Ever wondered why your golf game is exceptionally good one day but not the next? How your good practice swing ends up betraying you during the actual game? Similarly, how is it that even professional golfers with all their practice and technique tend to choke on simple shots under pressure?

This is precisely the reason why golf is considered a 90 percent mental game. The mental aspect of golf is the most important part, but players end up ignoring it altogether, probably because of the fact that golf equipment and science has improved dramatically over the past few decades. We have been cluttered with so much information – that new swing theory, new type of golf balls, different club heads, etc. – that we have become distracted and find it difficult to actually focus on developing our game. These revolutionary products that promise to provide a “quick fix” on improving your scores never really tell you that according to experts, you can reduce 10-15 strokes from your score if you master the mental approach to golf. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since golf is primarily a mental game and if products could fix everything, money would have made talent obsolete a long time ago.

The fact is that there’s a limit to what you can do on the physical side of golf but if you focus on the mental side, you can reap innumerable benefits. It doesn’t matter if you a high or low handicapper, focusing on the mental aspect of golf will allow you to play to your full potential.

Here are a few tips to help you with the mental aspects of golf:

Pause, Breathe, and Focus

This will be extremely useful in keeping you from making costly blunders and in keeping your mind focused when things go wrong during a game. It is a fairly simple exercise that promises a huge payoff.

Before each shot that you take, make sure to pause, take slow deep breaths and then, focus your attention on what you want to happen. When I say focus, I want you to clear you mind of every other thought except that of the shot you are going to make. This means NOT thinking about what will happen if you make the right shot or screw it. Don’t let yourself down with what other may be thinking or any other worry. Just focus on the shot only till the time you’ve executed you shot.

You’ll see major improvements in your game with this technique as it will help you take a shot in the best manner possible and to be able to avoid those stupid shots that end up adding to your score and ruining your confidence.

Visualize

This is a technique used by professionals in not only golf, but other areas too. What you have to do is that before doing the actual thing, you need to visualize yourself performing it. If you think of a positive outcome, the chances are high that you’ll actually be able to achieve it. It is like a self-fulfilling prophecy – when you think you can’t do something, you have already lost. The opposite of that is true. If you think you can, you very well may be able to achieve it.

Always think positively. When you are standing above the ball to putt it, imagine yourself performing the shot just like the way you want to and the ball going in the hole.

Use this technique on every golf shot. Try to make it a habit and extend it to other arenas of life. When ever you’re about to do something important, visualizing yourself acing it will very well help you achieve that.

Enjoy Yourself

Don’t fret about your score or that of your opponent. Forget about it entirely when playing the game. Instead, concentrate on every shot that you make and play the game one shot at time. This helps you enjoy golf and results in your game drastically improving, since you are concentrating on making the right shots. This will also prevent a bad shot affecting subsequent shots, since you won’t be thinking about your score, but rather what you did wrong and how to correct it.

Taking care of the mental aspect of golf doesn’t mean that you will start playing like Bobby Jones or Jack Nicklaus overnight, but you certainly will find you golf score improving with you enjoying the game even more.

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