Chapter 14: Pre-round Routine
How can you mentally prepare for a round of golf? I advocate using a pre-round routine.
Mentally Play Your Plan
The first thing to do is to follow the strategy and course management guidelines in Chapter 13 and have a plan ready to go for each of the holes on the course. Once you have that, take some time to yourself to be quiet and alone where you won’t be disturbed. Close your eyes and mentally play each hole using the plan that you’ve created. Imagine yourself teeing off on the first tee with the club you’ve selected. Feel yourself hitting the shot you’ve selected and see the ball flying to your target. Imagine hitting the second shot, and so forth. Go through the entire 18 holes, shot-by-shot, and notice if there is any discomfort at any one of those shots that you have planned. Wherever there is the slightest discomfort, stop and tap on the discomfort.
As an example, let’s say one of your holes is a dogleg left bordered by a lake on the left with trees and out-of-bounds on the right. If you hit through the dogleg, you could go out of bounds; if your shot strays left, you could end up in the lake. Let’s say that when you mentally play that tee shot, you feel uncomfortable and you notice that you’re paying attention to the water instead of where you want your ball to go. Stop and tap on that. “Even though I’m afraid I’ll hit it in the water on the tenth tee, I deeply and completely accept myself."