“Do or do not. There is no try.” Yoda, Jedi Master and Master of Golf Psychology!

One of the simplest mental golf tips to help you quickly reduce your scores is COMMITMENT. Now I don’t mean the kind of commitment where you leave behind all of your other responsibilities behind to take up golf full time – although that would reduce your scores!! I mean commitment in the moment to your own mental golf – to commit to each and every shot.

When asked why he is better than everyone else, Tiger Woods said that he commits 100% to every shot. By totally aligning his golf psychology, he makes the decision and sticks to it – NO MATTER WHAT. His body knows 100% what is going to happen. If he has indecision, he steps back, starts again until he can commit 100%.

WHAT does commitment mean? It means that even if you’re not sure what the best shot is or what club to play, before each shot you have to decide and stick to that decision 100% and then make it work. If the ball doesn’t finish where you wanted, yet you played the exact shot you chose, you have played a great shot because you stuck to your commitment. Success should therefore be measured not simply by your results, but by how well you execute your intention.

So HOW do you embed commitment into your own golf psychology? There are a number of ways to make commitment normal.

The first set of mental golf tips are to make your commitment conscious. Start to notice how you feel as you are setting yourself up. You want all systems go before you play your shot – definite club, definite shot. Think now of what it feels like to commit to something important. What’s it like? We’ve all done it some point, whether to a relationship, a job, a goal of some sort. Remember now how it feels to commit 100% and where you feel it in your body. This is the same feeling you want before you play every shot. You might also have a traffic light system in your mind. Green means you’ve decided and you’re ready so play your shot. Red means stop and start your preparation again so that you can come to a decision. There is no Amber – you’re either ready to commit or you’re not! Golf psychology is very simple!

The second set of mental golf tips focus on how you measure success. What get measured get done, so score your next round with two scores for each hole – one score counting the number of shots you played (as normal), the other score counting how many shots you applied your new golf psychology and committed 100%. When you add up your totals, you will then be able to calculate how many shots you commit to fully – your COMMITMENT PERCENTAGE. Tracking your Commitment Percentage over time is a sure way to change your mental golf where you need it most.

As Master of Golf Psychology Yoda says, there is indeed no try. “Try” means giving it a go – giving it less than 100% - and that means poor mental golf. As you find yourself free to commit to every shot now, so you’ll start to enjoy the freedom of playing your very best golf. To receive free audio tipcasts on the key areas of the game, sign up for my newsletter now. If you’re ready to go beyond mental golf tips, and master your own golf psychology check out the Single Minded Golf Academy audio training programme.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling