The game of golf can be broken down into two parts: muscle memory and the mental game. Muscle memory is simple. So long as you have a decent swing you can lower your handicap by increasing your muscle memory and you do that by, of course, putting in range time. By contrast, the mental game is something that is as complex as the human mind itself and even professional golfers who have muscle memory down could endure occasional breakdowns of their mental games. How, then, is an amateur like you supposed to master the mental game? Well, a number of mental practices you can put in your bag will shave more strokes off your game then any gimmicky golf ball.

The mental game has multiple layers of depth just like the human mind. First, let’s discuss your rational mind and what it has to do with course management. If you don’t play very often, or even if you do, you have probably noticed a heightened sense of awareness on the golf course at times; not just when you notice the birds chirping or the wind blowing – it’s more than that. You get in a zone of thinking like a pro. That means you know your exact yardage, which way the wind is blowing, out of bounds is to the right, sand traps are short left, long is bad, you have a flier lie, the air is heavy and last time you hit a seven iron from the same spot you came up short. Making this mental address to the golf ball is every bit as important as hitting the right club. Smart folks say that what determines a decent round is not how good your good shots are, but rather how bad your bad shots are; you must take every measure to increase your chance of success if you don’t hit a perfect shot.