Do you need to wake up to play better golf?

A little way back I mentioned how my dentist helped me become more aware in my golf swing. And I must say that the advice has helped me along nicely. Here’s how,

I can get a bit uptight on the course. I have high expectations and I don’t like performing poorly – some might say I get grumpy. But I’m fairly certain that I don’t allow any situation to get the better of me. Despite what it looks like, I’m really good at focusing on the job at hand and not getting too distracted. And the easiest way of doing this is being aware of your current environment.

On Sunday, during a particularly difficult moment, I was walking down the fairway looking at cloud formations and being aware of my jaw (this is what the dentist wanted me to do). And before I knew it the bad stuff was gone and I was relaxed and ready to play – hardly missed a shot on the remaining holes. This is the beauty of awareness and staying in the moment. Note: It’s impossible to be aware and not be in the moment.

But I’m surprised at how many other golfers don’t understand awareness. I suppose you don’t know what you don’t know. And this is a shame because some simple awareness drills will help your golf. Last Friday I was playing with a really good player, we were having an informal match and were all square with 3 holes to go.

When I walked onto the tee I could see right away the flag was on the front of the green and I could feel the wind at my back. Now this might not seem like a huge revelation, but those two things made a huge difference.

I selected an 8 iron and hit the ball 15 feet past the pin. My mate chose the 7 iron (he hits the ball further than me) and finished in the back bunker. I sunk my putt and he made 4.

Walking down the next hole I asked him why he selected the 7 iron.

“Dunno, I suppose I didn’t feel the wind … was thinking about my swing and just took the usual club”, was his response. I know it was only one bad shot and we all make mistakes. But how often does this happen to you? Are you asleep and not aware of what is going on?

Because if you wake up and start noticing you’ll be better prepared to make the right decisions. You’ll get into the now and this might just be the most important thing you’ll learn to do. Better scores will happen as a byproduct. You won’t even need to try.