Golf "A game of the mind"

The golfing club championships are this weekend and I can't help feeling that it is the most important golfing weekend of the year for me. Yes I take it seriously and yes I am desperate to get down to single figures, but the fact that I have taken a week off this week and only practiced my short game shows that I am keen to do well.

Problem is it could all go out of the window by the 4th hole on day one, many a man have suffered on this tricky par 3, one of the hardest in England and an absolute bastard to get to the green safely.

Suffice to say I have started to read the Dr Bob Rotella books which is all about golf physcology and preparing your mind for the game of golf, forget quirky swings, dodgy putting strokes, he reckons that by adapting some simple mind techniques and staying in the present on each shot (never in the past, or future) then your game will come on leaps and bounds by always remembering great shots and not bad.

At first I found this methodology hard to grasp but then it clicked into place one weekend when on the first hole my playing partner had an absolute mare, lost his first ball let the ladies through, went back to play three of the tee after accusing the fourball on the 18th of hitting his ball and then had a tantrum and wind him and everybody else up for the next 4 holes.

Suffice to say that my great drive was sitting on the fairway and anybody who knows Brampton knows that despite your drive your second can easily get you in to trouble and ruin your round. So what did I do?...

I noted the morning before the game a series of points to get me through the round,

• stay in the present
• stick to your routine
• one shot at a time
• remember you last great golf shot on the hole your are playing
• enjoy it
• remember when you have hit the ball there is nothing you can do

So sat on the first fairway with my nice shiny prov1 sat in prime position I waited got my little book out and read my notes over and over, I smiled at the fact that my partner was winding himself up, safe in the knowledge that the more he wind himself up then the calmer I would become. I laughed and chatted with the ladies as we let them through, tried to calm down my playing partner, but most importantly I stopped myself from thinking about my next shot, until I was ready to play it.

The next thing to remember was be clincal with your decision making process, I did just that from when I arrived at my ball and before all the commotion I had decided to take a 5 wood. I stuck with the decision and tried to remain confident that it was the right one. Infact I was almost arrogant about the decision I had made.
I visualised the shot, went into my routine, and then hit the ball, as sweet as you could imagine.

The ball flew into the air fading from left to right to move away from the big oak tree protecting the green in the right. It landed plum in the middle of the green 195 yards of pure magic and more importantly I felt content and happy in the knowledge that I had taken on board Dr Bobs advice.

I am glad to say I made Par and went onto shoot a net 69 and that was with a nine at the par 4 16th. What pleased me more I applied the same mental thinking after that hole and said oh well play the next 2 holes well and you will still get a cut so take the positives. I went par par which was even more pleasing.

This year I have come down from 14 to 10.7 in three months all since I read the book, safe to say it is working, so please ensure you read Dr Bobs Books they have helped me and now I am looking forward to the Club Championships already knowing that I can play well and even if I don't I just understand and accept that its not my day