Your Golf Attitude

I believe most of us weekend golfers do not understand the importance of Attitude in the game of golf.

The pros never talk about what they cannot do.

I have a friend who is really a good guy except when it comes to golf. He beats himself up all the time: "Well, here I go again - single bogey golfer- that's the best I can do...I can't make a two foot putt! ---"

I smile to myself when I hear his comments because it helps me win when his attitude is bad. I am not a scratch golfer either but I win more often than does my friend. I let every negative thought roll off like water on a duck's back.

I set goals for myself: "Today I am going to make two more pars than I made last time". Or, "One more birdie today than last time." Or, " I always make my putts inside 4 feet." Our brains are finely tuned receivers and usually enable us to do what we tell ourselves we can do.

Notice the next time you go out with your foursome. Listen to the talk and watch the physical reactions of your fellow golfers.

My routine is to talk to my self. I start by saying, "What a great day for golfing!" as I sniff the cool air and hear the birds in the trees. I take a few deep breaths of fresh air and focus on how good, clean, fresh air feels flowing into my lungs. I always allow time to stretch my major muscles and swing a few slow coordinated golf swings. I picture in my mind what a perfect shot looks like.

I clean up my equipment because I want to celebrate this occasion in "style". I recall successful shots I have made in the past. To make it short: I place in my mind good feelings, positive thoughts about what I can do and have done and confident self talk like: "I CAN make this one - I have done it before!"

I recall one of my best T-shots ever: We had just exchanged a pleasant comment and I just took one practice swing, set the club behind the ball and hit it. The ball flew straight and true more than 30 yard farther than my usual studied T shot.

I felt positive and let my intuition do the rest. It works!

Try it sometime.

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Golf Tips: Your Scoring Club

How is your golf? Yes: your golf score?

Which is your scoring club? Driver? Pitching wedge? Putter?

If you said "putter" you're probably right. Why? Because a good scratch golfer playing 18 holes will use his putter 36 times with every round. All the other strokes are taken with the remaining 13 clubs in the bag.

Therefore, good putting is absolutely crucial to making a lower score.

Using the putter is strangely mechanical and intuitive at the same time. You must swing like a mechanical putting robot and you must allow your intuitive brain to take command and control the motion of the putt, the direction of the putt and the pace of the putt.

Have you watched how Tiger Woods approaches his putt? He squats down - like all of us - to look at the line. He walks around both sides of the line and visualizes the the roll of the ball. Everything he does programs his mental intuition to automatically perform the stroke. He allows his vision and the feel of the green under his feet to feed information into his subconscious, intuitive mind. He evaluates the wind's effects, the grain of the green and uses the same routine every time. Then he practices "feeling" the putt with practice strokes - too hard, too soft, just right. Finally he adjusts his feet, sets the club behind the ball and using a measured rhythm allows this body to swing the club in a pendulum: straight back and straight through.

I have found that if the follow through is longer than the back swing I will make a better putt more often than not. Try it at home on your most green-like carpet. Make 8 and 10 foot putts and notice how the club feels in your hands and hold your position at the end of the stroke while you watch the path of the ball. If the pace is right, your ball will stop about 12 - 18 inches beyond the target.

The expert on putting and the short game is Dave Pelz. Pick up his book on putting at Amazon.com.

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