Outcome Versus Process Many individuals do not realize that there are two types of goals. There are outcome goals that give you direction, such as lowering your handicap to a specific level or making a particular shot. Should I Go For It? How do you decide to "chance" the long shot over water if you really think you can make it, or to always take the safe way around it? The answer lies in how honest you are with yourself and your mechanical abilities. Mental Insights Into Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible For those of you who are not familiar with Dave Pelz, he is the master of understanding and teaching the short game. His Short Game Bible digs deeply into the importance and probabilities of golf inside 100 yards. Trust Your Gut Feeling! When you are reading the green, holding a club in each hand to determine which one to use, or the many other decisions you make during a round of golf, your gut feeling feelings help you decide. How To Control Your Fear If you are honest with yourself, you will acknowledge that you experience fear while playing golf. It could be fear of missing a put, hitting over water or into a bunker, selecting the wrong club, misreading the green, etc. The Mental Side of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Donald Ross designed the greens at Pinehurst to be crowned, resembling the back of a spoon or a bowl turned upside down. His unusual greens drop off on all sides. Approach shots that narrowly miss their targets could wind up rolling into shaved collection areas some 30 yards from the hole. The Most Important Golf Shot Analyzed Pat Dolan's article "The Most Important Golf Shot" is great for analyzing the fluctuations of brain chemistry that are behind the mental game of golf. Get A Firm Grip On Your Mental Game The best way to get a firm grip on the mental game of golf is to become very aware that your negative emotions upset your brain's chemistry and play havoc with your game. Fear of Repeating Past Failures The FACT that you lose to a golfer who is 5 to 8 shots better than you and you can't control your drive enough to keep it out of the woods are only PAST FACTS. However, they are feedback you can learn from... Mental Training and Your Life You can do a lot to improve your mental game for golf during the off-season by applying these lessons to your life. Even if you live where the weather is warm and sunny, you can work on improving your mental game everyday by applying the principles of "the mental steps" to your life. Advice for Vijay This is a short summary of a tip "Take a Lesson from Vijay". Here is a short summary of that tip and some advice for Vijay as well as yourself. Desire, Belief and Patience What do desire, belief and patience have in common? They are all important ingredients of success in anything that you do or try to accomplish. If you want to shoot lower scores, take an honest look at the above recipe to see what you could be doing better. Reduce the Variables of Golf Golf can be a very complex game because a golfer's swing mechanics are not a simple thing to learn and execute instinctively. However, the more you can reduce the variables of golf, the simpler the game becomes and the easier it is to lower your score. Experiencing Non-Thinking If you ask a pro, "What are you thinking about when you are performing at your best?" The answer is always the same: "I'm not thinking." They are operating on instinct. If you ask yourself that same question, I'll bet your answer will be the same: "I'm not thinking when I perform at my best." Improve While You Sleep When you go to sleep, your brain is very busy processing all the thoughts and actions that went into your habits during the day. It is preparing how to respond in the future. This fact makes sleeping one of the best times to improve your golf and mental game. Half Full or Half Empty? The whole goal of the mental game is to create a mental state that optimizes your brain's chemistry, which in turn increases your ability to perform. If you have fear or doubt that you can make a golf shot, you lower your chemistry and decrease your chance of making a successful shot. What If I Miss? If you believe that your glass is half full, you will have a higher level of chemistry than if you believe that your glass is half empty. As simple as this concept sounds, it can make the difference between making the shot or missing the shot because it makes the difference between whether your brain chemistry is high or low. See the Ball If you focus totally on your target and see your ball when you hit it, you will lower your golf score. Trust Your Triangle If you focus totally on your target and see your ball when you hit it, you will lower your score. This begs the question of how can you effectively do both at the same time. The solution is easy if you trust your triangle. Training, Training, Training After a friendly game with a stranger, he bought me a drink and told me that I had intimidated him. Then he said, "I don't get intimidated." How to Stop Thinking A coach asked me to write a tip to help his players stop thinking about the outcome when faced with a slightly downhill 1 meter putt. Thinking about the outcome causes his players to look up too soon or not follow through on their putting stroke and miss the putt. The Monkey Mind You have heard me tell you over and over to focus on improving the process and allow the outcome to take care of itself. Part of the process is to play in the present without thinking, especially about the future outcome. Play Better by Feeling Better There are two approaches to improve your mental game. The direct approach is to become totally positive, completely focused on your target and be completely in the present. Relaxed and Poised One of the keys to playing well is the ability to relax and play without stress and tension. Once you are relaxed, the key to playing at your best is your ability to become poised to enter the zone. This is quite an undertaking for the average golfer, but poise under pressure is what all great golfers have in common.