Most golfers will say the hardest part of their game is focus. The mental side of golf is often misunderstood. Do you have a friend that golfs well on every round? Why is that? Practice, they practice. What they don’t tell you, is what they practice at. When you are talking about a game that is referred to as 90% mental and 10% talent you have to work on your mental toughness. When overcoming that mental side of golf, do you try to change your equipment, the time at which you play, maybe even they guys you play with. Here we go, some tips that are going to help get you on your way to being a better golfer.
The tempo of golf is often a concern for golfers. You are stuck behind a slow foursome, or maybe the guys behind you are rushing you, and you feel that pressure to golf faster. Let your your tempo dictate your game! Not the tempo of the people around you. Swing tempo is important if you want consistent results in your game. How do I find my tempo you ask? A golfer can find their tempo by doing these simple things:
SLOW DOWN!! I repeat slow down, everyone thinks the speed at which you swing dictates how far and accurate your ball will move. This is true is some instances, but, for the sake of this article we will not be discussing those concepts. No matter where you are playing or who you are playing with; the tempo you keep is is going to make you take the same back swing, have you contacting the ball the same, and allowing you to follow through the same every time. How do you practice tempo? While at the driving range your focus should only be on one club at a time. First hit 20 range balls with your driver, next hit 20 range balls with your 9 iron, Next your 3 wood and your 8 iron follow this method until you have hit every club in your bag. In your back Swing you want to make sure you are coming to the same point every time. When you hit the ball you should be contacting at the same speed every time. People often think that the club should dictate your tempo, this could not be further from the truth. If you focus on your tempo you will see that by swinging all of your clubs the same your accuracy will improve drastically. Follow through is the same as your back swing you need to follow through the same on every shot. How you follow through directly affect your accuracy. When you focus on these three techniques you will find that your mental game will improve.
After the practice on the driving range is done you will want to head to the chipping green. Work with the deep grass tools first then you can work with the sort grass irons. Practice 100 chips with each club. Let you tempo lead every ball to the green. When chipping just focus on your tempo, using the same stroke every time. Chipping is a tool to get to the green, not a tool to keep you from having to putt. Hitting a home run is great but keeping the ball in play has made many great careers. If you can keep your mind focused on the task at hand you are going to chip and hit the green every time. Now take your 8I and 9I over to the short grass and work on your bump and run. Tempo here is the key still but keep in mind that now you have too much club for such a short distance. Your tempo is what matters!! Imagine you are still hitting that same wedge, Change the Club not the Tempo!!
Putting Putting Putting! This is not rocket science but yet very misunderstood? We have now gone from Driving range tempo to chipping tempo to putting tempo the TEMPO does not change only the environment. While practicing don’t worry about how far or where the ball goes work on keeping your tempo the same every time. You are never going to change your swing for a putt. The only part about putting that changes is the distance. Start with 10 balls and putt then in from 1ft away from the hole. Move your self out 1ft for every 10 balls you sink in a row. Keep the same tempo.
The goal for these exercises is to teach your to go through the same steps every time. When you are working on you tempo you need to understand that you are separating your self from the game; you are working on you. When you take the time to build on your tempo you will see results!! The game is 90% mental; set a clock in your mind that only allows for the same tempo no matter when or where you are golfing. By creating this method of training for your body, your mind will have no choice but to respond by focusing on what you are trying to do.
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