The golf swing is a complicated maneuver that incorporates many minor movements. When I first started playing, I tried to manage as many of positive swing factors as a could just prior to starting my swing. It is something that most, if not all, amateurs find overwhelming. The number of thoughts that would bounce around in my head during my entire swing process seemed uncountable. I fixed this common error after I talked to my mentor Bob Fortune, who explained that I needed to find a way to stop overthinking. Never accursed of thinking too much in the past I decided to take his advice to heart. Now, I have very little to no swing thoughts and it has helped my improve my ball striking and aim effectiveness. You can as well if you start to eliminate as many swing thoughts as you can prior to and during your golf swing.
There are many different paths to thinking less when swinging a golf club. Each path likely works differently for each play and I am not about to tell you what is the perfect method. I did, through some research, find a simple video that might help many of you aspiring golfers. It is simple and easy to follow:
I use some the above techniques because they work for my game. I counted in the past until I would naturally swing the club without thinking of anything. This technique helped develop my tempo that seems to be very consistent. I do not overly analyze my target line once. I do not spend a great deal of time over the ball thinking of thinks I need to accomplish to make a great swing. I really do rely on my past efforts to ensure a positive swing in the present.
I know many of you will suggest that you swing is not developed enough to play this way. It is not consistent enough to hit the ball at my intended target without thinking about the mechanics of your swing. To that I say you are right. If you think you can’t, then you can’t. In this case, I would suggest you need to change your mental approach to playing golf. I too asked those same questions in the past, but got over it when I started to think less. Thinking less about mechanics and other swing requirements just improved my overall game. If I needed to fix something, I would focus on one thing only until I felt confident I could repeat this skill, then I moved on to something different. The evolution of my game did not happen overnight.
There are many approaches to improving our golf swing. Having less swing thoughts applies when you are actually looping the course. You do not want to be bogged down by overthinking because that usually leads to frustration and disappointment. Next time you play, try thinking less and see what happens. You never know, this might be the path you need to be on to play better golf.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!