Setting a New Personal Best

   There is never a magic potion to dropping strokes, rarely a breakthrough that just clicks without putting any real work in.  The truth is to significantly change your game for the better you need to change how you approach the game, practicing, and playing.  I have a couple tips that are going to help you the very next time you go play, but you have to be true to yourself and have realistic expectations regarding the state of your game and how much time you have devoted to improving it.  I have laid out below 6 steps that you can do when you practice and before your round to make sure you give yourself the best possible chance of setting a new personal best the next time you tee it up.

1) Warm- Up: Warming up is the easiest way to get your mind at ease and get yourself ready for your round.  Do no show up 4 minutes before you are set to tee off and expect yourself to be ready.  Even if you have "always done it that way".  If you are honest with yourself and truly want to get better you will take some time to hit a couple shots on the range, hit a couple chips, and then roll a couple putts on the way to the first tee.  This doesn't mean you need to devote 90 minutes to a full-scale tour level warm up.  But, give yourself at least 15 minutes.  Spend 5 minutes stretching out your body and preparing for the round.  Give yourself at least 5 minutes to work through a couple wedge shots, then a couple irons and a few driver swings.  Lastly we all know short game is going to be where we take the most strokes throughout the round.  Spend your last 5 minutes getting the feel of the speed of the greens, whether that is chipping or putting is up to you but getting the speed of the greens is going to benefit you through the entire round.

2) Have a Goal In Mind: Give yourself one or two attainable goals, but make sure they are something you can accomplish or come close to accomplishing.  It will help to make these goals qualitative and not quantitative.  For example,  you can give yourself the goal of committing to each shot before you hit it, not hitting 8 fairways. Having a positive goal, like committing to each shot or envisioning each shot before you hit it is going to narrow your focus and improve your results.  It is an easy way to keep yourself in the game after a bad shot or bad hole.

3) Practice Perfectly: When you head out for a practice session, it is imperative that you have something you want to accomplish.  You can't afford to get to range and aimlessly and mindlessly hit 50-100 balls with no goal in mind.  Take 5 minutes from the parking lot to the plot of grass you are going to hit from to give yourself something to accomplish.  There are so many things you can improve upon.  Whether it is just alignment, or tempo, dialing in your wedge yardages.  But you have to give yourself something to work on.  Don't waste your time by going out and mindlessly whacking balls.  It will not only not help you get better but has a good chance of actually ingraining some bad habits, and making you worse.

4) Practice Real Situations: When you go out to practice, do you hit 15-20 8 irons in a row?  When you head to the chipping green, do you hit the same chip 5-7 times?  When you head to the golf course and are playing a round, do you ever hit the exact same shot?  Why do we practice differently than we play on the course?  Next time when you practice, try practicing shots that you actually encounter on the golf course.  Don't always practice the straight forward bump and run shot.  Practice the shot that is slightly on a downhill lie and over a bunker, that is the shot that scares you and that is the shot you need to be able to accomplish.  How many times have you been behind a tree off the tee?  Why do we never practice a low curving shot that would get you back into position on the hole?  Do you ever practice downhill shots, side-hill shots?  Most amateurs will never practice anything but flat lie, perfect conditions and then we wonder why when we get on the course we can't hit the same shots as we hit on the driving range.  Maybe it is because nothing is the same, the rough is longer, the lie in uneven and the conditions are all different.  When you are practicing try using half of your practice time to practice real life situations you would find on the course. Hit shots off of uneven lies and out of the rough.  The results of those trouble shots can save more shots that you think!

Playing From Down Hill Lies

5) Play To Your Strengths: Playing to your strengths is something every tour pro does each and every time they play.  You will not see Zach Johnson trying to reach many par 5's in two and you will not see Bubba Watson lay up on many par 5's.  Why?  Well where are their strengths? Zach has a great wedge game and feels confident laying up and then attacking on his 3rd shot, while Bubba's strength is in his length and ability to hit long accurate shots.  This is something that we should all do every round.  It is a very simple concept but something that not many amateur golfers do on a regular basis.  For the next couple rounds take inventory of things that you do well on a regular basis, and know areas where you struggle.  The goal here is to know your strengths so you can leave yourself in that position to most amount of times possible.  Give yourself the best chance to succeed throughout the round!

     These tips are meant to be applied to your game with very little practice time.  In other words you are going to have to learn how to physically play to your strengths or have a goal in mind.  You do however have to think about what you are doing while you are out on the golf course or when you come out to practice.  You should have a goal in mind, be confident and optimistic about what you choose to accomplish that day and stick to it.  These tips are going to help you if commit and make a converted effort to accomplish them while you are out on the golf course.

Taking It To The Course

Golf lessons are great on the driving range.  You are able to learn lots about the mechanics and dynamics of the swing.  You can practice these feelings and philosophies again and again without worry of consequence.  That is amazing when you are trying to get the feeling and practice, but when you are trying to apply these concepts to actual golf, on the course, you need a different kind of practice.

Golf lessons only go so far. If you can’t take what you learn from the practice range to the course, lessons aren’t all that helpful.  In fact, learning to take it from the range to the course is one of the keys to breaking 80. But that’s easier said than done.

Below are some tips designed to help students take it from the range to the course:

1) Play “holes” on the range: Start on the first tee and pick the shot you would ideally like to hit off that first tee.  From there what is the next shot? Grab that club and pick a new target.  Try to hit that shot to the target.  If it is close give yourself a par, really close give yourself a birdie and if you did not execute the shot you get a bogey.  You can play 18 holes in only about 20 minutes and you will have the confidence next time you get to the course that you have hit these shots before and you know you can accomplish them.

2) Work on swing mechanics: The practice range—not the course—is the best place to work on your mechanics. But, what you want to take from the range is a feeling of what was working well.  If you walk away from a practice session just saying that went well and I was hitting it well, but you don't know why or what felt good, what have you really learned?  You should focus more on the feeling of the swing than the results of each particular shot.  

3) Hit it solid: If you want to simplify things on the range, work on hitting the ball solidly off the center of the clubface. Don’t let off-line shots bother you. You can always adjust for accuracy later on. Instead, focus on hitting the ball flush every time.  Contact and consistent feel of strike is the quickest way to develop a good amount of confidence.

4) Skip mid-range putts: You want to hit three types of putts on the practice green. Start with two to three-foot putts on the practice green to build confidence. Then practice the 15- to 20- footers. Focus on your pace when hitting these putts. Finally, hit some 40 to 50 footers. Lag putting helps you stand tall, so you have room to swing the putter—a key to good putting.  

5) Accept the swing you have: Just because you hit the ball poorly on the range doesn’t mean you’ll hit it poorly during your round. So banish any negative swing thoughts when you get to the first tee. Instead, focus on hitting the ball solidly and play with confidence.  Some of my best rounds have come when I warmed up poorly and then just let go of any thoughts when I got on the course.  Change the way you think of your pre-round warm-up.  It is only to get the body warm not to develop your swing and change things.

6) Clear Your Mind:  When you get onto the course make sure your mind is clear of lesson keys, swing thoughts and negative attitudes.  All you can do once you get out there is play with the game you have.  Thinking about a multitude of things you saw on the golf channel is not going to help you hit better shots.  If you have been working with an instructor, and you have a solid swing thought that is helping your game bring it.  One.  Bring one swing thought with you to the course, just keep it simple and make sure you are able to accomplish the thought.

All of these tips are designed to allow you to transfer what you can do on the driving range to the golf course.  It doesn't much matter if you hit the ball like Ben Hogan on the range if you can't keep it on the planet once you get on the golf course.  Try these tips out and see if it helps your performance on the golf course.

One Plane v. Two Plane

One plane vs. two plane has always been sort of a grey area for me, learning more about it so I can effectively teach the right motions to people is something that I will be striving for.  I am going to put down some basics and thoughts on what the differences are and what to teach each swing. 

Jim Hardy explained that the simplest way to think of the differences between the two swings is this: In a two plane swing, the arms and shoulders swing on two different planes at the top of the swing, in a one plane swing the arms swing up to be more or less on the same plane as the shoulders. For the two plane swing, imagine Davis Love III or David Toms. Their arms swing more upright while their shoulders rotate fairly level. For the one plane swing think of Ben Hogan, David Duval or the new Tiger Woods. In general, their swings are more around with the arms swinging on the same plane as the shoulders at the top of the swing.

One Plane Swing

Setup: Shoulders more bent over, greater spine angle to allow the shoulders to rotate around the body and stay on plane.  This, in turn allows the club to swing up.  The hands at set up are going to be, or should be under the chin.  The hands will look further away from the body.

Backswing: In the one plane swing, the arms will swing up slightly to a position where they are on plane with the shoulders at the top of the swing. There are far fewer "moving parts" because the left arm never leaves the chest to swing up on a steeper plane. Because the swing is more "around" than "up", the body may stay more to the left with less lateral shift, if any, to the right. This reduces the need to have a large slide back toward the target during the transition. The key in the one plane swing is swinging the arms around behind the body rather than lifting of the arms in front of the body. Ben Hogan advocated that the right leg not move back at all during the backswing, keeping the body very centered throughout the swing.

Transition: Because your arms are always on plane and never lift, there is no need to wait for them to drop. Your body can begin to rotate back toward the target as aggressively as you like and the arms should simply follow. The natural instinct at the top of the swing is to get the club head back to the ball as fast as possible in order to strike it with authority. Of course, this is the key detriment to swinging on two planes where you simply must create some sort of delay during the downswing to let the arms fall back down on plane in a position to strike the ball. Hardy points out that in a one plane swing, all you do from the top is rotate the body back to the left after setting your weight more on your left side. Everything rotates together, reducing the dependency on timing and rhythm to blend the upright swinging of the arms and the flatter turning of the body. Unfortunately, many golfers swing their arms "up" on the backswing and then try and rotate their bodies back to the left as hard as they can. In essence, they are combining characteristics of the two swings, which doesn't work and creates the dreaded "over the top" move creating a pull slice. 

Downswing: In the one plane swing, the arms, club and shoulders are already on the proper plane, allowing the golfer the freedom to simply rotate the body back to the left. With the left arm velcroed to the chest, the body can rotate as hard it likes without ever worrying about trying to control the arms. It is important that the golfer properly use his body to swing the club and not the arms. Golfers who are accustomed to swinging their arms to generate power often find this one of the biggest challenges. No longer requiring the arms to try and control the club, the golfer can do what he instinctively wants from the top of the swing - swing hard. You'll quickly find that this swing will feel more natural, more like hitting a baseball off a tee. A downswing mantra would be "swing left".

Two Plane Swing

Setup: The spine angle tends to be more upright at address in a two plane swing. This erect address position causes the shoulders to rotate on a relatively flat plane, more level to the ground. The arms will tend to hang a bit more vertically compared to the one plane setup where the arms will tend to be slightly further from the body and the golfer will tend to stand closer to the ball.

Backswing: The biggest difference in the two swings is seen here. In a two plane swing the arms will swing up on a more upright plane than that of the shoulders and the club swings well above the plane and to the outside of the turn. In order to do this, the left arm must disconnect from the left chest muscle and then reconnect on the downswing. Also, there is a more pronounced shift of the body to the right creating the need for a greater lateral move back to the target during the transition. This shift creates width in the backswing which is necessary because of the tendency of the two plane swing to be too narrow with the arms swinging more up than around.

Transition: This is where things get tricky. Swinging the arms up on a more vertical plane than the shoulders requires that, at some point in the swing, the arms must drop back down on plane before the rotary motion of the body can be used to generate power by aggressively rotating back to the left. In order to do this, there needs to be either a lateral move toward the target with the body that gives the arms time to drop back on plane before the body begins to clear left, or the hips must simply "wait" to turn until the arms have dropped the proper amount. Depending on your instructor's school of thought, you may have heard to swing your arms down faster from the top to get them back down on plane or you may have been told to wait and let gravity do the job, or you may have been told to not turn the body and swing the arms back in front of you, either way, these are two plane swing ideas. You've no doubt seen drills that talk about dropping the right leg back at address (for righties) so that you can slow the rotation of the hips. As you can imagine, trying to time these moves consistently proves very difficult over time. This places a high demand on timing and rhythm, which vary from day to day. In a one plane swing, you will see that the inconsistencies that are caused by this motion are far less of an issue. Not that timing and rhythm are things that can be disregarded in either swing, but in a one plane swing you are far less susceptible to bad golf when your timing is a bit off.

Downswing: It is critical for the arms to drop back down on plane before the body begins to rotate back to the left. Many two plane golf instructors teach a "looping" motion in the swing where the club swings up on the backswing and is then "flattened" on the downswing in order to get the club back on the proper plane. Jim Furyk is an extreme example of this, but most all two planers will due this to some degree. The difficulty is getting the amount of drop correct as well as the timing of the drop, not to mention the patience required to not "hit" the ball from the top of the swing - where the body begins rotating back to the left before the arms have dropped. Those that don't resist the "hit" urge and begin rotating back to the left before the arms drop on plane will swing "over the top" if the arms didn't drop at all or be in a "stuck" position if the arms didn't get back in front of the body.


“THE PURPOSE OF THE GOLF SWING IS TO REACH GOOD SOLID IMPACT; THE METHOD EMPLOYED IS OF NO CONSQUENCE, AS LONG AS IT IS REPETITIVE.”

The two plane swing is going to be steeper, because it is being swung up to down and not around the body like a one plane swing would be.

The one plane swing is powered by the body, with the left arm close to the body you can't pull with the arms and hands like you would do in a two plane swing.  In a two plane swing you have the arms and hands further away from the body at the top of the backswing, from there you are able to pull the club more with the arms and hands.

The point is this: BOTH WAYS ARE EFFECTIVE, but you cannot randomly choose a set-up position when deciding which swing is for you. Personally, if I were forced to choose, I think the one-plane swing is more consistent, but it does demand more physicality than the free swinging action of the two-plane swing.

Putter Acceleration

I have done a lot of thinking and researching the best way to putt, we can all agree that having a repeatable stroke helps but most other things are left to a personal preference.  You can find people that believe an arcing stroke is best, others believe a straight back and straight through stroke is best.  Some people believe accelerating into the ball at impact is best and I'm not so sure.

Putter

Acceleration

Putter Acceleration on your downstroke is 

essential for accurate distance control. 

IN SHORT There are four different ways to swing your putter. Despite these differences they all share a common principle, namely that the putter head should be accelerating at impact.

However, this does not mean consciously speeding up your stroke as your putter head approaches the ball.

The mass of your putter head is enough to send the ball the correct distance. That is provided you have taken an adequate backstroke for the distance you are seeking.

Ways to Swing Putter

There are four ways to swing your putter:

1. Long Back - Short Through
2. Short Back - Long Through
3. Short Back - Short Through
4. Equal Back - Equal Through

1. Long Back – Short Through

Decelerating into the ball is a recipe for inconsistency in both distance and direction.

Such a putting stroke has nothing to commend it. It lacks any rhythm. It is a common failing of high-handicap golfers who frequently quit on the putt for fear of sending the ball too far.

If you have this destructive habit, you need to change your putting stroke otherwise your putting will never improve.

2. Short Back – Long Through

This is a better way to swing your putter, but not the best. When you start to artificially speed up your stroke in order to extend your follow through beyond its normal length, you are changing the natural tempo provided by gravity.

With an inconsistent tempo, the actual distance the ball will travel each time becomes harder to judge.

3. Short Back – Short Through

This is known as pop putting. It is a technique that can work well for short putts, but can sometimes cause problems on longer putts. 

Unlike the early days of wrist putting, it is important in pop putting to prevent any wrist break down through the impact area. You need to maintain the wrist angles that you have created in your setup.

4. Equal Back – Equal Through

This is the ideal rhythm for a putting stroke. Based on the action of a pendulum clock, the backstroke mirrors the forward stroke in length.

The distance a ball travels is managed entirely by the length of your backstroke. For longer putts you take a longer backstroke. There is no attempt to increase the speed of the forward stroke as a way of compensating for a backstroke that is not long enough.

Putter Acceleration

The advice that you should accelerate the putter through the contact area is sound in the sense that it advises against slowing down the putter before impact. However, it can also pose the danger of over-compensation.

If you hold the top of your putter with your left forefinger and thumb and let it swing back and forth, you will see that there is the natural acceleration of gravity on the downswing. The longer the backswing, the faster the putter head accelerates on the downswing.

Distance Control

The secret of good distance control is to let your putter swing on its own. 

There is no need to interfere with the smooth acceleration that gravity provides.
You allow your brain to set the backstroke to the length that is adequate to get the ball to the hole and then let go. Because you are not trying to change the rate of putter acceleration, you will develop a consistent tempo, not one that chops and changes.

better-golf-by-putting-better.com

 Here are a few graphs where the s axis equals speed and the t axis equals time. 

The best putters have finished accelerating their putters before they make contact with the ball.  They do no actually accelerate through the ball.  The best putters actually reach their max speed and allow gravity to finish the stroke and contact the ball.  This does not say that the best putters begin decelerating the club into the ball rather they reach their top speed and allow gravity to finish the stroke and perform the shot.  

  We need to take a big enough stroke that we can begin the down swing with a smooth acceleration and allow gravity to take the putter the rest of the way.  Many of the top pro's do this without even knowing they are doing it.  Most great putters feel like they are accelerating through impact, but when you look on a high speed camera that is not the case.  Jordan Speith is a perfect example of this, his stroke is slightly decelerating at impact.  Almost to a fault but he is right on that line.  But, what Jordan does so well is allow gravity to hit the ball.  He is simply making a stroke and allowing gravity to control the speed,  he is never hitting the ball with his putter.

Jordan Spieth Sports Science Putting--  

Jordan Spieth Sports Science Putting

I know it is conducted from Sports Science but there is a lot of great information about the rhythm and length of his putting stroke.  The best way to putt is not to accelerate the putter into the ball, it is to take a long enough back stroke to allow gravity to return the putter to the ball.  It is always going to be more repeatable and allow for better distance control.  Putter better is a matter of allowing it to happen not making it happen!

Mental Thoughts

    The mental game is easily the most overlooked, untapped way to drop strokes on the golf course.  Golfers spend countless dollars on lessons to fix even the most minuet swing flaws but fail to recognize the simplest of mental exercises and thought training to help them on the golf course.  Even with all the literature out there from Rotella, Penick, Floyd, and Bob Cullen the mental game is a vast open area to improve. Mental strength is something that can't be measured like you would Greens in Regulation or Average Driving Distance, but if you can recognize your fears, learn to thrive on butterflies, focus on what you can control and focus on one shot at a time you will notice those things that are measurable with start looking better to you.  I have a few things I would like to talk about and things to focus on to get your game better without picking up a club.

   1. Attitude is worth more strokes than your swing-   Give me a person who thinks positives vs. a person who swings well every day.  I promise the person who thinks clearly and positively all the time is going to average a better score than the person who swings well but has a poor attitude.  A huge key to good golf is always believing in yourself and being very positive.  Thinking, at every moment the best shot of the day is going to be the next one.  If you happen to hit a poor shot, you actually grow in confidence because you know that you are only going to hit a few bad shots per round.  If you think about that for a minute, it'll sound silly.  Growing more confident after hitting a bad shot?! That sounds impossible,  but if you frame it in your mind the right way, it is not impossible and it is actually not that hard.  If you were to keep stats of your rounds for any length of time at all you would find that you, on average hit (x) number of bad shots and (x) number of perfect shots.  Whatever those numbers are, is your business. You do hit perfect shots but, after you do, you always say something like, "Well at least I had one today"! That is the absolute wrong way to think about things.  But, lets say you hit 8 really bad shots a round and 4 really great shots a round.  I am saying you must get to the point mentally that when you hit a bad shot, you smile knowing you are 1/8th of the way done hitting bad shots today! But, furthermore when you hit a great shot you truly, wholeheartedly believe the amount of great shots are limitless.

   2. "No matter how poorly you play, there is always someone you can beat, and no matter how well you play, there is always someone that can beat you" -Harvey Penick
     This is all about managing your expectations. Golf should be a fun event no matter your skill level.  We are not all going to play in the final group on Sunday, the reality is most of us are not going to break 100.  But, we can perform better if we do not let our bad shots or lack of skill get in the way.  You can not perform your best if you go into a round of golf expecting and hoping to shoot even par if you have never broke 90.  You need to manage your expectations.  Additionally, very skilled players are going to be bested on certain days.  Some days you just have to tip your cap to the guy next to you and take the loss like a gentleman. 

   3.  Play the course, not the competitor-  Too many people get caught up in trying to play against someone in their group.  Whether it is someone that drives it farther, hits it straighter or chips better than you, you cannot get caught up in trying to play their game.  You can only play your game.  Take a mental inventory of what you are good it and what you need help with.  If you can identify a few areas you can improve that is great. If you can identify where your best areas are you can really make the game easy on yourself.  For example, lets say you have a great short game.  You get on the 1st tee and hit one that comes to rest on the left edge of the fairway.  You get to your ball and see that the pin is tucked in the back left beyond a bunker.  A good way to think about the second shot is to miss to the open area.  Either you hit the fat part of the green (Middle to right side) or you miss the green to the right and are able to use your strength of chipping to make a par.  Most amateur get into a lot of trouble by taking the tucked pin on and ending up short siding themselves and leaving a very tricky shot.  Doing this brings double bogey or worse into play.  If you play a smart second shot to the open area you leave yourself a very simple next shot.  You now have par in your sights and will walk away from the hole with now worse than bogey.  Find what you are good at on the golf course and try to put yourself in that position as many times as possible!

   3.  Fear is the most crippling swing flaw-  (seizing the butterflies) Every great golfer has nerves, heck every golfer gets nerves.  Whether its just hitting the first tee shot of a Saturday nassau or its playing for millions of dollars on the PGA tour, you are going to have nerves.  The thing with these nerves is that you can embrace them or let them cripple your performance.  Nerves can actually elevate your performance if you embrace the nerves.  Embracing the nerves can be as simple as knowing you are nervous and smiling your way through it.  Being nervous means you are on the brink of performing your best.  Normally golfers are not nervous when tapping in for a triple bogey, however you are nervous that you are going to leave that eagle putt short.  Its the thought that you are going to do something great that brings on the nerves.  So next time you get into that situation and feel the nerves coming on, embrace them, smile your way through it and know you are on the brink of doing something pretty cool.  Think about all the practice and all the time spent hitting that shot over and over again.  If you have practiced the shot, you know you can do it, all you have to do it complete it again.  

  4. Have a pre-shot routine and stick to it- Having a solid pre shot routine is another way to not only get yourself back to a comfort zone but also embrace some of the nerves you are feeling.  Golf is a very social game and that is a reason so many people love playing it with friends.  However there is a time where the game becomes serious and you should focus, the great news is that it is only for around 30 seconds before you hit your shot.  Whatever you do for your pre-shot routine, do it before each and every shot.  From the time you grab the club and know the yardage, you need to get into a zone where you only focus on what you want to accomplish.  Pick your target, visualize the shot you want to hit, take your practice swing and hit it.  This doesn't give you time to worry, fear, and be scared of what you are doing.  You have to consciously make yourself only pick your target, visualize the shot and then take a practice swing.  Lastly, hit the shot as best as you can.  Once you get to where your shot landed, do it again.

  5.   Focus on what you want to happen, not what you don't want to happen-  Another easy way to play your best is to only focus on where you want to hit the ball.  Never ever tell yourself what not to do.  Your mind will not hear "Don't hit it left" it will only hear "Left".  If you have a tee shot that has always been difficult for you try telling yourself exactly where you want to hit it.  Physically tell yourself, " I want to hit my ball up the right side of the fairway".  Then focus on that and perform the shot.  You will be way more successful if you focus on where you want to go and not where you don't want to go. There is a simple quote that I like to use to remember this, "Play golf to play great, not to not play poorly".

 6.  Staying in the present- To play your absolute best you need to be in the present, you hear successful athletes talk about this all the time.  They are going to take it "One play at a time" or "One game at a time" what they are doing it reminding themselves to stay in the present.  On the golf course you will never play your best if you allow yourself to worry about shots that are upcoming or shots that you have already hit.  If you step on the first tee box and are worrying about the tee shot on #7 you will not be focused on the shots you need to hit before that, and when you get to that tee box you will be a box of nerves.  It is an easy way to psych yourself out before you even start playing.  The only shot you can control is the shot you are hitting.  You can't fix the shot you hit before and you can worry yourself about shots you are going to play in the future.  Focus on the present and the shot you have in front of you, its the only one you can control.

 8. Get away from number based results and more into the feeling and process- This mental strategy is very simple.  Stop worrying about the actual numbers you make on each hole and take inventory of the feeling of each shot.  If you can get yourself to constantly have the same feeling of each shot the physical numbers will take care of themselves. Golfers can easy paralyze themselves with the thought that a putt is for par, or I need two pars on the way in to shot my lowest round this month.  If you can get yourself to only focus on the feeling of each shot and trying to repeat that feeling you will notice your scores coming down.

  9.  The freedom of not giving a shit-  This final mental thought is, to me, the most important.  Once you have been able to accomplish all of these mental thoughts and get yourself in the right frame of mind.  Before you hit the shot you have to convince yourself that you do not care at all where the shot goes.  Of course you want to try your absolute best and you want to shoot great scores but, you have to not get in your own way before you hit the shot.  Right before you take the club back tell yourself you do not care where the shot goes.  Free yourself from trying to aim each shot.  Just allow yourself to swing and see where it goes.  This is the reason most people hit the ball great on the driving range and not so well once they get on the course. Its because you do not care where the ball goes on the driving range because you know you can pull another ball over and try it again.  You need to take that mentality out to the course as well.  If you can make yourself believe that you are not worried about where the ball is going you will in essence, free yourself up to play better golf!

   These mental thoughts are all very easy to accomplish but they do take some practice, just like your putting stroke or full swing takes practice.  Next time you go out to play or practice, choose one or two of these mental thoughts to practice and focus only on trying to accomplish that task.  You will be surprised how much your body is freed up to play at its highest potential.  Remember golf is about having fun and challenging yourself.  Enjoy it, play well!