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Most golfers will say the hardest part of their game is focus. The mental side of golf is easily overlooked. Ever noticed the guy who breaks 80 every single time? Why is that? Practice, they practice. What they usually do not share is, what they are practicing at. They practice at mental toughness; golf has often been referred to as 10% Talent 90% mental. 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. Well Tempo of the game should never affect the tempo of your swing. Swing tempo is important if you want consistent results in your game. How do I find my tempo you ask? A golfer can find their tempo by doing these simple things:
SLOW DOWN!! Let me say this again SLOW DOWN, if you just swing faster and harder you are not going to get the results you are looking for. 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 get the tempo? While at the driving range your focus should only be on one club at a time. Take your driver and hit 20 balls, then take your 9 iron and hit 20 balls work your way in 3W-8I and on until you have hit them all. To perfect your back swing come to the same position every time. When you hit the ball you should be contacting at the same speed every time. Some people have the misconception that you should swing harder and faster with big clubs and slower and softer with smaller clubs. If you focus on your tempo you will see that by swinging all of your clubs the same your accuracy will improve drastically. When you are working on your follow through it will be the same as your back swing, you will want it to be the same with every club. Your follow through will affect your accuracy a 100% of the time. Working on these simple techniques will improve your mental game and when that improves so does your score.
After you have put in your work at the range, head on over to start working on your chipping. You will want to work with your Wedge, 60deg, 8I, and 9I. You need to use every club for at least 100 chips. Let you tempo lead every ball to the green. If you are hitting the ball with the same tempo every time, your chipping will be more accurate. Remember chipping should be another tool in your arsenal and not the final result. Hitting a home run is great but keeping the ball in play has made many great careers. 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! This is so hard to understand but why? 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 part about putting that changes is the distance. Start with 10 balls and putt then in from 1ft away from the hole. Move your self out 1ft for every 10 balls you sink in a row. 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. You are trying to create a tempo that you are going to follow, now matter what is going on around you. When you take the time to build on your 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.
