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A major part of any golfers success at the beautiful game is determined by mental preparation, mental attitude and mental resilience when things don’t go exactly as planned.

The greatest exponents of golf all have one thing in common, they know that to be able to play at their best they need to be in total control of their mental faculties and thought processes, as these at the end of the day are the deciding factors of success.

Take a few minutes now to read through the following tips, they will help you to banish negative thoughts and prepare your mind for the game in hand.

• Set your targets every time you play a round of golf, one way is to set yourself three different targets, the bronze target - this is the worst outcome you will accept, the silver target - this should stretch your abilities but be just beyond our reach but not an impossible task, the golden target - this is the score you most desire, a goal that will stretch you to the limits. For example a golfer playing a par 72 course off a handicap of 12 may set a bronze target of 84 (bang on handicap), a silver target of 82 and a gold target of 79. Always set your targets before you play and when you achieve them reward yourself, the higher the target the bigger the reward. Rewards will help reinforce the good feeling you get when you achieve the targets.
• As well as short term targets on a round by round basis, decide on your long term target, a realistic long term target is to reduce your handicap by 4 shots a year. Remember handicap is an average score and not determined by the occasional exceptional round you may have. Again reward your achievements, you could again set bronze, silver and gold targets of say a 3, 4, 5 shot reduction and make the reward higher for greater achievements.
• Always visualise your shots before playing them, just imagine if you could achieve the perfect shot every time, well now you can, picture yourself playing the shot in your minds eye, then play it for real, that’s twice you have played it. Once you start to visualise every shot with a positive result you will see a marked improvement in your game. This is something all the top golfers do, just think back to the many interviews where leading players have recounted how they played the shot in their mind before playing it for real.
• Always focus on the positive aspects of your game, by maintaining a positive attitude you will improve your game. Players who are constantly griping about how poor they are putting, or how bad their swing is, are filling their minds with negative programming this is not for you. Always use positive expressions about yourself and your game, that way you will learn something from every shot that you take.
• Keep your feet firmly on the ground, by that I mean be realistic about your expectations, if you haven’t picked up a club for a week don’t expect too much too soon. Unless you are a professional, golf is a game you play for fun and a sense of achievement, if you play off 18 every hole is a par 5, use those shots wisely.
• Use anchoring techniques to build long term muscle memory, your mind has a marvelous ability to remember how to do things. Create a memory anchor after a great shot by pinching your arm or clenching a fist tightly, repeating the action will help you recreate that state in your mind. Try it, next time you hit that drive 260 yards straight as an arrow, pinch your arm, then the next time you need that drive pinch your arm again and the muscle memory will be triggered. Many golfers at all levels use this technique to slash shots off their handicap.
• Stop fretting about bad shots, when you play a bad shot (don’t worry even Tiger Woods does it), don’t stomp about swearing and cursing simply let it go, the technique I use to do this is to say “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 GONE” and then I let go of all negative feelings about the shot. You can’t turn back the clock and replay that missed putt, so forget about it and move on to the next shot. Concentrating on the bad things that have happened instead of the good things you want to happen can have a detrimental effect on your game. Many a golfer has took the thought of a poor putt with them to the next tee and sent their drive crashing off at a tangent into the rough. Remember its only one bad shot LET GO, and concentrate on the next one, it may turn out to be not that bad after all.

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