Can you really over analyze the shot?
Over-thinking and over-analyzing are two diseases that will sabotage your golf psychology every time.
In the rest of life, thinking and analyzing are good.
They help you solve problems.
On the golf course, however, you’ll end up thinking your ball right into the water, sand trap, or rough.
If you’re a superstar thinker, instead of trusting your body and your heart, you’ll over-analyze every shot.
Slice a drive?
You’ll start analyzing your hips and elbows.
Over hit a putt?
You’ll start analyzing your wrists.
Not good.
You cannot swing and think about your swing at the same time. You’ll become self-conscious and clumsy.
In the words of PGA pro John Daly:
“The average golfer steps up to the ball and starts thinking a mile a minute. ‘What’s my target line, how’s my grip, where are my elbows, take it back low and slow, remember to pivot, cock my wrists, bring my shoulder down and through–what’d I forget?
Shit, with all that thinking going on, it’s wonder every swing doesn’t end up a whiff. Let me tell you, by the time I’m ready to start my swing, I’ve stopped thinking. I’ve looked close at my lie, I’ve checked my distance, I’ve factored in the wind, and I’ve figured out where I want to ball to end up–all BEFORE I step up to the ball. Then what I try to do is go blank. Not consciously think 0.about ANYTHING. Just swing the club.”
John is explaining what you already know instinctively. When you second-guess yourself, you become unable to engage your Great Golf Mind.
Your Great Golf Mind is your organic sixth sense in golf. It’s what allows you to make quick adjustments, read greens, and assess weather conditions.
When you over-ride your Great Golf Mind by over-thinking and over-analyzing, you quickly snuff it out. It lays dormant and only surfaces briefly from time to time, much to your frustration.
Turning off your analytical mind is easy to do when you set your mind to it. You start by making a decision to trust yourself rather than analyze yourself – no matter how experienced you are.
Then you practice self-trust. This means resisting the temptation to over-analyze and make technical adjustments and use simple, practical golf psychology on every shot.
