Instantly Reduce Your Score By Several Strokes

No, it’s unnecessary to change your swing. No, it’s unnecessary to spend money. No, it’s unnecessary to manage the course better. No it’s unnecessary to become more religious. No it’s unnecessary to exercise more, change your diet, or your golf ball.

Yes, of course one has to change - change induces change. But this change requires less (not more) effort than you presently put into your golf if you play golf like 99% of players play. And, the positive result should be dramatic.

The gimmick? There’s no gimmick either, just a simple appreciation of what affects our game for the good and the converse. Accurately establishing negative influences, initially eliminating them, but possibly bringing them back later and converting them into positive influences. Let’s take a look at just one major negative influence – stress.

Stress / nerves is potentially a healthy thing when channelled properly, but I suspect with the majority of us amateur golfers at times (if not all the time) let it get to us and consequently it takes the edge off our game.

Everyone finishes a game thinking ‘I should have played better,’ that’s healthy and normal. But how many of us finish thinking ‘I should have played MUCH better, I played a couple of bad shots then it all fell apart?’

We all respond differently to fear / stress/ nerves / pressure and yes everyone is capable of cracking, but none of us should consistently play below our best because of it.

Are you healthily converting pressure? The way most golfers play golf induces pressure i.e. played on a competitive level. Sometimes the competition side of things can almost take over possibly being seen as the very game itself – the act of winning. Anything less than that becomes a cause of sorrow, frustration, disappointment or whatever.

Pressure is far more potentially corrosive than many golfers imagine, nor do they appreciate how much it is affecting their game. It’s difficult to devise a gauge for measuring such, but here is mine with all its faults:

You already know how many shots on average you take around your home course. Practice the following for a couple of rounds, just to get used to the system, then maybe on the third attempt keep score:

Before playing stretch, warm up, and hit a few balls but no more than twenty. Play with your fellow players without keeping your own score. Your playing partner keeps such and only records that.

When playing try to forget about score, or beating yourself or your partner. Instead try to make each and every shot as relaxed and perfect as it can be. See the shot before playing it, recall how to play that shot, and concentrate on making the weakest part of that shot good.

Maybe ensuring that you don’t back swing too fast, or cut short your follow through. Whatever it is that sometimes lets you down when playing that shot ensure that it is sound.

Enjoy the game for the game itself. A thing of beauty like a wonderful relaxed yoga pose. Enjoy being alive, feeling relaxed, free from competition, free from pressure. Notice the rabbits, the red winged kite flying overhead, be pleased just to be alive free from the competitive scramble of life. On each hole take it in turns who tees off first.

Repeat the exercise on a few more occasions and compare your old scoring with your new scoring.

You are then in a position to assess whether or not you need to learn one of many necessary mental game techniques, namely handling pressure.

I suspect that most players will discover that they do.