Golf Gameplan: Make sure you have one.

Your golf gameplan is the reference point for your mental game while you play a round of golf. Most players don't have a gameplan. This can be due to mental laziness, a lack of a plan altogether, or perhaps they're a higher handicapper and feel they can't really benefit from having a golf gameplan.

Ok, let's get something perfectly clear. Every golfer can benefit from a gameplan! It can be as simple as saying "I plan to focus on hitting fairways even at the expense of dropping distance and having a longer approach shot."

Needless to say this isn't a golf gameplan in the truest sense of the word but it is a mindset that the player can refer to during the round to keep her/him on track. Now a more serious gameplan will involve as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.

A true gameplan is much more than managing the golf course and how it's laid out. Things like placing tee shots appropriately for where the flag is positioned, knowing which holes you should not attack and which ones you should.

Committing to back off on driver on certain holes and NOT changing your mind when you get to those holes! This is what a gameplan is: something you follow regardless of circumstances.

A good golf gameplan includes inner game strategies

We all appreciate the need to have an external gameplan and how to manage our physical game to shoot our best score. Yet what about your mental gameplan? Do you have one? What if a playing partner has brutal etiquette? Will you be thrown off?

What if you have a run of bad holes after feeling like you were on autopilot? Perhaps the green speed on the course is nothing like the practice putting greens and you are blasting the ball by the hole and it kills your feel. What then?

The point here is that there are equal or more internal elements that determine your success on the course and your ability to "hit the shots". Doesn't it make sense to at least incorporate some inner game awareness into your golf gameplan?

Your golf game will improve as you refine your gameplan

The detail or level of involvement of your golf gameplan is up to you and will reflect how committed you are to your the game. Yet we can ALL benefit from some sort of gameplan. Here are a few things to consider trying when you play.

regardless of what happens around me.

2) Prepare physically and mentally before teeing off - I'll stretch and prepare by chipping for and putting and make smooth practice swings before the first tee off. While doing this I will preview my round in my mind's eye seeing.hearing and feeling myself play at my best.

3) Play from the "green to the tee" - To manage each golf hole the best I'll notice where the flag is, if possible, on each green before teeing off and focus on hitting my tee shot to the best side of the fairway to leave the best approach shot.

Mental preparation is a hallmark of solid players. Getting yourself in the best possible physical and mental shape prior to your round places you ahead of any competition, all things being equal. It doesn't require you to alter your life: just set an inner and outer golf gameplan that you'll follow.

Frequent readers of my blog, ezine, and those of you who have already purchased my mental game system appreciate the value of proper mental preparation and having a solid golf gameplan. Monitor your success on the course when you follow a gameplan and that will be enough evidence for making it a part of your golf game!

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