Why is it that so many of us, pro clients of mine included, play different mental golf when we have a driver in our hands than all of our other clubs? Maybe it’s a pressure packed primal test - the further we can hit the ball, the more of a man or woman we really are? Or maybe we think that the driver is the hardest club to hit, so we ignore all golf tips we have learned, stiffen up and “try” harder than normal? Whatever the reason, any change in golf psychology changes our swing - which changes our results. If you want consistent confidence with your driver, you need to use the same golf psychology as you do with your other clubs. Here are the mental golf tips you need to make the change.

I will firstly take you through the 5 Steps to Driving Confidence change process then give you a new focus to practice with your driver to embed the change. This combination will re-wire your neurology to make your golf psychology with the driver just like any other club, so that comfort and confidence become the norm.

1. Out of all your clubs, which one do you feel most comfortable and confident with? What does it feel like to use that club? How does your body feel? Where do you feel that comfort and confidence most? What do you focus on when using this club? When you get right inside that feeling of comfort and confidence, get deeper into it so that you feel it even more.

2. When you are really feeling it now, press your thumb and forefinger together on your right hand for 5 seconds - then release.

3. Now test. Press and hold your thumb and forefinger together again and notice how it feels. Do the same feelings come back? If not, do the process again, making sure you really feel the comfort and confidence before you press your thumb and forefinger together.

4. Now that the same feelings come back just by pressing your thumb and forefinger together you can transfer these feelings to your driver. Imagine now that you are playing your driver. You picture your target, feel what it feels like to have played the ball there. Now squeeze your thumb and forefinger together. It may feel weird at first, so just keep holding your thumb and forefinger together as you stay focused on playing a great drive to a specific spot. Notice the confidence from your favourite club getting shared across into your driver now. Keep holding your thumb and forefinger together as long as you need to until the confidence and comfort you have with your driver is the same as you feel with your favourite club.

5. Now the final test. Get your driver out at the range, and go through the same mental process as you would with your favourite club. Pick a target spot and feel how it would feel to have played it there, both in your body and how you would feel emotionally. You shouldn't need to squeeze your thumb and forefinger together now as the change should have happened already, but you can if you feel it would help boost you further. Now play your shot and notice the confidence and comfort has been shared across and your driver simply feels like any other club.

Now that you’ve made the change, what does your new focus need to be for each drive? It’s simple.

Play your driver to the fairway just as you would an iron to a green. Choose your target finishing SPOT (not just a line), and crucially FEEL THE FEELING of playing it there. Before each drive, imagine you have played your drive perfectly and you are holding your follow through. Notice where the ball has finished. Notice how your body feels to have swung your swing perfectly, how the rhythm and timing worked, how your body worked as one throughout the swing. Notice how it feels emotionally to have played the ball exactly and naturally to the target point. Notice how good and how normal it feels to have played the shot that way. Now play your shot.

Enjoy applying these mental golf tips to make your golf psychology, and your scores, more consistent. You might find your new found driving confidence also helps the rest of your mental golf game too. For more mental golf tips to help you change your golf psychology, check out the other articles and sign up for the newsletter to receive the free audio tipcasts. I’d love to hear from you to answer any questions and to hear about your results.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling