“Overprepare, then go with the flow.”

This is such a great piece of advice. I’m not even sure where it came from, but tried adopt it into my game for years. Many of my students seek lessons because they are frustrated with their games, their scores, or their handicaps, and yet there is one common denominator between them. They don't practice. If they do the practice, their practice sessions consist of hitting balls (with their favourite clubs) to the same target, in a machine-like fashion. I must admit that I am guilty of this myself, because the lure of the easy and familiar is so hard to resist. 

A simple practice method to help break you out of a robotic practice session is  to “play golf” on the range and on the practice green.  Take a few shots to warm up. Once you have warmed up, “play” a few holes in your mind. Use your driver to  tee off on the first hole. Then, with your next ball, hit an iron shot. If the drive pushed a little to the right, for example, play this second shot as though you are navigating the right tree line, getting the ball back in play. Continue until you have “reached the green.”

At the practice green, chip one ball and then putt it as though you are in the actual game trying to get up and down. Do this for “three holes” or “nine” if you have time.

We all would enjoy the game more if we had realistic expectations about our results. Not every shot in a round is going to be perfectly solid. In fact some of the best players in the world have said “golf is a game of misses,” and “he/she who misses it the best wins.” If we accepted those missed-hits, we would save our energy, have more fun and most likely have a better round. The thin shot that rolls up on the green, that isn’t so bad. In a tournament, I once skulled a four-iron all the way into the hole for eagle. While I was in the post-shot follow-through I was groaning and whining inside. And “plop,” in it went.

The best we can do is quickly (after impact) accept the shot, the bounce, the result whether good or bad. By  having a neutral accepting state of mind, and practicing, and the game will be a lot more fun.