I was helping a customer the other day and he mentioned to me that he wish I would give lessons because he bought a package of three from a another and the first things he started to teach him was, “Don't do this, Don't do that.” He then mentioned he liked the fact that i would explain to him what to do. Not what NOT to do. All makes sense, right? Yet most people are never told this concept.

The concept is simple. The mind does not understand the word “No”. The brain, or it's nerves are built like chemical/electrical switches. It's either on, or off. You can't have a negative switch, so to speak. We need to remember and reinforce that belief in ourselves everyday. The game of golf offers us the opportunity to practice this belief. When we step up to hit a shot that is difficult as in a water hazard just in front of the green, first we must obviously acknowledge the area we want to avoid, but then we must give complete focus on what we wish to achieve. In our minds we can say something like this,


“I want to hit the ball and land it on the back center area of the green. I see a tiny shadow and a slight discoloring of the grass which is where I want to land the ball. It will bounce a few feet high. Leap a yard forward, and stop rolling a little to the right to leave me a relatively easy putt.”

I didn't leave any room for negative beliefs. I was very precise and detailed in my head of what I wanted to achieve. This is very important. Now obviously it is very rare for the average amateur golfer to duplicate that feat physically at a consistent basis. I also understand that when people go out to enjoy a game of golf, they are there to enjoy themselves. They 're out to escape from everyday and and to put it blatantly, not think. Yet if you want to get better and shoot better scores you are going to have to take the time to rehearse that in your head before each shot. You must train yourself to see the shot precisely in your head. You can try some NLP and rehearse it by changing the minor details of the shot to see how the outcome would then be. This whole process takes very little time because your mind controls the frame, not the outside world. Take a couple very loose and casual practice swings at the same time trying to get your body to feel what it will do to achieve that outcome. Avoid worrying about the result even after the result. It may not work out exactly as you planned but that is no excuse to stop rehearsing.