# Golf Psychology



## centaur (Oct 2, 2007)

The last 5 or so rounds I've played have been horrible to say the least. I can go to the driving range and basically put my shots where I want them, but when it comes to the actual course, I am all over the place. VERY, VERY frustrating. I may be thinking too much even though I don't think so, but something is definitely not clicking at the course. My swing even feels different from the driving range to the course. I can't seem to put my swing and tempo together when it counts on the course.

Anyway, I was looking for advice on a *GOOD* or *GREAT* book on mental strategy or thought process when playing a round on the course. I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could suggest a book that is good for the mental side of the game. I would prefer responses from those who have actually read the book they are recommending. Thanks in advance!


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## Surtees (Sep 11, 2007)

Welcome back to the site. I'm not sure on the book but are you making yourself to stiff and serious on the course compared to being relaxed at the driving range? Have you tryed going to the range before your round to loosen up? 
I went through a faze where I was being to stiff and robotic with my swing on the course and a lot more relaxed at the driving range and of course thie effected my swing/game in a bad way.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

I think this is where gatonet can help. Centaur give him a post.:thumbsup:


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

You might also look at Dave Peltz(sp) in his golf series, I think Stevel has read his works


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## The_Weekender (Feb 19, 2010)

Something as simple as a pre shot routine helps loosen the body for the shot. I know its cliche but try to imagine what you would like the ball to do (within reason). But when you stand over the ball clear your mind and swing


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## FrogsHair (Mar 4, 2010)

Let me run this by you. At the range you get into an over all sense of timing, and tempo that can be much quicker than how a person may play on the course. A person buys a bucket of balls, stands in one place, raking and hitting one ball after another, usually in quick succession. The only things that might change are the clubs being used, and the players practice regimen. The amount of time between shots is much quicker than when on the actual golf course. To me this makes it easier to make better swings, more often, since a player can adjust after a poor shot, using the same club. It would be like on the course when a player makes a poor swing, they immediately drop another ball, and make a better swing. 

On an actual course, the player hits the ball, travels to the ball, maybe has a waiting period, goes through a preshot routine, and then swings with one chance to hit a decent shot. Totally different than at the range's quicker repetition of swings. On the course the player has to concentrate more, since they only have the one swing to accomplish their intent. At the range, the player can relax more, since they have another quicker, successive swing coming up. All of this, plus the range usually has a fence that keeps the balls from going OB.

Add the fact that the player usually has "competitive" company during an actual round, which they do not have on the range.

The old saying "practice like you play" has merit.

I purchased 100 range balls today. My main focus is to get some of my swing strength back. It took me almost three hours to go through those 100 balls. For most folks it takes 4+ hours to play a round of golf, while hitting 80+/- balls.

Does any of this make any sense?


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## Surtees (Sep 11, 2007)

Yes it does make sense Froghair and I think it has some merit. I always step away after my shots at the range so that I have to go through my set up again but yes I do hit a greater amount of balls in the time frame then is I was on the course.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Frogshair you make perfect sense. Let me toss this in. When I go to the range, which isn't that often, I'm generally there to practice ball contact and direction, but if its to fix a swing problem I feel the range will only increase a bad swing in the mind, muscle and create frustration. I think all would agree that another golfer or pro will help to fix a deficiency. just my philososphy as taught by my Dad.


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

I have two books I suppose could deal with mental aspects. Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect and Zen Golf. Personally, the former is hard for me to take. It wants to legislate my thought processes and I'm way too much a realist to let artificial thoughts actually work for me. I would probably need the unaffordable professional input to make it work. Zen golf, on the other hand, has brief stories with concepts I relate to better. I recommend it.

We've gotten off on a bit of an interesting tangent, but keep it up.

Because I use the range primarily to warm up and stretch out before a round, I'm very guilty of the scenario Froghair described.

When I occasionally go to the range in the afternoon to really practice, I have a bit more of a routine. I have 2 steel shafts that I take for alignment aids. It's just as easy to lay two clubs on the ground, but I just happened to have these, so I use them for that. The simple fact they are there seems to be a constant reminder that I'm not just beating balls with no purpose, but that I'm there to practice.

I have one of the Radar devices that you set for the club you are hitting and it tells you ball speed and carry distance. Having compared it to the GPS in the carts at Calusa, it's really accurate. I'll use that on every swing and guess at the results based on what I was trying to do with a shot and how it felt.

The only problem is that the range balls are inconsistent due to different manufacturers, or the simple fact they are range balls and have been beaten to death. None the less, I get a pretty good idea of what I am doing.

The only other thing I do, suggested by the pro I knew when I was growing up and I recommend this highly, is that I don't take my whole bag to the range. If I'm having trouble with my wedge game, I'll only take my wedges to the range. There's too much temptation to boom out drives sometimes, just to massage our egos. If the driver is at home, it makes it easier to avoid.

I did see something interesting a few months ago. There was a guy on the range who appear to be a pretty good golfer judging by his swing. He had a mirror in front of him. It was about 2 feet tall and maybe not quite 2 feet wide, propped up like a picture frame. He could take a backswing and see his position in the mirror. I guess he could recognize right or wrong in terms of what was good for him. Just thought I'd mention it. Mirrors are cheap... I wonder if it would really help? I wonder if I'd even recognize what I was doing?


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