Visualisation
You may have heard of visualization and mental rehearsal and wonder just what it is but it’s simple to understand and will improve your game when you learn how to apply it.
When you take any shot, be it a drive or a putt, you have to ask yourself to play a ‘particular’ shot but if you fail in the thought preparation before you play it is not difficult to see that the body cannot respond with the required shot.
How often have you stood in a bunker and instead of thinking how to play the ball onto the green you only consider leaving the ball in the bunker?
You then attempt to play the short with your automatic self having been instructed to fail, and failure is what you get.
Mental rehearsal is the pre-shot preparation, which simply explains to your reliable automatic just what you expect of it and is also a way of filling your mind with positive thought.
Perhaps we find the most important time for correct mental rehearsal in the short game where you spend far too much time reminding yourself of the many physical movements required to make the shot and fail to rehearse “what” you are trying to do.
It is not so much “how” but “what” you are about to do and we have all been guilty of this sort of inadequate preparation
Working out how to play any golf shot has one other requirement often over looked by the golfer because shot preparation must be governed by the knowledge of your personal capabilities and do not attempt to play shots outside of your ability because this type of negative rehearsal can only result in failure.
The obvious way to success is to ‘ask’ for it, play the shot you wish to play, within your mind, and then without hesitation step up to the ball and play it.