There is nothing you do that isn’t controlled by your brain, including your golf swing. Like it or not…believe it or not…your brain is the boss of your golf game. Therefore, you must decide who will be the boss of your brain because that decision will have a direct impact on your golf success.
If you think that ALL you need to improve is more practice, more lessons, or better equipment you will be missing an essential component of your performance. To be the boss of your brain you must learn how to manage it.
Too many amateur golfers will never know the joy of playing consistently solid golf because they choose to allow their excuses to hold them back.
How many times have you heard (or thought to yourself) that mental game training…
- is only for professional golfers and serious amateurs
- is too time consuming
- is not going to make a difference in my game
- should be something I can figure out on my own
Have you ever thought that way when it comes to working on your swing? I bet not. Your brain is large and in charge, and managing it is one of the most important parts of your golf success formula.
Brain Versus Muscles
Your muscles need to be toned and flexible. You need to play with the right equipment. And you need to put in time to train your brain to direct your body to swing the club and hit the ball. Your muscles don’t have memory. Your brain does. Your muscles can’t learn, but your brain can.
It’s your brain that learns how to assemble the different parts of a swing into a complete, fluid motion called a motor program. Your brain then uses the motor program to tell your muscle groups what to do and in what order. It’s an amazing symphony of electrical impulses being initiated by your brain that allow you to swing a club and hit a ball. Without the direction of your brain nothing happens.
Amateur golfers get into trouble when they neglect to address the source of their swing glitches. The source is your brain, not your body. In order to improve the consistency of your body movements you must train the mind to be more consistent.
If you got into your car this morning and nothing happened when you tried to start it you wouldn’t get out to examine the tires. You’d want to know what was wrong with the “brains” of the car. When you experience irregularities in your swing (barring any type of physical impediment), you must first examine your mind for the presence of any irregularities that were echoed in your swing. Don’t just focus on eliminating the symptoms — work on fixing the source of the symptoms.
Managing Your Boss Brain
There are two types of amateur golfers — those who sincerely want to play better and those who say they do but don’t really mean it. The second type includes the excuse-makers because they operate with a conditional desire to improve. You are learning more about the mental side of the game right now, therefore, you are more akin to the first type. So let’s keep going!
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, I hope you recognize that working on the mental side of your game is not only simple and practical, but also doable. This is not rocket science. But training your brain to work for you can skyrocket your game.
I teach golfers step-by-step strategies to manage their boss brain before, during, and after they play. To reap the benefits of a strong and focused mind in golf you must stay on top of your thought habits.
The way you think about yourself, other golfers, the course, the conditions, your swing and so much more while you play does have a direct impact on HOW you play and your results. If you are unhappy with the consistency or level of your results you can do something about it without changing your swing.
You consistently work hard to maintain your swing, flexibility, and muscle strength. To see sustainable improvement you must also consistently pay attention to how you think while you prepare for and play golf. A great first step is to become aware of the bad habits you may be bringing into your rounds that are costing you strokes. Once you know where you need help you can create new thought habits to successfully manage your boss brain.
I created a free downloadable guide to help you eliminate the 5 most common bad habits from your game.
They are ~
- Playing “safe” golf
- Playing with technical swing thoughts
- Looking for hazards
- Getting distracted by the uncontrollables
- Thinking about your score
Do any of these sound familiar? Not to worry!
The solutions presented in this free guide are simple and repeatable. No graduate degree required. The hard part is to discipline yourself to apply them over and over. But my clients are proof positive that a little discipline around the mental side of the game goes a long way toward consistently lowering their scores.
If you truly want to improve your game, a little or a lot, stop letting your brain be the boss of your golf game. Download the free guide and begin your training today. You can take control by learning how to manage your mind and that will make a world of difference!
The thing that I have noticed playing golf is that the ability to make right decisions is the most important factor in getting the ball in the hole. It takes a quick mind with good spatial perception and good memory to make the right decisions. I think this is overlooked in training to be a good golfer but I also don’t know how you can improve this aspect of your game.
Robert, Thanks for your comment. I think good decision making is much easier when your mind is free of unnecessary clutter on the course.Thanks for your comment!