Every athlete feels that can perform just a bit better even if their original result is a personal best. This is an inherent mental attitude that all champions innately use to be successful. Well, you do not have to be an elite athlete to feel the same way; we amateur golfers often feel we left strokes on the course even when we shoot our lowest score ever. This approach to sports is the same even when we shoot a terrible score…..actually, we want to play better even more. There is a trap in trying to hit back at poor golf scores and it is one most of us have fallen into over the course of our golf journey. Well, I am here to tell you how to avoid this trap in order to correct the ship and sail to better golf scores.

Every golf season provides the opportunity to shoot low golf scores. Each round, each shot, each thought is an opportunity to play better golf. When our game falls off the rails and we hit poor shot after poor shot, we wonder if we will ever improve our game. This process happens many times over the course of my golf season, but after years of trial and error, I know the root cause of poor shots and when identified, I try to kick that error to the curb.

The simple answer to our consistently poor play is lack of control over our emotions. We allow our emotions to drive our golf game vice our mental strength and processes. Instead of trying to contain our negative thoughts and feelings, we let them run ramped over our entire game. Once the negative thoughts creep into our mind the jig is up. Our confidence is shaken, the can’ts show up and we feel like we cannot dig ourselves out of this deep hole of poor play. Fortunately, I have a three step process that will solve all our problems.

I use a the simple process of think, decide and visualize each golf shot. For greater detail on this process you can read it at a previous post. All three steps are important to ensure you consistently make great golf shots. This is no magic trick, but it does allow your mind to focus on what you want your body to do and how you want each golf shot to unfold. I do want to focus on one aspect of this process and that is decide.

Deciding on what shot to hit is important. However, committing to that decision is vital. Many times, we amateurs decide on a shot without 100% commitment. We allow our mind to offer a slight (sometimes larger) margin of doubt to trickle into our mind before we hit the ball. I will say at this point, that unless you are totally committed to the shot, you have not truly decided. This is not the time to hedge your bets. Therefore, if you are going to make any golf shot, ensure your are totally committed to your decision.

Fighting back against poor golf scores is a process that needs to be engrained in your game. Think, decide and visualize is just one simple way to improve your consistency on the links. It is a process that has work and continues to work for my game. Hopefully it works for yours as well.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!