Will the last shot you played determine where the golf ball goes this time?
You might be surprised to realize that for many people the shot they have just played will have a major impact on their next shot.
The golf player who can switch his mind off that last shot, and move on, will always have a decided advantage over the competition.
If you are one of the many golfers who let their previous performance affect the rest of their game, then retraining your mind will do more for your game than all the tuition that any golf pro can give you.
How many times have we seen Tiger Woods play winning shots from out of the rough?
How many times have we seen him come from behind to win major tournaments?
There is one thing that other players will never do, and that is to write Tiger off if he has not been having a good game. This is because they know he has the mind power to put everything behind him.
In doing so, all the subsequent strokes are focused on winning the tournament.
Even the best golfers in the world duff their shots on occasions, but the way they handle those situations is a major reason why they are at the top of their game.
They don't let mistakes have any impact on the rest of their game, as they know that if they do, they will have no chance of recovery.
Your mind and the thoughts that you allow it to have, are the most powerful influences on the performance of your game.
It impacts on so many areas of play that it is often the downfall of so many golfers who could be better than their handicap suggests.
Consider the additional tension in your body when you are thinking about the last shot and how the next one needs to be so much better to compensate for your error.
That tension is translated into your swing and the possibility of a great shot is diminished accordingly.
Are You Still Thinking about Your Last Shot?
Are You a Leftie?
We can't blame the golf club manufacturers for targeting their most profitable market of right-handed golfers, but it is quite difficult for those golfers who play left handed to find the selection offered to the mainstream players.
I have known a few golfers who made the change early on by training to play right handed but this is unrealistic for most people.
You should be playing in the most natural manner possible and if that means left handed then so be it.
Unfortunately with everything these days it all comes down to economics and profitability and there just isn't enough money to be made for many manufacturers in the left-handed market.
The percentage of left handed players to right handed players is somewhere in the region of 8 percent so the market is quite small, although it is a niche market that some manufacturers are targeting albeit at more expense in most instances.
But there is always a silver lining to the problems that we might encounter.
At a recent after tournament function I was introduced to an elderly gentleman who was playing on a low handicap and had done so for many years.
During the discussion he mentioned left-handed clubs and the fact that he had started playing left handed initially.
He hadn't learnt how to play from a professional and had developed some bad techniques.
Eventually, due to frustration with his game and the inability to source the clubs he wanted to, he enlisted some professional help.
After much discussion it was decided that he should try playing right handed and the golf pro would give him the necessary guidance.
It was a godsend as he was effectively starting from scratch and he learnt how to play golf without any of the bad techniques that he had developed on his own.
The change from left to right, along with the professional training had held him in good steed for the rest of his golf playing life.
Sure, it was a major decision that most golfers wouldn't make, but you can never beat a golfer at trying to improve his game no matter what steps they might take.
Add Variety to Your Practice
I see many golfers practicing the same shots over and over again.
That's Ok if it is an area that needs concentrated attention, and the more you practice a shot the better you will become at it.
If you practice a shot enough you will virtually do it on autopilot when you get to the course, but you must also remember that variety will make you a better all round golfer.
The more techniques that you can master the better you will be on competition day.
You can do this by trying new techniques when you practice.
Observe the results you get when you use different clubs or try different techniques.
Try adding some spin to the ball and see how this affects the flight.
Use different types of golf balls to see whether your level of expertise has changed and allowed you to get more benefit from the different ball compressions.
Even consider testing new golf clubs.
As your game progresses, so will your need to change equipment accordingly.
You won't want to be using the same clubs you had when you started playing and you will probably not want to be using the same golf balls either.
Better equipment will allow you to make shots that weren't possible before, and practice will help get you to the next level where you can take advantage of this equipment.
Try adding more backspin to your shots and see if this helps position the ball better for the next shot and offer more control on faster courses.
Your practice time should also be a time where you allow yourself the opportunity to experiment and try to broaden your game.
Having the ability to add spin to the ball might be the difference between hitting a tree and landing on the green.
You can never learn too much in the game of golf.
Accuracy First and Distance Will Follow
Most beginners have one thing in mind, and that is to hit the ball as far as possible.
Many golfers never quite get out of this mindset and this is one of the reasons why they will never get the distance that they are capable of hitting the ball.
The wise golfer will practice for accuracy first and concentrate on the distance once they have mastered the art of control.
It's not much point hitting the big yards off the tee if the ball is going to end up on another fairway or in the rough.
All you will succeed in doing is make the following shots all the more difficult.
A drive down the center of the fairway, albeit a few meters shorter, will set you up for a better approach shot and a lower round score.
By playing with smaller, more controlled swings, you will gain control of your shots sooner and you will progress to the longer distances faster.
You will be learning correct techniques that will hold you in good steed for the rest of your playing career.
By developing accuracy first, you will also be lengthening the distance of your drives and will in fact hit the ball further.
By starting with smaller swings it will be easier to train your body to develop the correct actions, and these actions will always be needed when you progress to the longer drives.
As you master your swing, you can progress to a full swing knowing that you will have the control to hit the ball in the right direction.
This combination of correct action and a full swing will ensure you will hit the ball further than would be possible if you had only aimed for the big shots from the outset.
If you find that your drives are going wayward, then it would be wise to focus on control, even if that means limiting your swing until you are hitting the ball straight.
Golf Technique: Taking The Rough With The Smooth
No matter how good a player's golf technique, we all have experience of the rough. Of course the ideal is for the ball to stay on the fairway, but in practice we all need to know how to play out of the rough on any course.
With a good technique it is possible to welcome the opportunity to play from rough ground. It gives a certain freedom to our stroke. Greg Norman has even been quoted as saying that he can hit further and straighter from the rough than from any other ground. Just remembering that when you come to take your next rough shot may help you swing confidently straight onto the green.
The reason these shots often travel so far is that they come from a 'flyer' lie. This is a relatively open, flat lie where the grass is long enough to be trapped between the club face and the ball at the moment of impact. The grass absorbs much of the backspin and the ball seems to fly on forever. So take a medium or short length club for a flyer and expect the ball to travel further than if you were on the fairway.
To give more control over the shot and lessen the effect of the grass on the backspin, stand more ahead of the ball than usual and take a steeper swing so that less of the grass is involved. Avoid the temptation to hit the ball harder than if it were a clean shot. There is no need for that.
If the grass is thick and the ball is almost hidden, a different technique is required. A pitching wedge can be used to bring the ball up out of it. Use an open stance and take a firm grasp on the club. The head of the club should be square against the target line of the ball. Alternatively, some golfers recommend squaring the club face to a line slightly right of the target line because the grass will often cause the face to turn on impact. This is a good shot to experiment with in practice sessions.
From time to time you will encounter a perch lie. Here the clump of grass is so thick that the ball is balanced on top of it. This lie is very unstable and you have to watch your step to avoid unbalancing the ball as you prepare. If it falls you will be given a penalty shot. The shot itself is simple, just like playing from a tee, but because of the instability it is important not to touch the ground. That would unbalance the ball a split second before you hit it, and could ruin your shot.
Many golfers enjoy playing from the rough and depending on the lie, it is not always a disadvantage. A golfer can improve his game a great deal by mastering good golf technique for the different lies in the rough.
