Many people do not know it, but excellent golf is very much a mental sport and long before it unfolds on the course it all happens in the mind. Experts usually say something very astounding—that a whooping 90 per cent of the whole thing depends on your mind set. In other words a good game of golf is prepared in the mind and won long before the player even sets foot on the first hole.
Those of you reading this who have plenty of excellent theory and knowledge on how to play golf picked up from videos and books by some of the best players in the world but do not seem able to translate all that knowledge into their game should sit up and pay close attention. Chances are that the missing link between what you know and what you play could be your mind set.
Naturally the mind set is translated into a very high level of concentration during the actual game that focuses on achieving all that has already been done in the mind.
This does not mean that no practice is required. In fact you need to do plenty of it and an excellent game of golf will not come together without a lot of effort.
Take a typical situation where you are feeling very frustrated about your golf swing. Practice does not seem to cut it or cause any improvement. The right course of action is to take a physical break and not a mental one. Take the time to really think about what you are doing wrong and the right way to correct it while staying positive all the time. When you have played out the whole thing on your mind, get back to the course and put it into practice. It is essential that you remember never to accept to be discouraged by anything. Whatever happens remain positive at all times.
Remember the lean spell golf legend Tiger Woods went through? There is a lot to learn from this for all golfers. Woods never gave up knowing pretty well that he was capable of excellent golf and he just kept at it until that lean spell of poor luck passed. The whole episode demonstrated how strong willed and positive this world class professional is.
This is really the difference between those who know lots of theoretical stuff and cannot translate it into their game and those who may know less but are able to play it out in the mind positively long before they tee off.
