Thinking Back to Front - Target, Plan, Trust... and great scoring PART ONE

To play your best golf it is well known across the world by coaches and golfers alike that to play a good shot and a great round of golf you need to have 3 ingredients before you can hit the shot:

1. Trust
2. A good game plan
3. A picture of your target (which is often referred to as "visualisation")

Put these together and you will play to your potential.

Palmerston 13th Green

First though, let's start with the picture because without a picture of the target - or visualisation - you will end up thinking about whether you can or can't hit the shot. PLAYING golf is an on-course skill where you have to TRUST the skills you have. If you focus on the "how to" on the course you will definitely come up short as your mind won't be on the game; it'll be on the range!

These pictures are of the 13th hole on Brocket Hall's Palmerston course and the 16th of the Melbourne course, but taken from green to fairway. What do you see? Looks different, right? So, knowing that, would you do something different next time you play the course - select a different club or play to a different part of the green perhaps? If not hopefully you see its important to be able to have a clear picture of where you are hitting to. This is often challenging as the design of the course takes your eye - the water or the big bunker - and this can also be complicated by a blind shot. The answer; keep an eye on where you want to go, a specific target in lieu of a real target. Picture a tree, a house - anything - as long as it's clear and in your mind!

Melbourne 16th Green

Why is the picture of the target in your mind important? It's simple really. We need a picture in order to allow our skills to work automatically otherwise we think consciously about the "how to" of the skill.... in the most severe case I have seen, the yips appeared due to repeatedly trusting skills which had been learnt by causing enormous amounts of doubt. Sound familiar? The good news is that it's fixable.

Just like throwing a ball into a bucket; we see the target and throw. For a golfer though, it's a little different as we can't look at the target during our swing and instead stare at the ball, sometimes with a whole manner of thoughts running through the mind. Instead, while seeing the ball on the ground or tee, try and see (or picture) where you want the ball to go by fixing on a target before swinging, and remembering the image. At this stage you only have a short period before the mind will awaken and begin to chatter again, so don't waste time at this point - swing and swing freely!

This is the state in which great shots are hit, and strung together great rounds are played in a "zone" of flow; fully target-driven with no mechanical thoughts in sight!

I run clinics on this subject, so if you want a little assistance or want to know more then please feel free to contact me though the Palmerston Golf Academy.

Happy golfing!

Simon Garner
Head Golf Professional, Brocket Hall
Palmerston Golf Academy Director