Begin by looking at the target. Know what your intention is. Then cut the emotional attachment to the result.
Instead of trying to get the ball to go to the target, first picture the target in your head, then give up the future and just do the golf stroke that relates to that picture in your head. Then look up and notice where the ball is going.
Cut out the emotion
Begin by looking at the target. Know what your intention is. Then cut the emotional attachment to the result. Now just go through your process and do your best. This can relieve the internal pressure that can cause your stroke to be uncoordinated or stressed.
This thought process allows you to trust your stroke and the better your stroke is the better the shot will come out.
By doing this backward thinking you are eliminating, to a large degree, the fear of the ball not going to the target. If every shot were just win/lose, (the ball goes at the target, the ball doesn’t go at the target) then this game would be either good or bad, black or white. We know this is not the truth. This is a game of misses. Misses can even lead us to some of the greatest shots of the round.
Extra stress tires you out
Trying to hit one good shot after another and stressing about the end result will tire anyone out. The fear and anxiety about where the ball will actually go will create tension and a sense of being out of control. A golfer feels most in control when he’s just doing the best possible stroke he can without tension and anxiety about where the ball will be going and he allows the ball to go whereever the stroke sends it then he learns subconsciously from the feedback.
Thinking backwards mantra:
“I am going to see the target, gather whatever information my mind and body need then let go of the end result emotionally and trust that I am able, then make the best stroke I can, NOTICE where the ball goes and accept whatever the outcome is.”
This part of the process of playing golf is knowing that you do have a golf stroke and that you do have different shots that you are capable of hitting and now trusting enough to let them appear on the course. This is not the learning part of HOW TO make a stroke. This is learning to trust that the freer your golf stroke is, the more confident you are when making the stroke, the better the shot will come out.
If golf were a win/lose situation there would be so much fear of losing that the body would not be able to move under the pressure. By trusting that all you have to do is react to a picture in your mind’s eye, allows you to relax and do your stroke. Taking away the emotional attachment to the target gives you freedom to make a stroke.