Mental golf training is critical in taking your game to the next level. I have peer relationships with several of the TOP Mental Guys on the net and they all have inspired me to take my mental golf training more seriously.

What is mental golf training?

As my good friend Michael Anthony of the Mental Keys To Improve Your Game says, “the best way to get a firm grip on your mental golf game is to clearly understand how your mind processes information and to learn how to control your emotions.”

He goes on to say, ” In very easy to understand concepts you will quickly learn how your mind processes information. More importantly, you will know why and how to change the emotional and mental patterns that are costing you strokes and holding you back. Without knowing why mental golf techniques work, you are still at the mercy of old man golf’s bag of tricks that can mess with your head.

If you take your game seriously, you’ll partake in mental golf training as soon as possible!

Most people do their golf practice more when they’re playing badly as opposed to when they’re striking the ball well. When you’re playing badly, it’s time to take a golf lesson — not practice a bad swing.

When you’re playing good and striking the ball well is when you want to practice more so you can learn to repeat that good swing. To be good at your practice you must think on every shot and develop a good routine.

You’re better off making 10 good thoughtful swings then hitting 50 balls rapid fire with little thought. Also, when practicing don’t hit too many balls without a break because fatigue will set in and swing will break down.

This tip is from Thomas Tetrault, PGA Pro, Fall River Country Club

If you focus totally on your target and see your ball when you hit it, you will lower your score.

Swing thoughts are for the practice range. When you are playing, it is time to clear your mind, forget about the outcome and play on instinct. An excellent way to stop your mind from thinking and keep your head and body from swaying or sliding is to focus totally on seeing your ball being hit.

The best way to start training your mind to see the ball being hit is when you are putting because it is a much slower process then hitting the ball with your driver or irons. The next time you practice putting (whether it’s on the putting green or at home on your carpet) do the following exercise.

After you have taken in all the inputs and are standing over the ball ready to putt, focus totally on seeing your ball being hit. Then, putt the ball while staying totally focused on seeing your ball being hit. If you have done this exercise properly, your will see the image of your ball for a brief flicker of a second after you have hit it and it’s on its way to the hole.

With practice it becomes easy to see the white image of the ball after you hit it on the putting green because the image of the white ball against the green background briefly remains in your mind’s eye. With even more practice and concentration on seeing the ball being hit, you will still be able to see the lingering image of the ball even on a white carpet.

The more you practice this exercise, the easier it will become to see the remaining image of your ball after you hit it and it is no longer there. This is a fact. So just do this exercise and prove it to yourself if you have never witnessed this natural experience.

Once you can do this exercise successfully with your putting do it when chipping and pitching. Then, do it with your irons and driver. My friend Karl Fischer, director of the 555 Golf Academy in Los Vegas, can even see the spin of the ball when he hits it with his short irons.

Of course, he has many years of experience under his belt. In time so will you if you make it a priority to see the ball when you hit it. If you do, you will never miss a putt or make a bad shot because you moved your head or looked up to soon to see what the outcome was.

This article was written by Michael Anthony of the Mental Keys.