Best Way to Improve Your Positive Thinking in Golf

When you approach any golf shot, it is important to have a positive picture of the shot you are trying to play. You should stand on the tee and visualize the ball flying through the air to your target. This picture of the shot you are trying to produce acts as the set of instructions to your brain and body, telling you what to do.

Unfortunately, what easily happens is that instead of picturing the shot you want to produce, you picture the shot you are trying to avoid. It is no good thinking to yourself, ‘please don’t let me go in that bunker’ and having a vivid picture of the bunker. Nor is it any good thinking ‘please don’t let me go out of bounds like I did here yesterday’. If you have a vivid picture of the ball slicing out of bounds, then that too acts as the instructions to your brain and body and will almost certainly produce a slice.

The same can apply to longer handicaps. If you stand behind a pond and hope that you don’t go in it, the picture in your head is probably of the ball dribbling into the water. Your body responds and does just that. Similarly, if you imagine missing a putt to the left, you will probably miss it to the left. Positive thinking really means giving yourself a set of positive instructions.

It is vital for every shot you play that you choose a target. Most golfers imagine they do this. Very few actually do. Most players look down the fairway and try to avoid trouble. Their idea is of trying to aim left of a bunker or right of trees. Their idea of choosing a target is usually simply avoiding obstacles – perhaps driving between trees. This means that the picture in their head is not of the place they are aiming for but of the trouble they want to avoid. If you picture the trees, you will be drawn there like a magnet. The correct way of choosing a target is to pick out some point on the horizon or, even better, at the distance you hope to hit, and focus on that.

When driving down the fairway, choose where you want to land and from your imagination take out a large, white tablecloth. Lay it out there in the middle of the fairway and picture your drive landing or running neatly onto it.

When we address the ball the target we are aiming at is invisible. You need a clear picture of it out there to the left side of your head. If you don’t have a clear picture of the target there is a tendency to look up too soon, trying to see the ball and the target at the same time. If you can’t picture the flag or other target, you might as well be hitting off the side of a ship on a dark, foggy night. Know where the target is. Picture it in the left side of your head.

Whether you are standing on the tee waiting to play or simply have a spare moment at home, picture playing shots in your imagination. Simply rehearsing shots at home or before you play can make it easier to have positive thoughts on the course, which will more often than not translate into better golf shots. For example, if there is a par 3 that you don’t like or haven’t played well in the past, imagine yourself hitting perfect shots to it, over and over. This mental practice should help you make a positive picture of good shots when faced with the real situation in play. A good mental attitude tor playing golf is all about banishing negative thoughts and bad pictures from the mind.