The ability to focus on a golf shot can be almost as important as a good golf swing. Certainly, it’s critical at the higher levels of the game or when playing in competition at any level. 

One of the biggest problems that golfers have is being too focused on score. This is especially true in tournaments or at the end of a round of golf.

I’m going to share with you an amazing mental golf tip to not only help you focus better, but also help you have a much better attitude about the challenges you’ll face in your round of golf.

Have you ever hit a shot you were unhappy with? I’m guessing you probably have. I know I sure have.

When that happens the next time, I want you to look at the next shot in a different way. Instead of being mad that you hit a shot that left you in the rough with a bad lie, or in a bunker, or with a difficult downhill, sliding putt… I want you to play a little mental game with yourself.

I want you to pretend that all the other golfers (your foursome or the rest of the field in a tournament) have to play the same shot. That’s the game today. They all have to play out of this terrible lie, or hit that difficult bunker shot, or attempt this perilous downhill putt.

Next, I want you to picture in your mind everyone gathered around that particular shot. Each is going to take his or her turn at it.

Now, it’s your turn.

And your job is to hit this shot better than the others to win the game. I want you to just focus on hitting this shot as if it wasn’t even a bad break or a bad shot that put you here. Everyone has to play from here.

So, all you have to do to win is hit this shot as well as you can.

By the way, when I say hit it better than the others, I don’t mean for you to hit a go-for-broke foolish shot. I simply mean that you should try to hit a smart, well-executed shot or putt.

Now, let’s take a look at what we accomplished here.

1. First, we quickly took our mind off from the fact that we just hit a shot that could be pretty upsetting. This will help our composure and temperment tremendously.
2. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we have put our entire focus on hitting the next shot with total concentration. We’ve left no room to be distracted by our grumbling over the bad shot we hit or the bad break we got. This is where we are, so play it!
3. Thirdly, it takes the focus off from score and puts in on making the shot or putt.

Next time you’re watching a golf tournament on TV, look for the reaction of the top players when they hit a bad shot. The top players will seldom get upset. They just consider bad shots part of a round of golf and play on.

I will admit that Tiger does show his emotions quite a bit on bad shots. As great as Tiger can play, this is not one of his best traits.

The golf psychologists have written chapter after chapter about not getting attached to a bad shot. They call it disassociation.

They say…

“Feel the good shots. Treat the bad shots as if you were watching someone else hitting them.”

But, that’s an article for another time.

So, imagine that each and every shot you have is a one-shot game by itself.

Treat it that way and you’ll find your focus is precise and your scores will be dropping.