Recent Articles in MENTAL GAME / COURSE MANAGEMENT

The pre round warm up should be just that- a warm up.

Hitting balls on the range before you play should not be used as a practice session.

Learn how the ball is reacting. Work out which shots are easiest to perform. Then go play with what you have.

The great Sam Snead once said "You gotta dance with the gal you brought"

Any swing work should be then left for the range AFTER the round is complete.

Alignment from the tee can be made a lot easier nowadays due to the agronomy conditions today's courses try to uphold.

Look at the stripes Seve Ballesteros has teed his ball up on here on the 18th hole at Augusta National.

He has his ball teed up on one side of the panel and his feet aligned down the other side of the panel.

Sometimes things such as this are a simple way to get the hole started in good fashion. Effective & easy.

Many amateur golfers make simple mistakes even before they put the ball in play with their tee shot.

Take some care- Tee your ball up in an area that suits your shot shape and your visual- or even your swing (left or right handed)

You don't have to just tee your ball up in the middle and swing away.

Each hole can produce a different view and ask for a different type of shot- you have the ball in our hand

so put it where you gain the most chance of producing a nice positioned drive.

Most PGA players have a moment in their pre shot routine that starts them to become 100 percent

committed to the shot at hand from that moment forward.

Taking the time to fully focus on the upcoming shot increases the chances of a positive outcome for that shot.

Golf is a hard enough game without being fully entrenched in the shot.

The Zone

The Zone- that airless floating indescribable place we wander off to when we seem to have our best rounds of golf.

What is the zone? And HOW can we visit it more often in our journey to better golf?

Let’s change the word “Zone” to the word “Comfort” instead….because that is what it really is.

There is a certain type of comfort in our ability that allows us to slow down and analyse and make better decisions for better results.

Comfort comes from confidence. Confidence in one’s ability to be able to produce the necessary shot that is presented before us.

Obviously good practice and the experience of practicing and performing well struck solid shots to a specific distance and target

spread out over the vast landscape of shots we may need throughout a round of golf will help us have at least one hand on the Zone area.

So we can never under estimate the practice it takes to work on and understand how to hit ANY shot.