As a mental golf coach, I’m for ever asking questions. I believe that we all have the answers for our game, we just need to ask ourselves the right questions. This article is on the most important question of all. Golf is a game of joining two dots - the ball and the target. You know where one dot is as it’s the little white one right in front of you! The most important question is therefore finding out where the other dot is by asking “What’s my target?”.

The answer to this question is always a SPOT on the ground where you want the ball to FINISH. It is not a line based on a distant point. If you just use a line, you’re giving your unconscious mind and body only half an instruction and not telling it how hard to hit the ball. Vague instructions lead to vague swings, specific instructions lead to specific swings. Nor is it the spot where you want the ball to bounce. Focusing on where you want the ball to finish gives your body more options in how to get it there – sometimes our body knows better than we do consciously what the actual shot will look like.

The specific target you choose will depend on the conditions that day for that shot – the slopes and ground firmness at your target, hazards around the landing and target areas, wind conditions, your own level of confidence in your ability for that shot.

All of the other questions then fall out of this one. For example:

• “What’s my shot?”. By asking this, you start to picture and feel the shot you want to play to get the ball to that target. You will be using all the same information as earlier on conditions, as well as your lie, to imagine the optimum percentage path to the target based on your game.
• “What’s my club?” comes next – pick the tool that will play the shot you want to that target. Many higher handicappers fall into the trap of purely looking at the yardage and picking the club for that yardage, before they’ve even decided on what shot they want to play. The key is, all subsequent questions depend on “What’s my target?”

The answer to the question “What’s my target?” needs to be as specific as possible. For example:

• Fairway targets: “Left side of the fairway” on a drive is about as useful as choosing “Somewhere near the hole” on a putt! Where exactly on the fairway do you want the ball to finish? How far down the fairway do you want the ball to stop? Obviously in an ideal world you would say “In the hole” but if the hole is 500 yards away, I’m guessing you won’t reach it! So pick a small patch of grass, a mark or a colour change. The smaller the patch of grass, the better.
• Green targets: If you’re going for the flag, you have a nice specific target. If your target is the flag, ALWAYS aim to get the ball IN the hole, not just close, even if you’re 200 yards away – remember this is your target! If your target is away from the hole, choosing “centre green” is not specific enough. Remember, choose a specific patch of grass.
• Putts: The specificity of your target when putting is of paramount importance. If you’re thinking “Just get it close” you’re not giving yourself any real instruction and so the ball could go anywhere – left, right, short, long. If you think “In the hole” that’s better, but what side of the hole will the ball roll in from? Which blade of grass will it roll over as it falls in? Which mark on the back of the cup do you want it to go towards before it drops? This specificity will help immensely with picturing the line and pace of the putt.

I hope my mental golf tips help you learn how to focus so you know your exact intention for every shot. I’m happy to answer your questions about focus to help you develop your golf psychology. I’m also giving away audio mental golf tips through a series of six free tipcasts to help you through the toughest parts of the game. Sign up for my newsletter now if you would like to receive these.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling