ONE!

End of blog post!!!

Actually maybe one is too many, but I wouldn’t go more than one. So how many swing thoughts should you have? One or none. Easy for me to write, but how do we go about this?

It’s really easy to get bogged down in swing mechanics. With all the information out there on Instagram and YouTube, it’s just too tempting to try the next key move, as someone has guaranteed you that this will fix your slice, or get rid of poor contact for ever. As a scratch golfer for over 30 years even I’m sucked into these ads as I also want rid of poor contact, slices and snap hooks for ever. So off you trot to the range with a new shallowing sequence, that creates lag, helps you rotate, re-center, pivot correctly and put 20 yards on your drives, and your head explodes. BOOM!

By now you could have gone full Hatton, Rham or Johnson at the Waste Management, so what to do?

You don’t want more than one swing thought. This goes for playing on the course or hitting it on the range.

Now you might have been to see a swing coach and they have identified many things you need to work on. Now the first thought is to go and fix everything thing at once. Well this just won’t happen. You need to compartmentalize each facet of the swing changes and work on them individually. Once you feel you can make one change to the point where you don’t have to think about it you can move to the next. If you have a swing coach and they haven’t outlined a plan for your development ask them, “what order should I do these swing changes in?” Then get them to outline a plan for you.

Ultimately you are looking for one swing thought you can take to the course and test under more pressure, because once you can do it on the range taking it to a practice round with mates is the next step. Taking it into tournament play another hurdle and the ultimate test to see if you’ve mastered the move. Eventually you are looking to have the new pattern in your subconscious mind and never have to think about the change as a new swing.

At Mental Golf Type we have a concept called, The Focus Line. Imagine a line 3m between you and the target. You can put a club down or an alignment stick to visually mark it. Depending on your Mental Golf Type we have identified that different players perform best by either being player side or target side of the focus line.

Players that are player side of the focus line we coach to have one swing thought and to make their one move. They perform best having their focus on one movement and only focus on the target for set up.

Players that are target focused we coach to have their focus and attention on the target. They perform best not having any swing thoughts and just having their focus and attention on the target. A good feel for this is seeing the target out of your left ear (for right handed golfers).

Test this out for yourself next time you are hitting balls. Place a club or alignment stick 3-4m between you and the target. Hit 10 balls feeling target side of the line, with no swing thoughts. Simply react to the target with no specific shot shape, seeing a target zone like hitting through rugby posts.

Next hit 10 balls being player side of the line. Have 1 swing thought and see one shot shape like a top tracer line. Focus on making your move and being in your bubble.

See if you perform better with one or the other focuses of attention. Being player side or target side will be one of your dominant traits and really help your performance. For some of us (me included) we will perform best with no swing thoughts, if this is you, you’ll be really happy to know it. For others one swing thought will be best.

If you take anything from this, just have one swing thought not two or ten and you’ll see your performance improve. Stick with what works and keep using it.

For personal coaching on working with swing thoughts and the focus line look me up on skillest and we can get on a zoom call and talk you through how you’re approaching the game. You can also take your Mental Golf Type free assessment using my affiliates code here and check out the programs and other Mental Golf Type coaches that may be in your area.

I can also highly recommend the Mental Golf Type Level 1 online course. For a good discount on any Mental Golf Type product use the discount code MGTPARRY

I hope you’ve found this post helpful feel free to reach out with any questions.

Michael Parry, Stockholm 2024