Paying Attention to Your Game – When should you do It!

A average round of golf takes somewhere around four hours if you are lucky. During that time we have several shots and decisions to make. In order to play our best we have to know when it is time to pay attention and when it is time to relax and just enjoy the day. So many players continue to focus on poor shots after they are over. Then when it is time to hit the next shot they are still carrying the baggage from the last shot. This takes their focus away from the shot at hand. They also worry about failing on the present shot like they did the last shot. What we must remember and execute is the little things we can do in our routine to stay in the moment and on task. When we are worrying about how we are going to hit it in the water or how we will some how mess up the shot we are sending the wrong information to our brain. We have to pay attention to what we want to do and go through the small steps of our routine to have success. So many players over look the little things like near field target. Pro like Jason Day are always making sure shoulders, feet and hips are square. Proper posture sequencing and grip. Also assessing the situation and the lie. All of these thing must be addressed on every shot. We also have to learn to let the last shot go if it was a poor shot. It is over and there is nothing we can do to change that. So we need to regroup and move on. This is by far one of the toughest thing to do in the game of golf and life for that matter. We need to stay in the present and not the future or the past. Give our full attention to the little things and always stick to your routine. If you do not have a routine then it is time to work on building a solid routine that works for you. Ask your golf professional what they like to do. That is a good starting point. Below is an example of what I do and have my students do. It works well and help them pay attention to the little things along with staying in the present.

Choose your target than stand behind the ball on your target line and choose a aim point or near field target about a foot on the target line in front of the ball.
Square up your club on the leading edge and then take your stance squaring up to that target line.
Stand up and take your grip then set your posture or proper pelvic tilt. I like to feel like I am taking a foul shot in basketball. This help get me in a good athletic balanced set up. Then tilt down maintaining your posture and sole the club.
I like to then back away from the ball slightly and take a practice swing checking my swing bottom and balance and tempo for the shot I want to hit. I make sure that the swing bottom is happening four inches in front of the ball. Once I am happy I then go back to the ball take a last look at my target and swing. I hold my finish checking balance and that I have most of my weight on my front foot .

Bernard Sheridan Impact Zone Staff instructor at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples Fl. and the founder of Par Breakers Golf Academy long with the founding host of Breaking Par with Bernard Sheridan the weekly golf instruction podcast of iTunes and Stitcher radio. Please leave any comments below and if you feel you know someone who would benefit from this blog please share it on social media.