How do you stop "over thinking" it?

[catfell]

A pre-shot routine helps me get all my thinking done before I address the ball.

And when I practice at the range, I still use the same pre-shot routine. I figure out what I'm working on during my practice swing, and then once I like the swing, I start the pre-shot routine and then hit the ball.

I second the song in the head routine too. Helps keep my head clear and smoothes out my tempo.

[realed]

I have enjoyed reading this thread and will incorporate a lot of the advices given here. I too have the same problems as the OP. I am a touring pro on the range and can't seem to bring that confidence over to the course - drives me nuts :P

[leftypro]

Been there multiple times. I feel as if I get "Happy Feet" where I move my feet too much I am going to screw up. I get that feeling when I tee off on the 1st) hole on any course with any club. I try not to second guess myself becuase once I do that 90% of the time it's not the shot I wanted to hit. Once I grab the club I want to use I say to myself " this is going to go 270 yards down the middel" stupid but it gets you not to worry. I stand relaxed and don't try to KILL the ball, but take a powerful swing. Think about something else if your swing gets in your head. Trust yourself

[ks8829]

Trust your swing and "Just Do It"

[lolzzlolzz]

There are only 7 or 8 things you really need to focus on to produce a sound swing.

-grip
-stance + posture
-waggle
-starting the back swing with the hands, arms, shoulders, and hips in that order
-back swing plane
-starting the down swing with the hips
-supination of the left wrist
-hitting through the ball in one cohesive movement

So the first three I have taken care of before I hit the ball. That leaves five others, and if I do a few of them right, I can't help but do the others right.

I'm not saying you should be thinking of these eight things. My point is that you need to keep things as simple as possible.

I don't believe in the whole "relax" and "confidence" thing. You relax when you're at home watching football. But in golf, there is something to do, rather than something not to do, so your body and mind must be active, almost "tense."

As for confidence, it all relies on your swing. If you have a simple and correct swing, I thoroughly believe that the more pressure you put on it, the better it will perform.

To sum things up: considering most players like myself do not have hours and hours to practice their swing every day, it's perfectly alright to bring swing thoughts onto the course, as long as they are correct, simple, and repeatable .

[justinmill14]

when u say u dont believe in that relax thing, well i agree with u a little bit but not completely, when i tell my brother to relax when we are playing i mean to not get so mad and stressed out.

[lynchjo]

I find your post interesting because it wasn't too long ago that I was in the same boat. Cutting out the over-thinking helped my scores drastically.

Well said! The first thing you should ask yourself is "where is my target?". The only swing thought you should have while you're swinging is your target. Then simply react to the target with the swing you brought to the course...play golf, don't play swing.

Good luck! --John

[DynamicDave]

hi,
allow me to educate those who would like into the world of " mind training ". there is a mental focus technique which will stop the chatter or over thinking. i will also make this into a new thread of its own: advanced visualization for golf swing routine

how i made this breakthrough (background story) :
i was a intermediate player with a 36 handicap with the blame on iron accuracy. so, one day a few months ago i was playing the ninth (355 par 4) and my drive landed 115 away on the right side of a 10ft hill slope, i couldnt get a good stance. i was fiddling around with stance postures over the ball, and then i pictured a digging down motion but with my backside almost completely facing the flag. this was weird but it worked in my mind and felt natural. i hit it and landed on the front fringe just off the green, flag was playing short that day so i was 5 yards to the hole, not bad. i tried it again to test theaory. this time on the green 3 yards away from hole.

it works off of normal level ground too!! wow, why is noone doing this swing i said. people i was playing with were saying "good shot" often. been practicing this method ever since. there is 2 parts to the method: the actual swing style, and the visualization or grounded feeling. read on.

advanced visualization for golf swing routine :
overthinking how to swing is a conscious effort. conscious is your mind that talks in the now, it wants to control the golf swing. ANY conscious thought good or bad is your enemy when it comes to movement, or the swing portion of the golf shot. That is because the swing movement is handled in the subconscious part of the brain using PICTURES , (think of being in the ZONE in any sport, they dont think they just do it) Conscious thoughts only interfere with the process because thoughts are words but PICTURES are worth a thousand words, without the chatter. WHAT PICTURES?
Everyone has at least two minds, the conscious and subconscious. The conscious is used for decisions, questions and logic. The subconscious, runs the body functions, guides movement, and stores your memory. Although the two minds can work together, the subconscious can do just about everything the conscious can do, but the conscious cannot do anything that the subconscious can do.
That said, the subconscious cannot exist without the conscious to give the commands. The conscious is the boss, and the subconscious is the super-employee that can do everything except decide what should be done.
Here's the problem during a golf shot... The boss (the conscious) wants to make sure he's in control and often ends up getting involved in and hurting the process. The boss has to be there to decide on the shot, but he has to know when to let his super-employee do his job of guiding the body accurately through the swing movement.
The swing portion of a golf shot happens in the subconscious(the super-employee) and conscious thoughts(the boss) can only hurt the process.

At first it seems logical that thinking about something other than the swing will keep the conscious mind from getting involved in the swing. And this does work, but there is a problem with it.
What if the swing isn't working so good on its own that day? Are you going to be able to trust it? Can you not think about it? Or do you just have to accept your B or C game that day?
This is where the current methods break down. It is also the reason many 1st and second round leaders don't win tournaments, but there is an answer.
If the swing isn't working well, the conscious mind(the boss) will be asking what the hell is going on. The subconscious will be doing everything it can to produce the best movement, but it now has to deal with a boss(conscious thought) in it's ear. The problem is that the subconscious just doesn't have a clear picture that day and the boss can't do anything about it... But make matters worse.
The breakdown happens in the process the subconscious uses to create clear pictures and has nothing to do with your conscious thought process.

OK so what is the answer?
The answer is to split the conscious mind out of the shot(get the boss out of the room) before the swing is made. Since the subconscious uses pictures to guide movement, we can make the swing more accurate if we find a way to make the pictures as clear as possible.

How?
Remember what happened in the dark room when we touched something? Instant picture! u know where u are as soon as u touch something in the dark room. another example is when u trip, your body automatically reacts by reaching to brace with the arms.
Instead of trying to use thought to create visualization, you can use this same touch feedback system to make clear pictures for your subconscious to follow. I'm talking about your internal balance feedback system. One of the ways it monitors your balance is by monitoring the surfaces of your body that touch the ground in relation to the force of gravity felt in those areas. (Think of a baseball hitter settling into the batters box, or a pitcher digging into the mound before he pitches)

The best part is that the internal feedback makes the pictures, so all you have to do is focus and let them play. Your body will do the rest.
What you have is a feedback system that you can use to rerun a swing in your mind, see it as if you were watching a video and fix it right on the spot... On the range, the golf course or at home hours or days after you have played.
Used properly, this feedback system can be used to fix swings during the swing... All without the distraction of conscious thought.
this simple method of visualization will spill over to your business, job, or life, giving you a valuable resource you will use to solve problems faster than ever before.

THE WAY I USE THIS:
i just remember how to setup for that off the hill shot i mentioned in the beginning, i feel for the weight on my front leg/heel, DO MY SWING STYLE and grip it and rip it. my subconcious takes care of the accuracy. GOOD LUCK!!

[lynchjo]

hi,

Great stuff Dave! I love reading about the golf "mind" game.

Quick question: when you "dig in" to trigger your internal feedback system as you prepare for the shot, are you seeing pictures of the shot (e.g. trajectory, direction) or is it a "feel" thing? --John

[golf_junkie27]

My routine is what gets me to stop "overthinking." I had too many thoughts at address and most, if not all, could have been resolved by doing one thing: choosing the right club.

FWIW, I've simplified things as such:

1) Getting the distance.
2) Looking at the lie.
3) Choosing the club that will put me in the position to convert the shot.
4) Aligning myself, properly.

Once those things happen, I just swing. If I convert, great. If not, I work on it at the range. Golf is difficult enough without trying to think and fix flaws while playing.

[DynamicDave]

hi,
just to be clear, i am not talking about muscle memory.
your AWARENESS of what u want will allow you to focus like a pro on the golf course. this awareness is the spawn of my digging in, which is the feeling of being balanced or grounded/ rooted, a call to my subconcious telling it its time to do its magic again. then i swing without worry, using my new swing style i talked about and let my body and mind do the rest. awareness of what u want is different than trying to force or control it.
basically, i know my swing technique is dependable and repeatable. i can count on my awareness of what i expect to manifest in a swing which i dont have to think about. ball trajectory is a reward which happens on its own with my swing, and all i keep my focus on is flag direction. NIKE says it well: just do it.

[bogeyhitter25]

1) Getting the distance.

Same as golf_junkie. Only usually if I don't convert, I just forget about it and work on the next shot. Golf = 10% what you just shot, 90% what you're going to shoot next.

[gbk56]

I have many swing thoughts at address, however once I begin my swing I only have two thoughts:

1. Hit the BALL; and
2. Hit the ball STRAIGHT.

[tglover44]

In the new edition of GOLF Magazine, with Stewart Cink on the cover, Mr. Cink has one of the best articles I've seen in a while about not over-thinking, and how to become a "feel" player.

It spoke to me anyway, I've already read it like four times.