Everyday, I see anywhere from 100-350 golfers pass through the pro shop at Twin Lakes Country Club. Every single one of them is full of hopes and dreams of playing their best golf. 95% of them are dead before they make their first swing. Golf is amazing. (I'm a bit biased, having chosen it to be my profession, but stay with me). I've played numerous sports in my life, from baseball to soccer to football to basketball, and golf is the only one where your mental state and thought process while playing is unquestionably the most important aspect of your ability to execute the golf you want. This is due to some qualities of golf that are pretty unique. First, you have a lot of time to think. A typical 18 hole round takes around 4 hours, and if you're playing a decent course anywhere near a city on a Sunday morning, it's closer to 5. Think about a 4-5 hour stretch of your day today- how much did your mood swing during that time? If you're like most people, you might go from stressed to bored to hungry to irritated to thrilled depending on how close you are to quitting time at work. Did your mood affect how you worked, or can your mood even affect the quality of time you spend with friends or loved ones? Your golf is going to be continously affected by the way you feel about yourself and your game on the course. Too often, people allow themselves to be pushed around by their own mind. Tell me if you've had the self-fulfilling bad shot happen to you- maybe it's a hole that you "always" slice one into the trees or lake. You may be cruising along playing well, but then you get on the tee with the pond or out of bounds all down the right. You're fighting your thoughts, maybe trying to remember three tips from Golf Digest all at once. Deep back in your mind, you know you dread this tee shot. You tell yourself to keep your head down, and THWACK, you see your new Titleist scream low and hard right. "I knew it," you mutter, and grab another ball out of your bag, knowing this hole is always the one that gets you- and crushes your hopes of breaking 100 or 90 or 80. You made that shot happen. By focusing on what you didn't want to happen, instead of focusing on what you wanted to happen, you accidentally told your mind-body connection to meet your expectations of what "normally" happens on that hole. But here's the kicker- maybe you have hit bad shots there in the past, but what you did yesterday HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU DO TODAY. Heck, what you did on the last shot shouldn't affect this one. If you've played enough golf to have read this far, you've hit every single shot you need to hit to not slice that ball in the trees or lake. All you have to do is give yourself the best chance you can to hit that shot. Easier said than done, says the reader. I'm just being realistic. Not so. If you're not focusing your mind with a positive attitude and with a clear picture of the shot you want to hit, you weren't giving yourself the freedom to play your best. I can't stress this enough. Too many golfers I play with on a daily basis have no game plan when they get on the tee. I'm trying to hit the fairway, they say. Not good enough. Next time you go play, try this. On each shot, stand behind the ball, and look at where you plan to hit the ball. Really look. Picture the shot as specifically as you can. See the curve of the ball, whatever your natural shot is- a slice, a draw. See it bounce, spin, and settle on the cut of the fairway you want. Pick the smallest possible target to aim at. This one is easy to understand. If you were trying to shoot a bullseye in archery or darts, you don't aim "at the board". You aim at the dead center of the bullseye. Try that in golf. Pick a tree branch that is dead on line with the part of the fairway that you want to hit it in. REALLY PICK IT. Focus on that tree trunk, or 150 yard stake (your target) and think about nothing but sending your ball towards that target. Then when you stand over the ball, ready to hit, picture that target in your minds eye. Give one glance back to the target, then look back at the ball, keeping the target in your mind. Then let your swing go, thinking about nothing but that target. You'll be amazed how many times your body will send the ball right at your target. Now's the hard part. Whatever happens with that particular shot, forget it. It has absolutely no impact on your next shot, other than whatever you let your mind do. Each time you hit a ball, you create a new shot for yourself to hit. It doesn't matter how you got it there, believe me, it's there regardless. And if you take that attitude on every single shot, you'll be able to control the mental swings that naturally happen throughout the round. I know that's easy to say, but if you continue to have a great attitude and love the challenge of each unique shot you have on the course, you'll be the one taking a few dollars off your friends on a Sunday morning. Let me know what you think, and I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you might have. Have fun, and swing to win.