How do you keep your concentration?

[PuttPutt]

Concentration is very crucial in Golf swing, I had problems with that before the result was catastrophic, I can't do things right in consecutive times. I started playing music in my head, I think it works for me somehow.

[Devo]

Playing music in my head has always been a good way for me to keep the destructive thoughts away. I have even taken it one step further this year and started taking my iPod to the range for practice sessions. I find that the music just allows me to keep my head totally clear of golf related thoughts and allows for my natural swing to come through.

I'm not about to start listening to music while on the course, but for range sessions I'm really enjoying the separation from external noises, especially those coming from the frustrated golfers around me.

[Gioguy21]

I use my ipod at the range...with classical/jazz music...keeps me relaxed and with different rhythms...actually helps groove the swing...then during the round, go back to that song in your head to keep the same tempo

[golfro]

I have a hard time hitting balls with head phones on. I focus strongly on the sound and feel at impact so I listen for that initial impact. Oftentimes if I'm htiting on a mat at the range, the ball goes straight but I may have hit it a bit fat or thin. Feel definitely indicates this but sound helps me out a lot too.
What works for me is before you take your swing, think through all the points you've been working on. Likewise, this should be obvious but often times if I lose concentration, I don't visualize each of my shots and i just hit it expecting it to go straight. If I'm holding a driver in my hands, I visualize the ball flight and where it will land, how much it will roll, etc. Doesn't always happen the way I visualize it but it helps me focus on hitting it right.

With short game, I used to have a hard time visualizing each shot. Now before each chip or putt, I visualize the movement of the ball, where it lands, where it stops, etc.

Then I slice the ball OB or hit a short iron into the water and my concentration goes to hell and I get furious. Something I continue to work on day to day.

[damnitdave]

For me i have a routine every time even if i hit a bad shot or not. I usually take 2 deep breaths... don't really believe in practice swing... i usually set up behind the ball to confirm alignments... then i set up to the ball.... look up to see the shot i wanna hit then let her rip..... there has been to many times ive set up to the ball pissed and i hit a shot 10 times worse than my last one

[GaijinGolfer]

I clear my mind and try not to think about anything but the shot Im about to hit. Too much thinking gets in the way of a proper golf swing.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I keep my concentration by paying attention to what I'm doing at the moment. If I'm walking down the airway, I don't think of the shot I just hit or the shot I'm going to hit. I think of walking down the fairway. When I get to the ball, that's over, and I think about how to get full value out of the shot I am about to hit (never making the mistake of putting it into a context - I need this one for a par, gotta get this chip close, etc). When the shot is over, it's OVER, and the mind keeps loving forward.

That's what to do, and other responders to this thread have said much the same thing. How to do it is the question. You have to make this your habit in daily life in whatever you do. It is not possible to have one set of mental habits for 95% of your life and completely different set for the other 5%.