Visualizing Whilst on the Golf Course

How can you build visualization into your playing routine?  Most golfers have a pre shot routine in terms of waggling the club or practice swings, yet fewer have a mental routine to match.  This is a great shame, because the mental routine is the most important.  Everything in life starts with a thought.  You have to think straight if you want the golf ball to go straight, so to speak.  You have to plan the golf shot mentally before you can transmit this information to the clubface.  Or put another way, how can you impart the right information from the clubface to the golf ball if you are unclear about your shot?

You may think that you are clear about the shot - that you want to hit the golf ball down the fairway.  But let us draw a comparison here.  Golf balls know nothing, they don't have minds and they don't have prior knowledge.  If a stranger to your town asked for directions how would you reply?  Presumably the answer would be detailed, and you might even use gestures to help make the directions easier to follow.  You may even get pen and paper out and draw a map.  Unless you took the time to explain the directions fully and precisely that stranger is likely to get lost.  The same thing happens to golf balls.

I'm not joking.  This is what actually happens.  Unless you want your golf balls to take a different route to the one which you desire (and end up getting themselves lost), you need to have clear and precise intent when taking your shot.  You need to mentally plan the golf shot, and picturing the desired outcome is all important.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Picture the shot, the distance, direction, trajectory, spin;  See the ball landing and coming to a stop.  Then take the shot.  By doing this, the golf ball, like the stranger in your town, stands a far better chance of reaching the desired destination. 

It only takes a couple of seconds to visualize your shot and all you need to do is to build this into your pre shot routine.  To make it into a habit, you need to do it consistently;  Visualize EVERY shot before you take it, not just putts or tee shots, EVERY shot.  It won't take long before this type of visualization is so habitual that it's impossible to hit a shot without doing it.  It will become as automatic as brushing your teeth morning and night.

Mental skills are a part of the game of golf which you can practice easily from your armchair when conditions are inclement outside, and also when its sunny.  Don't forget that every time you vividly imagine a perfect shot your brain doesn't know the difference between that and a real shot and so every time you visualize great shots you are strengthening the neural pathways in your brain which create an expectation of achieving the perfect outcome.  There is no excuse for being "bored";  Even when you're in the check out queue in Safeway you can be visualizing great golf shots.

You need to take your mental golf skills out with you onto the course and use them "on the spot", so to speak.  A frequently cited problem with this is that many golfers find that they can visualize their perfect shot from the armchair, but cannot seem to "see it" when standing over the ball.  If this happens to you, ask yourself the question "what's stopping you from seeing it now?"  Because if you can see the shot when at home but not on the course, there is nothing wrong with your visualization skills.  Something else is getting in the way. 

Maybe it's the fact you're not relaxed, you're feeling a bit tense and so can't seem to access the more creative part of your mind.  If so, ask yourself "Why am I tense?"  Maybe the answer is because you don't want to make a fool of yourself, or because you don't think you can hit that shot, and so on.  Keep asking yourself "Why?" until you get to the root of the problem.  Why are you scared of making a fool of yourself?  And so on.

Awareness precedes choice which precedes change.  You have to know the cause to change the effect.  Once again, this is true of everything in life, not just golf.  Why do you worry about what people think?  Why don't you think you can hit that shot?  Why don't you see golf as a game and have some fun playing it?  Why can't you laugh at yourself?  "Why?" is a wonderful question, which will encourage mental exploration and subsequent discovery, so long as you are honest with yourself and so long as you follow the thread right back to its beginnings. 

Think of the phrase "a train of thought" and imagine that you are in the rear carriage, right at the back of the train, and as you ask yourself "Why is that?" and find your own answer you'll move forwards to the next carriage.  Keep working through the carriages of your thought train and eventually you cannot help but reach the engine.  And once you reach that engine and become the driver of your train, you can choose your driving direction.

Once you have taken control in this way, you will find that your imagination is truly limitless.  You will be able to imagine exquisite golf shots, not only in your armchair, but when you are standing over the ball in a tight spot when you're in the lead on the 18th.

Having a vivid imagination is a priceless skill.  Most of us have a vivid imagination that comes to us naturally when we're afraid of the outcome - then we can create internal movies that run like a horror story.  All you need to do is to tap into this natural ability to visualize and choose to imagine what you want to happen instead of what you don't.  And remember whatever you imagine you're likely to create, so make sure you choose to imagine great shots with great outcomes.  In this way you'll walk down the fairway with your head held high and a spring in your step.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.

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