Visualization

[golfmentalist]

Hey everyone,

Ive read in a few articles that it is important to visualize or imagine every shot before you play it, and then once you have agreed on a shot you shut down your mind and take your best swing. I tried this on the golf course and found trouble trying to completley quiet my mind for that 1 second shot, but when i do quiet my mind i get great results. I think maybe i need to focus on relaxation methods outside of golf to be more consistent, what do you guys think? Do you think this is the correct way to think?

[Randy4h]

Absolutely agree. If you have two swing thoughts, that's probably one too many.

[Golf Hypnotist]

The answer is often in the pre-shot routine. Use all of your conscious awareness to decide on the shot, visualise the shot and you hitting the shot, rehearse it and then step into the ball and hit it just as soon as you can, keeping those visualisations in mind. Have you noticed how little time the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson take from the moment they take the club out of the bag to hitting the ball - just a matter of seconds?

I'd say no swing thoughts is best, one is OK if it's about the shot rather than the swing and more than one spells disaster!

[saevel25]

During my preshot routine, i stand behind the ball looking down the line. I will take a practice swing from behind the ball, then invision the feel of the contact, the flight of the ball, how it will land. Then i go up and hit it.

[srjorion]

Visualizing my shots has been my major focus lately. I used to just visualize the ball landing at my target, but now I try to visualize the actual ball flight all the way to landing. I've found the biggest advantage in my chips, visualizing the ball going through the air, landing, and rolling out.

[golfmentalist]

I like what im hearing, but i was wondering more specefically what you do to prepare your selfs for this type of accurate visualization technique, (ex. do you meditate, or do you only play with Pro V1's to boost your confidence) ?

[Ben]

I find that I hit my best shots when I visualize. Its a weird sensation for me though. My best visualized shots just kinda jump into my head as I first approach the shot. I can actually feel it take control of my swing too. Its like I don't have to worry about how to swing the club. If I stand there for too long and try too force my imagination, it doesn't work.

[RC]

When I played best, the shot would suggest itself -- creating the image in my head of what I could hit. It did not work well to force a picture of a different shot I might want to hit, but rather it was best to let the information my head was taking in and let it pick the best shot that matched the conditions, my lie, the way the hole was designed, and the way I was swinging at that moment in time. All that stuff would combine into a feeling that produced a picture of the shot that would be the best choice I could hit. Compare this to the stubborn approach in which you might know what shot you will likely hit, but instead of going with it you force some other shot (or try to.) My worst results have been when I tried the change the image of the shot that came into my head on its own. When you have played a long time, you learn that just because you might be capable of hitting a certain shot is really not a good reason to try it. Go with the shot your mind sees and your body knows is the best choice. Believe it or not, this is not mumbo-jumbo stuff.

[saevel25]

No meditation really, or anything special. You kinda get the nack for it after you played a while. I know the trajectory of each of my irons, and the shot shape of my standard shot. So i just see the shot.