Most golfers will say the hardest part of their game is focus. Often overlooked in golf is the mental game. Ever noticed the guy who breaks 80 every single time? Why is that? Practice, they practice. What they don’t tell you, is what they practice at. When you are talking about a game that is referred to as 90% mental and 10% talent you have to work on your mental toughness. When overcoming that mental side of golf, do you try to change your equipment, the time at which you play, maybe even they guys you play with. Here are some tips that are going to help you be, the golfer, you always wanted to be.
The tempo of golf is often a distraction for golfers, you are stuck behind a slow foursome DISTRACTING or maybe the guys behind you are rushing you DISTRACTING and you feel that pressure to golf faster. Let your your tempo dictate your game! Not the tempo of the people around you. The tempo of your swing is so important; to achieve the desired results. How do I find MY tempo you ask? A golfer can find their tempo by doing these simple things:
SLOW DOWN!! I repeat slow down, everyone thinks the speed at which you swing dictates how far and accurate your ball will move. This is true is some instances, but, for the sake of this article we will not be discussing those concepts. The tempo we are going to discuss today, is going to deal with how you approach every single shot in your game, you need to have the same back swing, contact, and follow through on every swing. How are you going to practice this TEMPO? Go to the driving range and practice with one club at a time. First hit 20 range balls with your driver, next hit 20 range balls with your 9 iron, Next your 3 wood and your 8 iron follow this method until you have hit every club in your bag. In your back Swing you want to make sure you are coming to the same point every time. When you hit the ball you should be contacting at the same speed every time. People often think that the club should dictate your tempo, this could not be further from the truth. You really want to be swinging all of your clubs at the same speed, you will see great improvement on how well you make contact with the ball. Follow through is the same as your back swing you need to follow through the same on every shot. How you follow through directly affect your accuracy. When you focus on these three techniques you will find that your mental game will improve.
After the practice on the driving range is done you will want to head to the chipping green. You will want to work with your Wedge, 60deg, 8I, and 9I. Practice 100 chips with each club. When you start in the deep stuff focus on yout tempo and making sure you land every ball on the green. While working on chipping focus on your tempo, hit the ball the same every time. Remember chipping should be another tool in your arsenal and not the final result. Many careers have been made from singles and doubles hitters it is not just the home run hitters that decide how games turnout. If you can keep your mind focused on the task at hand you are going to chip and hit the green every time. The 8i and 9i will be used to work out the tempo of the bump and run technique. Tempo is still your main focus you are just using a club for a different shot, the tempo is still the same though. Block out what is going on around you and focus on your tempo!! It would be like you are still hitting one of your wedges, you change clubs not the tempo!!
Putting Putting Putting! Why is this a hard thing to understand? Now we have gone from the Driving range to the chipping green to the putting green. While practicing don’t worry about how far or where the ball goes work on keeping your tempo the same every time. You putt the same every time, you will not be changing your swing ever. The only thing about putting that changes is the distance. Start by sinking 10 putts in a row from 1ft away after you have done this, move out to 2ft, repeat until you sink 10 in a row from 10ft away. Tempo is key when you are trying to stay focused.
The goal for these exercises is to teach your to go through the same steps every time. When you are working on you tempo you need to understand that you are separating your self from the game; you are working on you. If you focus on the tempo you will see results!! The game is 90% mental; set a clock in your mind that only allows for the same tempo no matter when or where you are golfing. When your body starts to do the same thing every single time, your mind will become more focused on the task at hand.
