Turns Out, Golf IS a Game of Confidence

I recently finished reading Rotella's Golf is a Game of Confidence and have to say... I think the guy is right! I took a few keys from this book that I put into practice yesterday on the course that I felt like helped me immensely.

First, I'm developing a pre-shot routine that involves a look down the course from behind the ball, picking out a specific target, lining up my shot, one practice swing and let it fly. Trusting the shot helped me a lot. On the course yesterday, I actually hit my targets more than ever before, even if the ball flight wasn't perfect, somehow the ball went to the target.

Secondly, I am really learning to accept each shot and move on. When I played last week, I actually cursed out loud and embarrassed myself with how I behaved. This week, I hit the shot, watched it and started immediately thinking about the next shot. Only when I got home did I think back about mechanics during the round. I'm trying to NOT adjust things on the course but to play with what I have that day.

Third, and perhaps most important, the book taught me to get creative. I started chipping with my 8 iron and played a couple of terrific bump and run shots up the fairway to the green. I still need to work on distance control, but it feels good to know I can hit a simple shot when I need it.

I broke down badly on the back 9, it started to get cold and my endurance isn't up to par yet. However, I shot a 49 on the front 9 and struck the ball extremely well. In fact, on the first hole of the day, a long par 5, I was about 155 yards out and hit a 6 iron. As I stood over the ball, I told myself that the worst thing that could happen was that I hit it pure and would be 10 yard long. I guess I visualized the pure shot, cause that's what I hit. The 54 on the back was pretty horrible, my short game left me wondering what the heck... I chunked about 5 wedges which explains the scoring in the simplest of terms.