There are loads of topics about technique and mechanics, and even a few about mental techniques like ClearKeys and the like.

How about a discussion on putting together a decent score, i.e. taking your current range swing out onto the course.

I know that you aren’t supposed to think about mechanics when you are out playing 18, but what should your conscious brain be doing as you prepare to hit each shot? Is it possible to be totally focussed on the result and not think about imperative components? Is it best to focus completely on rhythm and timing rather than plane / hinge / etc?

Especially pertinent is what to do when the heat is on, i.e. you’ve strung a few pars and birdies together – or just rolled in an ugly triple-bogey. What if you have just hit a few nervous slices or pull hooks – what is the best way to reset and get back to a workable swing?

Please – no platitudes, “play one hole at a time” etc. Some real insights here please, especially from people that can consistently shoot sub-80s ideally after years of being an also-ran hacker.

Also accepted – ideas on how to get ready for the first tee in 30 min or less. I know lagpressure has said he never hits balls, just does drills. Interesting concept. Like the idea, please explain.

I actually hate hearing the “don’t think about mechanics on the course” line. It’s said so often because when you’re playing well, there’s no need to think, so somehow the reverse is thought to be true?

If things aren’t going well, who’s not going to try to fix it ASAP?

lagpressure mentioned in another thread that golf is great when it becomes a chess match between yourself and the course architect. I think this is extremely important to keep a round together. Getting caught behind the only tree on the course no longer is seen as bad luck but rather a challenge issued for you to work out how to save par. I think we all like a challenge, even if we lose it. I know my most memorable shots have been played from positions that I could have just spat the dummy in and be hot-headed for the next few shots.

Hi Muntz,

What a great topic here..

We all seem to have a comfort zone.. with scores we are comfortable shooting. When we find ourselves outside of that comfort zone, we tend to push ourselves back into what is familiar. I think this has to do with our self image, and probably goes pretty deep into the world of psychology. When we are playing out of our minds, we tend to make bad swings to get us back in the comfort zone, then again, if we are playing horrible, sometimes we start playing better because we have finally surrendered to our “badness”, “it just can’t get any worse!” so we
find ourselves a bit more “to hell with it” and relax and just start to let go and often find ourselves making better swings than in those moments of uncontrolled frustration.

Here is something I like to think about if I start to feel I’m playing “too good”.

1. The ball has no idea how many under par I am. The laws of physics are not going to change because I just birdied three in a row.

2. Focus on making a good swing. This sounds obvious, but sometimes you have to “trick the brain”. If I start to feel nervous,
the conversation in my head might go like this..

John, apparently you have decided it’s time to hit some bad shots after all these good ones.. ok.. I’m fine with that.. there is a hazard right of the green, let’s just quit on it and put it in the hazard.

Now what I have essentially done is surrendered to the fact I am going to hit a bad shot.. I have accepted the fact that I am going to make a bad swing and blow the shot, my round, whatever…
amazingly, I feel a bit relieved, even though I haven’t hit the shot yet.
Now there are two things I can do.. one, I can just say, “we’ll since I know I am going to hit a crap shot here, I might as well just let go and try to make a good swing, because if I do what I am feeling, it certainly will be a bad shot.. so let’s just make a good swing, because anything I do will be better than what I feel I am going to do thinking like this..

Another trick is to think about the hazard right of the green, concentrate on it.. I mean your mind is going there anyway right?
So when I make my swing, I just focus on hitting it into the hazard, but right at impact, I switch the hazard to LEFT of the pin instead… inside my mind…

I have really pulled myself out of some brain freezes over the years with this one.. by confusing the brain, you keep it busy.. you fully accept the bad before it happens, then throw it a curve at the last second to neutralize the lopsidedness of the thought process..
In this case, two negatives make a positive. The Hazard right suddenly becomes the Hazard left… the brain often will split the difference.

It is rare that I use this technique, but in an extreme case of self doubt, I will do it..

For the most part I think of three things..

1. Pick my target and shot shape…
2. Visualize and feel the shot in the mind
3. Commit then Execute
4. Live with the results

Each of these could easily be 4 different chapters in a book.. but it doesn’t really need to be that complicated.

Quick thought on the driving range issue..

I have always questioned the value of hitting off mats to the point that I no longer do it. The feel is just too different between grass and astro anything.

I find doing drills does a better job of keeping my muscle tone strong..
and keeps my focus on my body’s idealisms. I only need to hit a couple shots to quick test.

I like to just take swings with no ball.. try to take 10 divots that all look the same.. same depth, length.. this will help you loosen up and show focus and intent. We all know that what we see on the range often doesn’t transfer well to the course.. so take it as a lesson learned, and go play golf.. I like the idea of bringing good thoughts to the first tee, not a recent memory of a bunch of snap hooks minutes before on the range..

I like feeling totally warmed up before I get to the course, so if need be, I can step from the car right to the first tee with confidence. I do like to roll a few putts across the green to get a feel for speed, that is all. Long putts are best. Maybe a couple chips from the rough to get a quick feel there..

If you do range it before the round, use it to tell you what the tendency for the day might be.. fade, draw.. etc…
Sam Snead once said… “Dance with the gal ya brought”

Your not going to rebuild your swing the morning of your round so why try..

Ball- target..

go play golf..

Good stuff!

Another one I find calms any negative thoughts creeping in is understanding that a string of bad shots or tough breaks can happen at anytime during the round.

If they occur at the first few holes we stay positive and know that we’ll settle down soon and things will improve.

If they occur in the middle of the round, we’ve already got the confidence from earlier in the round to ride us through them.

But if they occur during the final stretch (which means you’ve got a pretty good score going) we start to think we’re choking, and we all know you get what you think about.

So understanding that today’s round is no different than last week’s round except the tough times happen to hit at a different part of the round, I find has eliminated any sort of choking.

We all seem to have a comfort zone.. with scores we are comfortable shooting. When we find ourselves outside of that comfort zone, we tend to push ourselves back into what is familiar. I think this has to do with our self image, and probably goes pretty deep into the world of psychology.

When we are playing out of our minds, we tend to make bad swings to get us back in the comfort zone.

Then again, if we are playing horrible, sometimes we start playing better because we have finally surrendered to our “badness”, “it just can’t get any worse!” so we
find ourselves a bit more “to hell with it” and relax and just start to let go and often find ourselves making better swings than in those moments of uncontrolled frustration.

Another trick is to think about the hazard right of the green, concentrate on it. I mean your mind is going there anyway right?

So, when I make my swing, I just focus on hitting it into the hazard, but right at impact, I switch the hazard to LEFT of the pin instead… inside my mind…

I have really pulled myself out of some brain freezes over the years with this one.. by confusing the brain, you keep it busy.. you fully accept the bad before it happens, then throw it a curve at the last second to neutralize the lopsidedness of the thought process.

Lag,

You have given us so much in your time on this forum, not all of which I have in my arrogance or ignorance, your choice, agreed with but the above is sheer poetry.

If ever anything sums up the travails that the recreational (I hate the term Hacker) golfer suffers this is it in a nutshell. And, from one so accomplished as to never have been through the trials and tribulations that we recs’ – or so it would seem – deal with on a daily basis. Just goes to show that we all were cast from the same mould, I guess.

Thank you so much for everything but especially for this particular bit of enlightenment.

I recommend that all recreational golfers read these words of wisdom that Lagpressure has kindly given us before going to bed each night and before teeing up the next morning.

Priceless words and so very true.

I great way to learn how to put a score together is to not play the same course each week! We all have a certain hole (s) at whatever course we may be members at that we do not feel comfortable on when on the tee. One such hole at my course is a relatively short par 4 of 340m. It has OB on the left and trees on the right and the teeing ground is angled at the trees so it can be difficult to aim were you want to. For the life of me, I just never feel comfortable on the tee. Some days I will hit an iron as the fairway gets very narrow around the 220 mark and some days I will hit a 3 wood as it can play into the breeze. It is a great hole, one of my favourites but the tee shot plays on my mind, no matter how good I may be hitting the ball on the day. So, playing the same layout week in week out makes you “stale” in a way. If you can, get out and play as many other courses as you can weekly or monthly and ones you have not played before as you will experience different shots and situations. Many people have their club handicap at their course and it may be “10” for example. They go away to another course and can’t play to “18”. The reason for this is that they are too comfortable playing their home course. How are you supposed to get better if you cannot play other courses to your handicap? Another example is….your course is 5500m long and you play off 4. Every par 4 is a driver/wedge and the par 5’s are easily reached in 2 with an iron/hybrid for such a player. This player gets used to hitting short irons into par 4’s all day but his mid to long iron game is not there. He goes away to a course that is suddenly 6500m long and par 4’s become driver/long iron. The par 3’s are 190m and not 135m back at his home course. The par 5’s are then 580m and you need to hit 3 great shots to em’ and back on your home course, the Par 5’s are 440m. It does make a huge difference.
Mind games on the golf course:
We all have them on the course EVERY ROUND no matter who you are. I got some great advice many years ago and that was..Whenever you have a water hazard whether it be off the tee or or next to the green, your mind will always register it. No shit I said!...but if you learn to work with these hazards, you will become a better player. How can you work with a hazard was my thought? If you are in the water, your up the creek? What the golf pro was saying was that if you aim at the hazard and learn to work the ball away from the danger, that will help you in the long run. Make sense? Too many people steer the ball away from water or whatever trouble there is and the ones that lay up are just implementing some course management which is fine and also smart depending on what level you are at. This advice was given to me when I was playing off a 7 handicap a couple of years ago. It took me a while to get it into my head that to aim at a water hazard some 230m off the tee and work the ball back into the fairway on say a dogleg par 4 was crazy. Trials and tribulations and the mind overcoming the actual swing at times meant a pull or something but in the end, it was a great piece of advice to me. I am not saying, aim at every ocean and bunker on the course and work the ball off it but when you come to a hole that spooks you, why not? That bloody 3rd hole at my course does spook me as I have mentioned and I reckon it is in-grained into my head as my homer hole.
How to get ready 30 minutes before your tee time?
Us golfers are a strange bunch and we all have our ways to get ready b4 a round. There are guys at my club that sink piss for an hour up in the bar and they are always on time when it comes to their tee time. They are good players, fast etc. There are also guys that get to the course 2 hours before their tee time and hit balls on the range, have a few energy drinks, spend 30 minutes on the putting green and are dying for name to be called to the tee. A few weeks ago I had to play early in the Saturday comp at 6.40am and the young trainee pro said to me that he started at 4.45am and he had members turning up at 5.00am on the day. Daylight is 6.10am at the moment so I shook my head? What are these golfers to do at 5 in the morning? Do they have a putt in the dark? As I say, golfers are an odd bunch.
As for my “getting ready 30 minutes ” b4 a round. I like to hit 30/40 balls on the range and that is about it. I normally hit off in the arvo field around 11.00am. I am at the course at 9.30am, do my range thing (normally 45 minutes-wedges, chips, bunkers and a few drives), have a beer or 2 in the bar and make our way to the tee.
As “Muntz” started this thread, I do find it crazy that another person has mentioned, “do not hit balls, just drills” b4 your game. It is great to hit a few balls on the range before you play to warm up and more people should do it! How many times have you said to yourself after playing the first hole? Shit. I am not warmed up? Golf is not about excuses as the scorecard does not update boys. It is in real time. The golfing gods do not give a shit about what you think or do. They can be nice to you every now and then but if you do not hit a few balls before you play your round either in the nets or on a range is crap. Just go and hit the ball, smile, frown and throw your club if need be? Golf is a game that is supposed to piss you off.

Sorry about the long post.

My coffee got cold:)

Sorry about the long post.

No need to apologise Trent, there is some really interesting stuff here to chew on.

I like your idea of playing away from your home course – to be honest my golf during winter is turning into a bit of a grim grind. Cold, wet afternoons with an added sense of inevitability – uhoh, here’s that par 5 I always screw up.

I remember when I first started playing and I was exploring all the golf courses within cooee, there was a real sense of adventure on playing courses blind, wondering what was around the dogleg, where the bunkers, hazards were etc. Now I’ve plunked down on a membership it is hard to justify stumping up green fees to play on a public course further from home.

I agree that hitting balls on the range / nets can send you off on the wrong track… hitting like that will always be different to hitting a “live” ball and not always in a helpful way. If you hit a bunch of range shots bad you don’t have time to fix it, so suddenly you are hitting off the first tee with a bunch of negative thoughts in your head and are straight into “tinker” mode. I like the idea of swinging without a ball so you don’t have a chance to get into a negative funk. Or maybe just focussing on hitting pitch shots and short irons at 3/4 effort, just to get a sense for rhythm and good setup / ball contact / divots.

Conversely, I once played shocking after hitting a bunch of 4 irons absolutely stiff on the range. Suddenly I was all pepped up and nervous at the same time – wow, I’m hitting it great. Hit 4i off the first tee for safety – and hit a nasty fat shot, with the ugliest backswing in history. Took me a bunch of holes to clear my head and get back to some sort of postive swing. Finished with 34 points, just about typical for me.

the above is sheer poetry

gotta agree, it’s like Lag’s done a brain dump of my last few months golfing…

No matter how solid I’m playing (and I don’t mean perfect) I still find a way to derail myself. Two weeks ago I played a mini-game, setting myself a target of +12 by shooting +2 for every three holes. Well b#%%&r me if I wasn’t exactly on track after 15 holes, despite getting some spectacular putting yips after the turn (12 putts on the first nine holes, 21 putts for the last nine.)

Last three holes I did the maths and realised I was on track to post a pretty good medal round – then promptly went double, bogey, double. My last hole I might as well have played blindfolded, my brain hijacked my swing and took it backwards about five years.

1. Pick my target and shot shape…
2. Visualize and feel the shot in the mind
3. Commit then Execute
4. Live with the results

Each of these could easily be 4 different chapters in a book

I guess it’s that point 3 that I would like someone to unpack, how do you play that shot you’ve visualized without getting strangled in mechanical thoughts…?

Is it about rehearsing the shot with a few practice swings? What swing thoughts or checkpoints are OK and which ones are verboten?

When I have a clutch shot that is outside of my 9 dots I pick a club that I have to hit hard so my commitment is 110%. This seems to force out all the bad bits of my swing and most often the shot comes off. This promotes a very athletic swing for me as I feel I’ve used every muscle in my body. But I can only be aggressive with any confidence if I’ve done the hard yards in practice.

We’ve all had to hit out of the trees through a small gap and surprised ourselves when the shot comes off. We are forced to visualise before the shot and we know if we don’t commit we are in for a disaster.

(Lying down on Phsychologist’s couch …) “Doctor, why can’t I do this all the time?”.

1. Pick my target and shot shape…
2. Visualize and feel the shot in the mind
3. Commit then Execute
4. Live with the results

Each of these could easily be 4 different chapters in a book

I guess it’s that point 3 that I would like someone to unpack, how do you play that shot you’ve visualized without getting strangled in mechanical thoughts…?

Is it about rehearsing the shot with a few practice swings? What swing thoughts or checkpoints are OK and which ones are verboten?

Reverse every natural instinct you have and do just the opposite of what you are inclined to do and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing. – BEN HOGAN, POWER GOLF

This is how warming up helps me.
I will hit 30-50ish balls, warming up with wedge, and as soon as i feel “comfortable” ill change to 8 iron, 4 iron, driver.
With each ill hit 3-5 balls, feeling comfortable, then i’ll hit a fade and draw.
Therefore i have done it with a range of clubs, and i can bring that to the course, and conjure up confidence easily from the range.
Also, if i know what club i’m hitting from the first tee, i play my last 3 balls as the first tee.
e.g i need to hit 5 iron with a draw, ill place the ball in the ground, step behind, take preshot routine, set up and then slam.

I personally do not work on swing mechanics, regardless if i have been working on some.
The practise range can give me confidence, but i will leave it at that. I don’t want to be working on my game and trying to score at the same time to magnify the “bullcrap” i am able to produce heh.

When i’ve had really good rounds. e.g my 62, i was calm and confident. Infact.
My confidence was ridiculous. It wasn’t like “oh i’ve got 210m into a strong wing with water short and left, where the pin is and i’m going for it”
It was more along the lines of, pin is tucked short left, if i hit a strong 3 iron, ill hit it middle of the green, 15 feet, and give myself a chance.
From there holing putts with confidence is so much more easier.

Also, with hazards, i dont quite agree with Trent Giles..
I mean if water is right, and your wanting to be left of it, if you hit a draw, and your aiming at the water to turn it off it.. you’ve gotta have huge nuts, cause if your a tad slow, and you hit a dead block.. well your dead.
I prefer aiming away from the hazard, and therefore bringing the ball back into play.
E.g water is right, i aim well left and hit a fade.
Because then if you leave it left, you should be fine, and if you over do it, you should have enough room to not get to the water hazard.

Hitting a triple bogey, i think people should just ignore the effect entirely. e.g, Whats the difference having a triple on the first, and shooting 70, or having a triple on the 16th, and shooting 70?
Not much.
although it would be surprising how many let that triple get to themselves.
1 hole out of 17.
One hole doesn’t make a round (unless it’s 1 or 13) and thats where your perception should be.

Sorry about long post

This is good soul searching stuff. Sometimes its hard to be short.

Whitednj,

I was playing with Jackie Nicklaus Jr one time, and he told me the story about his dad winning the Masters.. Jackie was caddying for pop when they came to #10 at Augusta, and Jackie of course handed dad the driver, and Jack handed it back, and said, “let’s stay AGRESSIVE, give me the 3 wood”.

Muntz,

Committing to the shot shouldn’t be that tough is you truly are able to live with the results..

One of my greatest lessons came at the New Zealand Open. I heard the starter announce Sandy Lyle to the first tee.. he was playing in the group in front of mine… so I walked over from the putting green to watch him tee off, he had recently won the Masters.. Sandy gets up and cold tops the ball off the tee.. I mean it literally traveled less than 50 yards.. just past the women’s tee box.
I watched him hit his second from the rough before the fairway even started. When I finished my round for the day and posted a respectable 72, I walked over to the scoreboard to have a look, and I saw Sandy had shot a 68…yep, with a bogey on the first.

I don’t think in my entire career I have ever topped a shot off the first tee.. and I have never won a major, let alone several! If I get nervous on the tee, all I have to do is think about Sandy’s topped drive, and it reminds me how vulnerable we are as golfers, regardless of our skill level. I usually crack a smile, and then just think, let’s do better than Sandy did.. and I usually do! lol

But back to commitment,
If it’s a full shot, I pull the club, take two looks at the target and hit it.
I try to let my mind go blank.. or I might repeat something like “ball-target” several times, the last time “ball” starts the backswing
and “target” will be impact… just don’t let yourself spend too much time over it.. unless you have great mind control.

I have always admired the guys that make it look easy.
In 87 SA Open I was paired with Bob Shearer and David Graham in the final round.
Bob would take no time over it at all, just step up, waggle a time or two and smack.. David Graham was the polar opposite, he would make golf look like Chinese water torture..! I guess he came out of the Nicklaus school of golf surgery…. but I really loved the way Shearer played and his carefree relaxed “this is easy” look. Clearly he didn’t want to give his mind too much time to think about things.

Kiwi,

Would love to hear about the 62.
How many greens did you hit?
Was it 8, 9 or 10 under?
Did you string a few together? a pair of eagles? chip ins?
Was 59 on your mind at one point?
Was this recent or back in the days of persimmon and blades?
How did you sleep that night after such an accomplishment?
Was it in a tournament or just a carefree round with the mates?
Was this your best round by a longshot or did you feel it coming from a series of other strong rounds in the mid sixties?
How long were your putts?
How was the next round after that?

please do tell us about it…

ok.. ill explain it all.

It was in a Saturday competition,in summer with average roll and was also playing probably the biggest tournament in a club (not including strokeplay and matchplay) called Middlemore Mugs

Off our white tees, which measures 6032m.
and i can’t give exact details of how long putts are cause i dont remember some of them sorry.

Ill give a brief explaination.. then a deeper one for people who want blow by blow.

i had 10 birds, an eagle and 2 bogeys.
I had hit 17 greens.
28 putts including a 3 putt.
i hit 3 par 5s in 2.
So 10 under 62.

I wouldn’t class it anywhere near as a “tournament” score.. due to it being my own course obviously, but it was a good feeling.
Anyways.
In depth:
1st hole. 304m par 4 dogleg left. Decided to take the high trees on seen we had to win against our opponants. Hit my drive 5m short of green, chipped up made putt.
2nd hole: 482m par 5, hit a solid drive down, hit a 4 iron to within 20 feet and 2 putted for bird.
3rd hole: 160m par 3, 7 iron to about 15 feet, and had the putt horse shoe on me (i think i’ll remember that putt for the rest of my life :()
4th hole: 352m par 4, hit drive down right side.. 58 to somewhere (can’t quite remember), 2 putted par.
5th hole: 462m par 5, Driver down the left side, 7 iron to 20 feet, 2 putt birdie (-3)
6th hole: 168m par 3, 6 iron to somewhere… 2 putt 3.
7th hole: 495m par 5, Driver hybrid, to about a foot. 1 putt 3 eagle (-5)
8th hole: 338m par 4. Decided to take trees on… and left it in trees. chipped out to 50m, hit wedge to somewhere around 10 feet, and 2 putted for 5 (-4)
9th hole: 342m par 4. Slight down wind, hit a huge skyball down 10 short of green. Chipped up made bird. (-5)
10th hole: 365m par 4: Drive down into fairway bunker, 54 to about a foot, 3 (-6)
11th hole: 484m par 5, driver into trees. Hit a career 2 iron under tree branches 20 short of green, chipped up made putt (-7)
12th hole 145m par 3. This is where i changed my mentality and tried to play safe. and i played extra extra safe hitting it to 50 feet away… 3 jack 4 (-6) (yes i was a little frustrated)
13th hole 398m par4 (stroke1) (out of bounds down left.. and going right is completely dead). Took driver and just played how i started. 54 degree to 10 feet, short in jaws.
14th hole: 353m par 4, driver 58 to 5 feet, holed putt (-7)
15th hole: 359m par 4, driver 58 to 5 feet again, holed putted (-8)
16th hole: 384m par 4, driver pw to 10 feet, lip in putt (-9)
17th hole 245m par4, 3 wood over the back, made good up and down out of rank rough (-10)
18th hole 196m par 3 (entire carry as huge gully and its ob left and trees right)
Took a little extra time i remember, an hit a really good 5 iron to 15 feet, putt was short in jaws.
62.
Then we had to go down the 19th for our match, and i birdied the 1st again and we lost LOL.
I remember we teed off at 8 in the morning, finished at 12.. and i was sitting upstairs havin a drink, it was a great day and all i wanted to do was go out and play more golf.
Infact the only thing i did was went home and went to sleep for 3ish hours.. was so exhausted haha. (sounds pathetic)
This was in february, and to be honest, its one of the few times i have broken 30 putts. I have lost all confidence in putting, and i think i’m hitting it even better.
This is my 4th year playing golf, so no, i have never seen a persimmon wood heh.
I had been playing good golf, striking it well before then, and i had a 68 the week before, so i was reasonably confident in my ability.
Next round was 75. I definately remember that. My mind was always like “you did better last time ya dick”.
Since then my mental ability has come in leaps and bounds, it’s just my flat stick.
59 wasn’t on my mind at all, even after 9 holes. I was amazed i was -5, i didnt even realise.

he had recently won the Masters.. Sandy gets up and cold tops the ball off the tee..

that’s a great story, it’s good to have that perspective – yeah, take the bogey and move on

Kiwi_golf_nutter

Thanks for the post/s!

kiwi’s 62 shows how useful it is to hit 250m+ off the tee.

A lot of his birdies were from 2 putts or chip and 1 putts. And most of the rest were wedges into par 4s.

An amazing round. Holing a one foot putt for eagle, well, our hats are off to ya kiwi.

1. Pick my target and shot shape…
2. Visualize and feel the shot in the mind
3. Commit then Execute
4. Live with the results

Each of these could easily be 4 different chapters in a book

I guess it’s that point 3 that I would like someone to unpack, how do you play that shot you’ve visualized without getting strangled in mechanical thoughts…?

Is it about rehearsing the shot with a few practice swings? What swing thoughts or checkpoints are OK and which ones are verboten?

Reverse every natural instinct you have and do just the opposite of what you are inclined to do and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing. – BEN HOGAN, POWER GOLF

Great thread, just like the practice one.

I’ll do my best to help you on point 3 Muntz.

If you think about the theatre, what happens the day before opening night? They have a dress rehersal. What is the point of a dress rehersal? To make practice exactly like performance. I advocate two practice swings (well a max of two) where you are trying to exactly replicate the shot. Mark the swing out of ten – if you get ten on the first practice swing, step into the shot and pull the trigger. If you make a 5, try to make a ten with the next one.

When you hit the shot, just mark it out of ten, it helps you stay neutral.

This is good soul searching stuff. Sometimes its hard to be short.

Quite right, Mate, and on top of that it’s very, very hard to see the complete picture, so we lean a lot. This thread represents a theme that’s been “in play,” as long as I’ve been around the game, and if history tells us anything, it’s been there since the game began.

I have a hard time telling if players want to find a solution, or just like to talk about it. Either way is OK, though by themselves, neither will make the whole trip with nothing but consideration for conscious thinking.

I even hesitate to mention it, since it must be that the entire thinking program for us humans (the one that includes comprehension of the non conscious part, too) hasn’t found a place on the “want list.”

In any event, some good stuff here regarding self-talk, though it might help to separate between what we do in pre-shot and what we do over the ball, thought-wise.

Kiwi_golf_nutter,

Thanks for sharing…
That’s a great round of golf! Congrats!

It’s interesting to see that all 10 birdies were made from within wedge range or closer, or two putting on the five pars twice. It really goes to show how important the short game is inside 120 yards.. It just sounds like good solid golf, and with the exception of the long hybrid shot to the five par for the eagle to a foot.. there was nothing really that out of the ordinary. Long straight drives, good solid wedge work… and just over 50% conversion rate with the putter all inside 10 feet. No chipping in, holing shots from the fairway… no draining 60 footers..

This is really wonderful stuff for all to see here.. a 62, done without any miracles, other than the 1 great shot from the fairway to set up the eagle.

A good day with the driver long and in play. Wonderful wedge work,
and make ten putts of varying length from 1 to 10 feet.

Pay attention everyone! Lot’s to be learned here!

What a great thread!!
You could write a great deal on this stuff. I am prompted to mention a recent conversation with a person who is a Hypnotherapist. She says golf is a sport very suited the the use of hypnotherapy.
Apparantly you have a negative thought, or experience of the past “dealt with” in some way and replaced with a positive one when in some high level state of relaxation (hypnotic state).
This may seem a lot of crap to many but I have seen positive results in some circumstances. The cynics will no doubt refer to the party trick stuff they may have seen on TV.
Anyway I may try it out and report.

Further to Burner, I have read most of what Lagpressure has written and whole heartedly agree! The deepth and breadth of what Lag has put on the these forum is immense. so from me, thanks!! I look forward to your next post.
Gary