Golf Mental Game Tips for Focus and Concentration

Shawn Clement shows you the proper way of focusing when over the ball; this will help you organize what really should be going through your mind at the moment of truth!

In this video, Shawn gives some great tips on how to focus while over the ball. For the short game shot example, he says he looks at the flag stick but that the trees behind the green, the bunker in front, and everything else is blurry...in other words he is just focusing on the target.

Something that surprised me was that he then said that even the golf ball should be blurry when you are looking down at it...just the flag stick should be in focus, even if you are not looking at it.

Next he goes through some practice shots to get the feel for the shot, to see if it feels like the shot has the momentum to reach the target and land near the hole.

What did you think of this video? Great Tips? Actionable? Tell us in the comments below...

Mental Golf Tips: The Importance of the Mental Game of Golf to Lower Your Handicap

If you want to lower your golf handicap it is often not enough just to practice your golf swing. You should also learn to improve your golf mental game techniques. Many recreational golfers don’t even bother making the effort to understand the mental approach to golf, but it is this area of the game of golf that can make a big difference and help you to lower your handicap.

The Professional Golfer

When you watch a professional golf tournament on the TV, you may have noticed the way the leader board can change dramatically. One player is going strong for a while and suddenly crumbles, or another one takes a giant leap from lower down the leader board to the top. The normal reason for when PGA Tour professionals fall off the leader board is because of a lapse in their mental part of golf.

As you can imagine, it takes golf mental toughness for these Tour professionals to keep their game together over the four days of a Tournament. In some events and even in some Majors, you will see a lesser known pro win against the odds. Maybe it is because there was no pressure on them to win or they were just on their game, but it is generally the player who can control their golf mental game that takes the prize.

Top 10 Worst Golf Chokes and Collapses - Mental Lapses?

Choking is something that every golfer, even the greatest golfers (well, except for Jack Nicklaus), does at one time or another. Sometimes, the pressure just gets to you and you can't execute the shots you want to hit, or you start making poor decisions. Here are our picks for the 10 worst chokes or collapses in golf history...

Source: golf.about.com

The Recreational Golfer

Many recreational golfers will spend time and money on golf instruction programs, professional golf lessons, golf swing aids, golf practice equipment, and even golf fitness equipment. Hardly any, however, will invest the time and money into improving their mental game of golf. Incredibly, it is the one area of the game of golf that doesn’t require much effort or money to learn.

What is the Golf Mental Game?

The mental side of golf covers such things as golf focus, concentration, thinking clearly, and your golf mind. Without using mental golf training techniques, you may succumb to such problems as anxiety, fearfulness, and nerves. So if you are a generally above average golfer but you have a bad round of golf every now and then, it could be your mental side of golf that is the cause.

Jack Nicklaus said, "The game of golf is 90% mental and 10% physical," and Bobby Jones once said, "Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears." Professional golfers realize the importance of the golf mental game and how to work on their golf mindset.

Golf Concentration

One of the biggest problems that the recreational golfer has is one of worry. They worry about other golfers watching them tee off, they worry about hitting a slice, and they even worry about what their playing partners are thinking of their swing.

To overcome this constant worrying you need to concentrate only on your game and your swing; don’t worry about the other people around you. After all, professional golfers manage to take no notice of the spectators, the camera crews, and the other golfers. The solution is to focus on the target and not on the situation. One of the keys to your mental golf game is to block out everything around you and just concentrate on your game.

The game of golf is supposed to be enjoyed, not feared. One easy way to enjoy your game is to smile! When you are addressing the ball, instead of furrowing your brow, try smiling; this will relax your facial muscles and ease your anxiety.

The Mental Aspect of Golf for Golf Focus

Lastly, you need to learn how to focus on just the shot at hand. Forget about the last drive that was sliced into the woods and forget about the following difficult par-4 with a dogleg left and deep fairway bunkers. You have to only focus on the shot that is before you; how far to the green, which direction is the wind coming from, which club to use, what will be your target, what type of swing and ball trajectory will you be trying to accomplish.

These are the only things that should be entering your mind when you are preparing to hit an approach shot, for example. Do not worry about the group behind that are waiting to tee off or about your playing partners watching you. Your only thoughts should be on how you are going to play your next shot.

So, it doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner or a seasoned golfer that can no longer get in the “zone,” you need to master the golf mental game to be a good golfer.

Renegade Golf Psychology - Tapping


The above video is from mental golf coach, Stephen Ladd. In it you will learn how to eliminate negative emotions so that you will be able to control stressful situations that you might have out on the golf course.

Click Here to Learn an Alternative Golf Psychology That Will Give You a Golf Mindset of a Seasoned Pro

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Golf Chipping Tips: Learn About the Different Types of Chip Shot

Using PurePoint Golf's chipping tips, you can vary the distance of your chips by using different clubs - try using your 5 iron, 7 iron or 9 iron and only ONE SWING instead of using your Sand Wedge and 3 different swings.

If you want to know how to golf better you must learn to master the short game, especially how to chip the ball close to the pin.

The short game of golf can be classified as pitching, chipping, green-side bunker shots, and putting. As you probably know, the short game is important as it can give you the opportunity of birdie or par if you can chip well or bogey or worse if you can’t.

For example, if you are chipping on a par-3 it is because you missed the green and you will need to chip the ball close to the pin to give yourself a chance of saving par. Also, on a par-4 if you are chipping, it probably means that you missed your approach shot and you will be again have to chip close to make par. Chipping can often make or break your score, so here are a few golf chipping tips to help you improve your short game.

The Many Types of Chip Shot

Before we begin, it is important to realize that there are several types of chip shot that you can use when you are close or just off the green. For starters, chipping is more about feel or touch and so every golfer develops their own style of chip and uses their preferred short iron or wedge.

Also, you have to take into account whether you are in the rough, on the fairway, or on the fringe. Other factors will be the lie you have, how far the hole is across the green, the contours of the green, and if you have to carry a green-side bunker or other hazard.

As the chip shot requires finesse, you must remember that to perform it successfully you have to break it down into two parts – the plan and the execution. The planning stage is determining where on the green you want to land the ball and how far it will roll. You should always look for the simplest chip shot that your situation allows for; this is generally to get the ball on the green as soon as you can and allow it to roll to the hole.

Golf Chipping - Standard Chip

The first of our golf chipping tips will deal with the standard chip. This type of chip shot is played when you are relatively close to the green but still have 10 to 20 yards of longer grass (fairway or rough) to fly over and you have a fair amount of green between the fringe and the flag. As a rule of thumb, the golf ball should fly about 1/3 of the distance to the cup and then roll the rest of the way. Therefore, you will need to read the green from the point the ball will land to the hole as the ball will end up rolling on the green.

In general, you play the standard chip with a short-iron or any wedge that you are comfortable with. The standard chip ought to be played in the center of your stance with your hands well ahead of the ball, your weight focused on your lead foot, and the club face square to your target.

Golf Chipping - Soft Chip Shot

The next of our chipping tips, will deal with the soft shot. This type of chip makes the ball fly higher and land softly on the green close to the hole. This is probably the more difficult of the different golf chip shots and is more akin to the pitch shot but it has its uses; it is used when you have to fly the ball over a green-side hazard and there isn’t much green to work with, or you may decide to use the soft chip to land the ball closer to the hole when the green has more severe contours to negotiate.

The club used for a soft chip shot is the lob wedge, or you can use the sand wedge or gap wedge as well. For the soft shot, you should address the ball with a slightly open stance and with your club face open a bit. Play the ball forward in your stance with your feet closer together and with the majority of weight on your lead foot. Keep your hands behind the ball during the swing and learn to accelerate into it to get the ball airborne. When carried out properly, the ball will fly high for a short distance and then land softly on the green and roll just a bit.

Golf Chipping - Low Chip Shot

The last of our chipping tips is for the low chip shot which is often called the bump and run. When you are just off the green and there is a lot of green between you and the pin, the best percentage shot to use is the low chip shot or bump and run. The best percentage shot is the one that is the easiest one to carry out and for many golfers that is the bump and run. However it does require a lot of practice and the use of a club that you are really comfortable with.

Many golfers perform this shot with a different club depending on the distance to the hole. However, this will just complicate things for you; you should practice with several clubs, like the 7, 8, or 9-iron, until you find the one you are confident with. However, it could be any club; some Tour Pros use a 5-iron while others use a wedge but I personally prefer the 9-iron.

The low chip shot is played with the ball towards the back of your stance to obtain a descending type of impact that is needed. Keep your hands in front of the club-head, the club face square to the target, use a narrow stance and stand closer to the ball. Again, your weight needs to be on your lead foot and your swing should be a pendulum motion (arms and shoulders) with no wrist break.

If you decide to use the same club for short and long low chip shots as I recommended, you will have to get a feel for how hard to hit the ball for the different lengths of chip shot, so that you get the ball to the hole – or even in it!

The low chip shot or bump and run create the most roll once the ball lands on the green. It is a good chip to use when you can go straight for the hole but when you are fearful of hitting too far beyond it; for example, when there is a hazard like a bunker or water just off the back-side of the hole.

Summary of Golf Chipping Tips

Most of all, the best chipping tips I can give you is to practice the three types of chip shot mentioned above. Each type requires its own setup, swing style, and club, but the only way to master all three is to go to the practice range and put them into practice.

Remember that the best chip shot to use is the easiest one to execute under the circumstances that you are positioned in. The best percentage shot is the one where you can get the ball quickly on the green and running to the hole, which is normally the low chip shot. Take the time to find your ideal club for this shot and put in the practice time as it is relatively easy to get the ball close with practice.

The short game is all about finesse and touch so just be patient and continue practicing until it becomes second nature. Put these golf chipping tips to work for you and you will be on your way to master the short game and therefore attain a lower score.

Finally, If like me you enjoy learning different golf swing techniques from watching instructional DVD's, then How to Break 80 have dozens of them. The link below will take you to their Short Game DVD...

= > Click Here to Check Out the Short Game DVD From How to Break 80 < =

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