Believe In Your Game

I’ve often stressed how having confidence in your game plays an extremely important role. Being able to stand over the ball and know you can hit a good shot, says it all. This tip will hopefully provide some insight into improving your confidence.

Okay, you’ve just finished playing 18 holes; What do you do next? I see it everyday. You go back to the car, throw the clubs in the trunk, pull off those stinky golf shoes, mumble a few cuss words, and head to the nineteenth hole. You know whereof I speak. The nineteenth hole is where all golfers flock in need of therapy after eighteen holes of physical and mental abuse. It is here where you lie about your good shots and try to forget about the bad ones.

The next time you play a round, I suggest you alter your routine just a bit. Don’t worry, they will still keep the beer on ice for you, but try and put it off till later. Upon the completion of your round, do what the tour players do: Go directly to the range. Do not pass the bar or collect your $200.00 skin money. At the range, (or what I call the eighteenth and ½ hole) mentally go over your round while it’s still fresh in your mind. Think about some of the poor shots that you hit. On #6 did you hit your 7-iron left of the green, resulting in a costly bogey? If so, practice hitting a few 7-irons until you’re satisfied that you’ve corrected the mistake. Go over each hole and each shot, including putts. If you had three short putts that broke from left to right, and you missed them all on the right hand side, go to the practice green, find a left to right breaking putt and don’t leave until you’re comfortable stroking it in the hole.

It is so important that you don’t begin a round with negative thoughts still lingering from the last round. At your job, if you make a mistake, I would hope that you correct it before you leave for the day. I’m simply suggesting you do the same thing at the golf course. The range is where you can make amends for poor performance.

The nineteenth hole can certainly help you forget about that fat 9-iron you hit in the water on #8, but next Saturday you’re going to have to face that same shot again, so you better be prepared.