Play Your Best with Golf Psychology Before Changing Your Unconscious Golf Swing

If you have hit good golf shots at some time in your golfing life, you already have the unconscious golfing ability to repeat those shots and score well. So, how well could you score if you played to the best of your existing golfing ability? Well, you can if you get the very most out of that ability before you decide to change your golf swing again.

One way to find out how well you can score with your existing unconscious golf swing is to add up the lowest number of shots you've ever scored on each hole - your eclectic score. Ideally assess your scores on a course you play regularly. Now to add some reality to it, forget about any hole-score that included holing a long shot, chip or bunker shot, unless that's a part of your regular game! I've just done that and I'm astounded to find out that my eclectic score around Beaconsfield's par 71 adds up to 50, even after adding 3 shots to allow for 3 rather improbable eagles on par 4's that resulted from holing long shots or driving the green. So, even if I on average I play one shot above my best on every hole, I should still go round in 68 on average - 3 under par! I think I can cope with that, although my friends will struggle with the permanent silly grin on my face.

So given that I have the capability of scoring that well, why is it that whenever I used to have a bad round, I'd head for the practice ground to find out what was wrong with my swing or visit yet another golf guru to try and change it? I'm sure that sounds like many of the golfers you know as well. If a similar game exists in your unconscious resources, why not access it through your mind with golf hypnosis rather than just learning to swing the club again. You already have a blueprint for a great golf game, why not follow it rather than tear it up and start again?

If you've been following the annual saga of swing changes from current British Open and US PGA champion, Padraig Harrington, you'll know that the same thing occurs with the very best golfers. That said, Padraig tends to change his swing when he seems to the rest of us to be playing his best golf ever, rather than after a bad round! I read recently that he justifies this by saying that it's in his nature to seek to improve his swing every year. He backs this up by saying, "The reason I improve is I actually stop and start rebuilding every year and change things. I think guys who stay constant are on a slippery slope to retirement. It's all about pushing yourself to get better."

Now unless you have the consistency and are approaching the level of success regularly achieved by Padraig Harrington, I suggest that you focus using your golf mind on getting the best out of the swing you already have. There's no harm in seeing your regular golf instructor, if you need to, to make sure you haven't slipped into bad habits. Remember that the destructive shots you hit are more likely to come from your conscious thoughts than from your unconscious golf swing.