Chicken Soup for Golf

We all know how easy it is to veer off course in our mental focus during practice. If something doesn’t work out, it’s easy to try something else and then something else until too many ideas have been tried in practice session. In addition, many amateurs spend time trying to figure out what went wrong or are given ideas from others on what is going wrong. There are many things that can go wrong in a golf swing – it’s not 100% controllable. Your decisions, your pre-shot routine and your set-up are controllable, but it’s very important to streamline your swing goal into a single feel, move or image that keeps you on task. I’ve been using an analogy to help golfers stay focused on their task during practice and hope it will help you remember to stay on task.

First, imagine you have been given the important task of going to the grocery store to purchase ingredients for chicken soup. What 3 things would you be searching for? Name 3 in your mind right now. Where would you find those items? Next, think of 3 things you wouldn’t put in chicken soup.  Again, take a moment to think of those. I might consider horseradish, gum and cereal. When you go to the store, are you more focused on what you need to put into your recipe or what you don’t need? How long would it take you to go shopping if you kept going down the aisles and checking off the items you don’t need? Wouldn’t it be easier to just stay focused on what you need?

Think about this analogy for your golf practice. If you don’t know what you need, you should work with a golf professional to help you build your recipe. Once you have your ingredients, stay focused on the task at hand. If you start mentally wandering, bring yourself back to the task. After each shot, ask yourself if you did it or not (i.e. Did I have my grip over enough or did I feel the pause at the top of the swing?).  Rate it on a scale of 1-5 (1 is pitiful and 5 is awesome). If you can answer that one specific question every shot, you will have better focus.  Stay on task and I hope both your chicken soup and your golf swing turn out well!