How to Not Think

[thumper07]

My problem i am having is a mental one. i have been playing for 11 years and am 21 years old. my dad says i am striking the ball better than i ever have but my scores aren't dropping and he says its because i think to much. and he's not the only one to say something. people say if i just walk up and hit i could be great but i dont know how to do that. any ideas?

-matt

[Leek]

My problem i am having is a mental one. i have been playing for 11 years and am 21 years old. my dad says i am striking the ball better than i ever have but my scores aren't dropping and he says its because i think to much. and he's not the only one to say something. people say if i just walk up and hit i could be great but i dont know how to do that. any ideas?

Yup- no practice swings. Stare down the target- think of nothing but the ball flying to the target, then react to it.

[Finn07]

Buy Dr. Bob Rotellas book "Golf is not a game of perfect." Has done wonders for my game, there was a time this year where I would stand over the ball for about ten seconds and think all this crazy shit, now there is none of that, and I have to say the game is more enjoyable now then it ever has been for me. You'll practice differently, think differently out there, react to things differently, putt differently, and these changes exist between our ears.

[thumper07]

Done, just ordered it, i've heard alot of people praise this book so i'll give it a shot.

-matt

[bklynbenz]

+1 on rotella, also his other book 'golf is a game of confidence' is a good read too. my old coach at long island university made all of us read both books first year on the squad

[EGS]

I had the same problems you are describing. I was shooting in between 90 and 95 for 13 years. Everyone would tell me I had a great swing, and that I should "stick with it".
This season, I went out with a different mentality, and after one round of shooting 81 three months ago, I have not touched 90 once and have shot as low as 75.
The reason is confidence. I am not sure what experience you have in other sports, but success in other athletic endevours will help you to bring out your best golfing. When I approach the ball now, I KNOW I am going to hit a good shot. If I dont hit the shot I want, I have tried to train myself to have a short memory so the negativity will wash away.
Once I realized I could hit the shot I wanted to hit everytime I stood over the ball, I started to score much lower.

[thumper07]

well i'm halfway though the book and haven't had a chance to play yet. the book is excellent so far and i know if i apply what he says my scores will drop.

-matt

[ericm]

I agree completely on Rotella's 'not perfect'. I have the book, but can't seem to find it and will probably be ordering a new copy.

[Ringer]

There is something you can focus on that will get rid of a lot of the thought that's going on.

Stop focusing so much on what's going on DURING the motion and instead draw a picture in your mind of what you want your finish to be. Rehearse that finish several times in practice swings... then step up to the ball and re-create that finish.

This is EXACTLY the same way you would draw a circle on a piece of paper. You don't worry so much about the motion you're using to draw the circle as you are of first developing a mental picture of what a circle is, then you trace it on the paper.

[TheGolfer]

Develop a pre-shot routine. It helps you get your mind on the shot, if you get a single lesson, make sure it is on a consistent and repeatable pre-shot routine.

[georgep]

The Rotella book is a good one. I'd also suggest Zen Golf by Joe Parent, who is a Zen master and a psychologist. Yeah, it's a little metaphysical, but when if comes to clearing the mind Zen has hundreds of years of experience. There's a lot of focus on staying in the moment: focusing on the shot at hand, not a score or other distractions.

[keygolf]

My problem i am having is a mental one. i have been playing for 11 years and am 21 years old. my dad says i am striking the ball better than i ever have but my scores aren't dropping and he says its because i think to much. and he's not the only one to say something. people say if i just walk up and hit i could be great but i dont know how to do that. any ideas?

A few issues:

1. One cannot "not think." Try not to think and you will think about that. 2. The body will try to do what the mind tells it to do. Problem there is that the body and mind do not work at the same speeds. The mismatch causes a variety of glitches, accounting for the majority of shots one does not usually hit (in other words, major or minor misses). 3. To prevent mismatches in thinking, do not use action oriented thoughts, but remember you will be thinking something, so guide those thoughts to neutral territory where there is no action stated or implied. 4. Use your swing key only in pre-shot, then switch your thoughts to non-action territory. Say something like Bobby Brue used to say - "Legalized bingo'll keep grandma off the street," while you are executing your shot. Yes, while you are executing your shot. Otherwise you will get all kinds of dopey information thrown at you by both your conscious and non conscious mental systems, which will simply not take "sitting still," which is why you must have something going on in your mind, called thinking. So make sure it is guided thinking and not haphazard. If you hack in your head, you will hack in your hands. BTW, your Dad is right. As kids, we just went out and played. Older, we got smart and started trying to figure it all out. It's called thinking too much. Use Ringer's suggestion relating to the finish of the swing. Makes a great swing key in pre-shot. And if you think this is nonsense, I'll give you the name of a student who does this with commitment, won 6 straight tournaments and finished second in the seventh, losing to another who does the same thing. There is a lot available to help if one looks around a bit.

[sonicblue]

You said you're striking the ball well, so I don't think swing tips are what you need. I made a huge jump in my game a couple years ago via course management. I think even people who know what that term is and pay attention to it still make lots of mistakes in it. Fairways are not of utmost important - what's important is not driving OB, or in fairway bunkers, or shanking it. Step up to the tee, pick a safe line that you can hit, and do it. On your approach, don't play shots you can't hit. Don't envision cutting a high 7I over a bunker to a tight pin if you can't pull it off 99% of the time. Aim for a safer part of the green with a club you know can get there. Those are simple, yet easy to forget. Plus, I think they feel like you're "bailing out" if you're not aiming for the pin every time from 180 yards. It's not, it's good golf.

IMO, where your scores REALLY drop is greenside. Now, everyone says that, but what I'll say next no one ever said to me, so I'll say it to you. When you're greenside, or real close, MAKE IT! Don't roll it close, try to lag it. HIT the ball and get it to the hole like you want to make it. You will end up with MANY more kick-in's and makeable putts for your next shot, and THAT is where shots drop off your card.

We amateurs are simply not going to pound fairways and bomb pinseekers. Once you've got all the basic shots, your job is par. Not bogey, par. Get it off the tee, out as far as you can safely get it, and keep it in play. Get your next shot on the green, even if you have to disregard the pin. From the green, every putt is to make, no questions. Don't think about three putts, or even two putts, just take each putt at a time, and make it. If you miss the green, your chip/pitch shot should be to make. No, you probably won't make many, but certainly it is physically possible to make most greenside shots, right? So try, and you'll find yourself with much shorter par saving putts.

The key is, one hole at a time, one shot at a time. If you butcher a hole and get a 7, that should have NO bearing on whether or not you can par the next. Each tee shot, pick your line/target, hit the shot. On your second, pick your target/line, hit the shot. When you get near the hole, aim for it. Rinse, repeat.

[thumper07]

i really appreciate all the help guys. i have to take a couple weeks off(big house project) but i think it will be for the better. it will give me time to finish reading my book and build up in my mental strength. i'll let you guys know how i do when i go out and play. until then i hit the range a couple times

-matt

[soup]

Definitely come up with a routine - no matter how lame. I've improved my consistency off the tee over the last three or four years.

I stick it in the ground, take one step back and pick a line, address the ball, take one look at the line, say "slow Yahtzee" to myself before I trigger (reminder to take it back low and slow) and let it rip.

However, watching someone take 5 practice swings and pull hook one into the adjacent fairway rates about a 9.5 on the unintentional comedy scale.

And I challenge anyone of you hacks to not think about "slow Yahtzee" on the first tee of your next round.

[powerfade]

I read the book "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose" written by Pia Nilsson (Annika Sorenstam's coach). She taught Annika to use the "Think Box" and "Play Box". In your pre-shot routine, when you're behind the ball, you're in the Think Box. Do all your thinking, calculating, strategy, pick your targets, etc. in the Think Box. Now picture an imaginary line about 3 feet behind the ball. As you walk forward towards your ball, you cross this imaginary line. Now you're in the Play Box. Address the ball, align your body, do your waggles, imagine your shot, and go. No thinking allowed while in the Play Box. It's time to execute.

Try it at the range. Even call it out to yourself.

...Think Box | Play Box...

I use it instinctively now, without calling it out. After a few months I adopted it into my putting routine too. It allows me to do all my thinking, and pick my intermediate target from the T-Box, then walk up to the P-Box, address, align, aim and go (no practice swings while in the P-Box).

(as mentioned earlier, The Zen Golf book is a good read too. It gives techniques on how to not necessarily stop the internal chatter, but how not to acknowledge it).

[supercow]

Definitely come up with a routine - no matter how lame. I've improved my consistency off the tee over the last three or four years.

Ummm... How the heck did you come up with "slow Yahtzee"?

[soup]

Ummm... How the heck did you come up with "slow Yahtzee"?

Don't worry about it.