Swing Better Golf Better
: November 3rd, 2009 
: MAN 
: Comments Off Most golfers will say the hardest part of their game is focus. The mental side of golf is often misunderstood. Do you have a friend that breaks 80 on every round? Why is that? Practice, they practice. What they usually do not share is, what they are practicing at. When you are talking about a game that is referred to as 90% mental and 10% talent you have to work on your mental toughness. When overcoming that mental side of golf, do you try to change your equipment, the time at which you play, maybe even they guys you play with. Here we go, some tips that are going to help get you on your way to being a better golfer.
The tempo of golf is often a distraction for golfers, you are stuck behind a slow foursome DISTRACTING or maybe the guys behind you are rushing you DISTRACTING and you feel that pressure to golf faster. The tempo of the course should never affect the tempo of your swing. The tempo of your swing is so important; to achieve the desired results. How do I find MY tempo you ask? A golfer can find their tempo by doing these simple things:
SLOW DOWN!! Let me say this again SLOW DOWN, if you just swing faster and harder you are not going to get the results you are looking for. This is true is some instances, but, for the sake of this article we will not be discussing those concepts. No matter where you are playing or who you are playing with; the tempo you keep is is going to make you take the same back swing, have you contacting the ball the same, and allowing you to follow through the same every time. How are you going to get the tempo? While at the driving range your focus should only be on one club at a time. Take your driver and hit 20 balls, then take your 9 iron and hit 20 balls work your way in 3W-8I and on until you have hit them all. In your back Swing you want to make sure you are coming to the same point every time. When you contact the ball make sure you are contacting the ball at the same rate of speed with every club. People often think that the club should dictate your tempo, this could not be further from the truth. If you focus on your tempo you will see that by swinging all of your clubs the same your accuracy will improve drastically. When you are working on your follow through it will be the same as your back swing, you will want it to be the same with every club. Your follow through will affect your accuracy a 100% of the time. Working on these simple techniques will improve your mental game and when that improves so does your score.
After you have put in your work at the range, head on over to start working on your chipping. You will want to work with your Wedge, 60deg, 8I, and 9I. Practice 100 chips with each club. When you start in the deep stuff focus on yout tempo and making sure you land every ball on the green. If you are hitting the ball with the same tempo every time, your chipping will be more accurate. Chipping is a tool to get to the green, not a tool to keep you from having to putt. Hitting a home run is great but keeping the ball in play has made many great careers. Stay focused and you will hit the green every time. The 8i and 9i will be used to work out the tempo of the bump and run technique. Tempo is still your main focus you are just using a club for a different shot, the tempo is still the same though. Find your tempo and stick with it!! It would be like you are still hitting one of your wedges, you change clubs not the tempo!!
Putting Putting Putting! This is not rocket science but yet very misunderstood? We have now gone from Driving range tempo to chipping tempo to putting tempo the TEMPO does not change only the environment. What you want to practice here is the same thing! You want to work on your tempo. You putt the same every time, you will not be changing your swing ever. The only thing about putting that changes is the distance. Start by sinking 10 putts in a row from 1ft away after you have done this, move out to 2ft, repeat until you sink 10 in a row from 10ft away. Tempo is key when you are trying to stay focused.
The goal for these exercises is to teach your to go through the same steps every time. You are working on your tempo, your tempo can not be affected by anything because it is yours. When you take the time to build on your tempo you will see results!! The game is 90% mental; set a clock in your mind that only allows for the same tempo no matter when or where you are golfing. When your body starts to do the same thing every single time, your mind will become more focused on the task at hand.
