Making changes to your mental approach can see you take control of your game and slash your score faster than you might imagine.
In most professional sports, psychologists are an integral part of the coaching team and golf is quite possibly the sport that can benefit from mind power more than any other.
It is more than just self-doubt and negative thought that you need to eliminate from your game.
You need to focus purely on the shot you are about to play.
There should be no thoughts about the last hole or the next hole.
You shouldn't be focusing on the water hole.
How many times have you hit the ball into the water knowing that the ball would never have landed there if it were grass?
It is almost as if we will it into the water sometimes.
This happens when you are so focused on the water that you can't play the shot, as you should.
This can be likened to a learner driver in a car when they are having their first lessons and find that they are veering towards cars that are driving beside them simply because they are so focused on those cars rather than where they are going.
If you believe you are going to slice the ball you are bound to do so.
If that bunker is constantly on your mind you can be sure that the next shot you play will be from the sand.
You need to train yourself to play one shot at a time and only give thought to that one shot.
Nothing else matters - Not what your competition is doing or what your score is at that stage of the game.
Thinking about a bad score will only make matters worse.
No matter how bad the round might be there are still opportunities to make the most of the remaining holes and that's all that matters.
