Need a Lesson?
Click here to search the directory.

Lynn Bernadett - Golf Professional
LPGA - Tucson, AZ
Phone: (520) 797-4275

Did you know that you use 17 facial muscles to smile and 43 facial muscles to frown? Whew! And that's just your face. In turn, your entire body will also respond to these behaviors and your golf swing will be a reflection of your attitude. Golf demands emotional discipline to be consistent - leave the drama at home!  Stay in control of your emotions and you will have control of your golf swing. Your swing will is a reflection of your frame of mind. Most swing faults derive from a unbalanced scale of negative emotions: intimidation, anger, frustration, embarrassment, etc. You are allowed to feel these emotions and you are allowed to express them … just keep them on an "even keel."  If the balance of your scale is leaning more toward the negative side, you may need a refresher course in ACCEPTANCE.

Definition of Acceptance: (1) the act of taking or receiving something offered. (2) favorable reception; approval; favor. (3) the act of assenting or believing.

The person who chronically complains, self-intimidates, or plays with a bad attitude, will have to realize that their negativity will become detrimental to the flow of their golf swing. Muscles become immobile from any sort of self-induced tension.  Beating your self up, over a bad shot, will only produce more bad shots.  Knowing how to control a bad attitude on the golf course takes practice. It basically comes from within ... acceptance. Acceptance is not easy, and in golf, the practice of it would be as follows:

• Approach your shot by focusing on your routine (addressing the ball in your set-up position).

• If you hit your shot off-line (not where you intended it to go and has remained in-bounds), you must immediately think of one positive thought, about your last shot, and say it out loud.  Saying these positive words out loud is a way to trick your subconscious.  You have to jolt your negative (silent) thoughts with a positive audio confirmation; i.e., “That’s the distance I’ve been waiting for all day!”

• Go to where that ball has come to rest.  Now you have this next shot to contend with.

• You accept its position without frustration.  Accept it as a positive challenge.

• With a positive attitude, eagerly repeat your routine (address the ball in your set-up position) and believe in the "here and now" of your present golf swing.

• Recap and count your total strokes after you have finished the hole.  Think only of your swing and course management while playing a hole - not your score! 

Repeat this simple process until your round of golf is over. That’s it! Don’t take your mind anywhere else except the here and now, for each individual stroke. The past is done and the future hasn’t happened yet.  Whatever happens … happens. You can start developing these skills right at home. If you practice your acceptance skills in everyday life situations, you will have an easier time adapting them into your golf game.  Accept that acceptance takes practice.

Golf is not a game of perfect shots. A successful game of golf could be considered a game of “good misses”. Tour Professional's admit to hitting 1, to 5, anticipated good shots throughout their entire round of 18 holes.  At every level of play, everyone will scramble at one time or another. Learn how to control your emotions. Be positive - Believe in yourself - and let  ACCEPTANCE become part of your game.

* TRAIN YOUR MIND TO TRAIN YOUR BODY *