Here are two statements for you – see which is more true for you:

1. Golf is an extremely complicated technical game
2. Golf is as easy as join the dots

I’ve been playing golf for the last 20 or so years and I’ve played with quite a few golfers over that time. Some of those golfers had the belief, and still do, that 1 is more true than 2. And these golfers are not wrong – in fact by thinking this way, they prove themselves absolutely right! It leads them down the path of wanting to perfect their swing by being able to get their body into the right series of positions.

Personally, I’ve never really understood this approach to golf as it seems to be missing the point of the game – getting the ball from A to B in as few shots as possible, 18 times. But they get the best gear they can afford, have lots of lessons to “fix” their swing, hit loads of balls on the range. They then wonder why, even though they’ve practiced the “perfect swing game”, they can’t bring it to the course and play the “perfect golf game”! The fact that they are two different games probably doesn’t cross their mind because they are too busy proving themselves right!

If you look at all of the moving parts of your golf swing, all of the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments involved, you will see just how complicated it is. For a start we have 656 muscles in our body – if you start thinking about how to move them all whilst trying to hit a golf ball to a target, you’re a smarter person than me! Golf is an extremely complicated technical game – if you choose to look at it this way.

But you don’t have to think about the game this way, even in practice. In reality, golf is never a series of positions. In fact if you look at someone’s swing who thinks it is, their swing looks, well, how do I put it, weird! The golf swing is a movement, not a series of static positions. It is too complex to think about consciously when playing, so don’t bother. Stop focusing on the swing, focus on the game.

Golfers who look at the game as a game of join the dots seem to be different. With the ball as one dot, the target as the other, they just focus on joining the two together. If you watch them play, they tend to a have much more fluid motion in their game. They are less concerned with repeating one “correct” swing and more concerned with using the swing that will get the ball to where they want it to go. These golfers don’t have a series of positions. They just stand over the ball, seeing the ball in front of them and their target in the left side of their awareness. This gives them a clear picture and feeling of the shot that connects the ball with it’s target – and that’s it. Like the golfers who think that 1 is more true, those who believe that 2 is more true are also right. In fact, by simplifying the game back to its purpose, they have clear minds that give their bodies focused instructions of where to go. As they don’t interfere with their body’s ability to do this for them, they trust themselves, make freer swings, enjoy the game more and bring out more of their ability. Not surprisingly, they too prove themselves right!

So if both are true, the question is simple, which would you RATHER believe?

I hope my mental golf tips help you simplify your game so you connect with your target and join your dots. If you would like to learn how to improve more, sign up for my newsletter here and receive a FREE series of six golf psychology tipcasts.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling

Mental Golf Coach