Step One to a Great Short Game

Before we talk about technique, we must realize that golf is a difficult game to play.  It requires a certain amount of athleticism, a feel for timing and concentration.  However, having a positive attitude is my top of the list of things that you must be successful at to play this game well.  I’m sure you have heard people say, “If you think you will miss a putt, you will.”  Now, you may very well make the putt thinking negatively and you may miss the putt thinking positively.  That’s golf!  We will discuss all of the physical reasons we make or miss putts in future posts.  But for now, we want to concern ourselves with how our attitude effects how we play and score. 
How do we develop the positive attitude that we need to be successful?  You cannot just say to yourself; “I’m going to make this putt” and expect that it will go in the hole right then and there.  The same thing applies if you’re trying to hit a 40 yard finesse wedge shot to a tightly tucked pin.  If you don’t have the skill that will allow you to hit the shot you need, to place the ball close enough to the hole to make the putt, or even hit it on the green, it is hard to think in a positive way about the shot you are about to hit.  You might get lucky and hit it close, but the chances are slim.  With each poor shot comes more negative thinking.  That’s when poor shots become the norm and good shots are rare.  What I’m saying is; positive thinking alone will not make you a better golfer.  You must have technique.  With technique, you experience more successes.  With more successes, you will start to feel better about how you are playing.

It’s like the snowball getting bigger as it rolls down the mountain.  You will progressively start thinking in a more positive manner.  Then, as you become more aware of what positive thinking can do for you and your golf game, that positive attitude will grow and grow.  The shots get better and your mind gets better.  Just let the positive vibrations take over.  You may even call it the law of attraction.  As you become more positive about your shot making abilities, you will start to attract better and better shots.  You will start making more and more good shots happen because you believe you can.  The law of attraction is precise, and it never slips up.  If you start sending those positive vibrations out into the universe, you will attract what you want.  If you think you can, you will!  As Winston Churchill once said; “you create your own universe as you go along.”  It's your choice, you can make your universe positive or negative.  The law of attraction is not something new, it has been known to some of the most successful people in the history of the world.  Successful people know that they can attract what they want and desire by thinking positively and constantly about it.  We all have to start somewhere however.  It’s hard in the beginning.  Start small and build on it.  It doesn’t happen overnight in the beginning.  Later on, it may very well hit you in the face overnight.  That’s how it works.   

I hope this will help you a little with your mental side of the game.  I will refer to your goal of positive thinking as we go along with our lessons.  Remember though, it all starts with proper technique.   We will start talking about proper technique in the next post.