How trusting would you have to be to let your swing be as smooth as silk and as soft as velvet?

I’ve been inspired watching the world’s greatest players at the Open this week. Playing under the most intense pressure and treacherous conditions, players’ confidence in their swings is being severely tested. I can guarantee you that the player who wins will be the one who is able to maintain his swing tempo by TRUSTING his swing the most. Those who have lots of “swing thoughts” won’t stand a chance. Those who trust their swings can be fully present – all they do is simply pick a target and hit the ball there.

The golf swing is called the golf “swing” - not the golf steer, golf direct, golf pull or the golf push – no it’s the golf SWING!! If you have ever been to a playground, you’ll notice a swing works best when the top hinge has minimum friction - it is simply left to rotate around the centre point of it’s circle. The same is true for your swing – you need to LET the extension of your body and the weight of the club rotate around the centre of your body, unhindered by forcing it with strength. This same principle is used in martial arts such as tai chi (see my previous article). However, swinging without friction requires you to TRUST YOUR SWING.

To trust their swings and build self belief, tour pros hit thousands of balls, yet it is still the ones with the strongest mental golf game who win. There are a number of golf psychology techniques you can use to develop trust in your swing and mental golf game.

1. The simplest technique is to limit yourself to a SINGLE swing thought for each shot - for the whole round. Measure your success for each hole on how well you executed that swing thought, NOT your score. ONLY add your scores up after the end of the round.
2. Use the following exercise to develop trust when you practice. At the range:
   1. Pick a specific target
   2. Deliberately set your body up so that you are misaligned to the target for 10 shots.
   3. Let your unconscious mind lead your body so that you hit the balls naturally to the target without thinking about how you will hit it there

If you noticed that your body is quite capable of hitting the ball to the target despite imperfect physiology, you can start to understand just how powerful having a clear target and trusting your swing is.

Enjoy developing trust – if you would like more help with your golf psychology, I’m giving away more mental golf tips through a series of six free audio tipcasts for the toughest parts of the game. Sign up for my newsletter now if you would like to receive these.

I love hearing your feedback, so please let me know how you get on with these mental golf tips as I’m committed to helping you develop your golf psychology and lower your scores.

Love every shot!

Adam Sprackling

Mental Golf Coach