Focus on Positive to Re-Program Your Mental Game in Golf

I once heard a story about Jack Nicklaus' reaction to a missed putt. A fan, the story goes, said to Jack after missed a short putt, "Sorry you missed that one, Jack." Jack's response was: "I didn't miss the putt. It just didn't go in."
Jack was right. He hit the line and speed he wanted, so in his mind everything was fine. This mental approach protected his self-image and allowed him to move on without dwelling on it like many of us do after missing a short putt. By doing so, he prevented the miss from affecting his self-confidence on future putts. In other words, he just let it go!
Getting mad at yourself over a lack of performance is non-productive and can erode your confidence. The human body is not a machine. Some days it works better that others, and for many different reasons.
So when you see yourself starting to get mad or losing your focus, think to yourself, "I did the best I could, given all the circumstances," and let it end there.
My point is simple: Stop putting yourself down.
Think about the things you are telling yourself on the course. Ever heard the expression, "What you eat, you are?" Well, "what you think, you are."
Everything you tell yourself is programming, so make it productive. Choose carefully what you think about. Don't work against yourself.
Most negative dialogue is a bad habit that you can change. You start first by listening to what you are telling yourself, recognizing the negative and working to put an end to the negative. Once you start, it's easy to change your internal dialogue to focus on the things you want to achieve.
Here's an example:
The old you: "I hate chip shots." Or, "I always chunk my chip shots."
The instant you hear yourself starting up the negative stuff, say to yourself, "stop," and don't allow yourself to finish the negative thought. Now change that negative into something productive.
The new you: "I want to get this chip close." Or, "I am going to make this."
Tell yourself what you want to do. Whether you make a good chip is not the point. What is the point is that over the long run, your new, positive dialogue will take you to a new level of play throughout the whole game.

Mental Training for Golfers: Simple is Always Best

The adage that "over-analysis leads to paralysis" is very true in golf. One of the inherent difficulties of golf for some players is the amount of time they have to prepare for shots. In reality, this is both an advantage and an obstacle to overcome. The advantage is that you don't have to hit a shot until you are fully ready. The problem with this extra time can be misused. When you use that time to over-analyze every shot and putt, the brain gets clogged and sends poor signals to the body. The mind can only process a certain amount of information at one time.
A good example of this is over-reading greens. You look at your putt from behind the ball and see the putt as right edge. Then you go to the other side of the hole and see it as a straight putt. After an internal debate, you circle around the putt another time to decide how much the grain will affect the putt.
So far, you are doing what any golfer would do, but when you start to introduce several other factors that may effect your read such as grain, wind, outcome of last putt, etc. - the mind becomes bogged down in details. Great putters, such as Ben Crenshaw, relax and let their imagination account for all the variables. Whatever line to the hole Crenshaw pick initially, he uses. He doesn't second-guess himself as more and more information is introduced.
Another example in golf occurs when I see players who stand over the ball forever, thinking about a checklist of six things they want to accomplish with the swing. This is too much information for the body to assimilate and can also lead to paralysis by overanalysis. Try not to do everything your instructor told you to do in one shot when you play golf. Simplify your approach and focus on one thing at a time over the ball after you are set up and ready to fire.
A quiet, non-analytical mind is necessary to get into the flow and become immersed in execution. How do you quiet the mind? First, don't ruminate about past shots or holes and let them obstruct your thinking. Be totally focused on the shot you have now, not the one you had ten minutes ago. And don't analyze the details of every missed shot and try and fix your swing on the course.
Meditation instructors teach their students to silently repeat a mantra (a word with no meaning) repeatedly to quiet the mind. If other thoughts come to mind, you're instructed to let them pass and focus back on the mantra. I don't expect you to meditate on the course, but you can focus attention on your breathing just before you prepare for a shot. If other thoughts come to mind let them pass and refocus on the rhythm of your breathing. You can use a simple golf-specific "mantra" to quiet the mind and focus on the basics of your preshot routine, such as "see it, feel it, and do it" or "plan, rehearse, and execute."
Try to keep your swing thoughts (thoughts about how to hit the shot) to only one mental cue such as tempo. Visual players might want to just try to see the target and let their body hit the shot. Save the swing mechanics for practice after the round.

Quick Tips for Reading Greens

1. Speed:

ontrolling the speed of your put is vitally important.
The quicker the ball is rolling, the less the ball will break.
The optimum pace to hit a putt is one that would take the ball 15 inches to 17 inches past the hole. This speed ensures that the ball holds its line.
True Down Slope Direction (TDSD)The momentum of the stroke makes the ball roll along a straight line initially (we have stated the relationship between speed and break).
However, as the ball gets closer to the hole the ball begins to lose its speed. As it loses its speed the ball will start to look for and go down the true downslope of the green as gravity starts to take over.

2. Assessing Your Putt:

Target PointEvery putt is therefore effectively a straight putt, it all depends on how hard you hit it as to whether it takes any break.
With your pace of putt in mind, pick the break you envisage the putt will take. Then pick your target out as a straight line and hit the ball at the right speed so that it takes the break.
When you approach the green it is important therefore to look at the contours and assess the slopes and lie of the land.

3. Uphill or Downhill:

Downhill PuttsWith less momentum from the strike on a downhill putt, gravity will act upon the ball sooner on its run towards the hole and force the ball down the direction of the true downslope.
On downhill putts, therefore, we need to allow for more break.
Remember; less speed equals more break.
Uphill PuttsUphill putts are much easier than downhill putts because they have less break due to the momentum of the strike required to hit the ball up the hill.
Remember: more speed equals less break.
The ball will take any break when it starts to "die" (loses speed), this is when gravity starts to takes over and the ball will follow the true downslope.

4. Side Slopes:

Side Slope PuttsIt is important to note that putts hit across any side slope are uphill on the first part of the putt and then downhill on the second part of the putt.
Once you have assessed whether the put is uphill or downhill (to help you determine the pace of the putt and initial starting line) then focus on the area around the hole where the ball will die and gain an understanding of the direction of the true downslope, as this is where the slope will have the greatest influence on your putt.
By building up a picture of the contours you will build up a picture of the line and pace you will need to hit the ball on for it to go in the hole.
Practice reading putts in the same way you practice your mechanics. This will help you learn to assess the effects different slopes and speeds have on your putts. Building up such experience will help you make more decisive and accurate reads out on the course.

The Swing Sequence

These photos illustrate the swing sequence on greenside sand shots, incorporating a correct setup, proper technique and consistent point of entry.

Work On Your Game with These Free Golf Tips

Being successful out of the sand depends on three things: correct setup, proper technique and consistent point of entry.
You should use a sand wedge when playing short sand shots around the green. A sand wedge may vary from 55 to 58 degrees of loft with 8 to 12 degrees of bounce. I personally prefer a 58-degree sand wedge with 8 degrees of bounce.

For the correct setup, I like to draw or visualize three lines in the sand, as shown in the photos above. Each line has a specific purpose. The line going from the target to the ball and then extending beyond the ball is called the target line. The line that is about 10 degrees open to the target line is the angle of our feet or toes. Then I draw a line perpendicular to the target line originating at the ball. This represents ball position, which should be off the left heel for righthanded golfers (photo below).
Once you have the correct setup with the same amount of weight on each foot, the face of the club should be slightly open (photo at right). This puts loft on the ball and allows the back portion of the bottom of the club to bounce off the sand, as opposed to having the leading edge dig into the sand.
The start of the backswing (see Swing Sequence photos below) should be straight back or slightly outside the target line. There is an immediate breaking of the hands as you start this motion, producing a more vertical swing which encourages the club to enter the sand about two inches behind the ball (this is the point of entry).
What you are actually trying to do is to take as little sand as possible without contacting the ball. Allow the sand to lift the ball from the bunker. (You can work on getting a consistent point of entry with the Point of Entry Drill described here.)
As you make contact with the sand there should be a cupping of the left wrist. Let me explain "cupping." Assume you are wearing a watch on your left wrist and the face, as usual, is pointing outward. When contacting the sand on the forward swing, you should try to take the back of your left hand and move it towards your watch face, thereby creating wrinkles underneath your left wrist. This action is called "cupping of the wrist" and it is very necessary in producing quality sand shots. Since this motion prevents the club from closing, the ball is lifted in the air with backspin.
These are the three most important things regarding sand play around the greens. You don't have to be perfect to get out of a sand bunker, but you have enough of the basic principles to get started.