Think Your Way to Playing Better Immediately

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This week’s article is based on the premise that the body responds to the thoughts that are going through your mind.

The major reason that golf is difficult to learn is that the ball sits still and it gives you time to think. Other sports where a ball is involved, such as tennis and baseball the ball is in motion and you simply react to it.  A batter in baseball does not make a conscious decision to swing the bat. He simply focuses on the ball and let’s his body react. In golf, the ball sits there waiting for the brain to decide what to do and when.

This concept is important, even at the beginner level. The brain says hit the ball and the body responds. The ball may only move a few feet, but the body was successful. The instructions were to hit the ball – contact was made.  One of the biggest challenges for a beginner is the desire to help the ball get up in the air which is impossible.

The brain also only responds to the last thought - sometimes known as the” little voice”. The brain does not respond well to negatives. The thought “don’t hit it in the water on the right” will not and cannot produce a good swing. It produces a negative or defensive swing. The result is never a good shot.  The “little voice” is negative by default unless you override it with a positive thought.  It is essential that you focus on what you want to happen rather than on what you don’t want to happen. The only good shots come from positive swing thoughts.

It is much easier to change your golf swing by changing what you are thinking.  You need to examine what your brain is telling your body to do.  Are there so many thoughts it gets confused?  Concentrate on one positive thought.  A good instructor or coach will find out what is going on inside your head.  I have found over the years that the things that need changing are most often things that the student is trying to do because of bad information.  What you believe about how to swing the club correctly is often what is holding you back.

Learning to swing at the target, rather than the ball will solve a multitude of swing problems.  Concentrating on trying to control the club at impact will create a multitude of swing problems.

I always ask my students “What is the one thing you are taking away from our lesson today?”  I find this necessary because what I think I am saying and what they are hearing me say are often two very different things. 

Just remember that you can only handle one swing thought at a time and it has to be positive to drown out the “little voice”.