.e. putting line or club selection). If you are unsure&STOP everything and think it through.
  
• Always focus on what to do, instead of what not to do. "I'm going to hit it in the fairway, instead of I'm not going to hit it out of bounds".