Developing the Right Attitude Toward Golf

Why is golf so demanding mentally? More importantly, what frame of mind helps you to play to the best of your ability on the course? Anyone who has missed a short putt in a competition knows that although golf is played with the body, it is won in the mind.

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Firstly, it is an un-timed sport so you must be prepared to play for as long as it takes to complete the round. All too often, club golfers upset themselves unnecessarily by losing patience with slow players ahead of them.

Secondly - you have to take full responsibility for what you do on the course. Unfortunately, many players try to evade this responsibility by making excuses - blaming the course, their clubs, the weather and/or the balls they're using. Research shows that only losers make excuses, so don;t be a loser!.

Finally, the "stop-start" nature of golf means that you spend more time thinking about playing than actually hitting the ball. In fact, in a typical three and a half- hour round of golf, less than 10% of your time is devoted to swinging the club. The rest of the time is spent walking, talking, looking for balls, regretting mistakes, losing concentration and, of course, making excuses!

In order to play consistently to the best of your ability, you have to learn to concentrate on only one shot at a time -no looking back and no thinking too far ahead. The best way to do this is to regard golf as a target sport - a bit like archery. Without a target, your mind will wander. Remember, your target must be a positive one - something to aim at, for example a, a spot on the fairway, rather than something to avoid like a water hazard.

So, next time you play, don't aim for the hole right away, make sure to pick a target for every shot.