The golf swing takes approximately 1.75 seconds to hit a golf ball. For easy calculations, let’s say 2 seconds. Your round of golf may take you five hours. Say you shoot 90. That means 90 times 2 seconds equals 180 seconds, or 3 minutes. What are you thinking about for the other 4 hours and 57 minutes? You are probably talking with the other guys you are playing with, looking for golf balls, etc., etc. Let’s say that these and other things take up a couple of hours of your golfing time. So you are thinking about something else for another two hours during your game.

When I talk with students about what they are thinking, I mostly hear back…”about golf mechanics, work, home life, the kids,” etc., etc. What I’d like you to think about is relaxing…smell the flowers, enjoy the weather, what a great golf course you’re playing…something pleasant. When you are close enough to your golf ball, switch back on…so to speak. Get your pre-shot routine going, and think about what you want to happen. Keep the fear of what might happen off your mind. Relax and take some deep breaths. Remember your mind always goes to your currently dominant thought, so make the thought positive. A fear of the water, OB, or trees is an imagined fear. As I have mentioned before, FEAR is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. The difficulty is that the brain has a fault in it. It cannot tell the difference between a real fear or an imagined fear. Fear in your mind about your game is an imagined fear. Relax, and smell the flowers.

Good Golfing,

David Clay