This is the prime fundamental of golf. Having a calm mind is what allows you to apply all the skills you have developed. The absence of worry and doubt, which follows naturally from having a calm mind, lets you become the best golfer you can be.

Do you remember the times on the course when instead of chattering to you about your swing and the hazards you faced, your mind quieted down and you just swung the club? And the result was a shot so good you couldn’t believe it was you who had hit it? The moment you let go of all the mental chatter, your mind was calm and your best technique took over.

Another way to say it is that your mind was at peace with what you were about to do. Now you might agree that having a calm mind is a good idea, but that it’s easier to be at peace looking over a 5-iron second shot on a par 5 to somewhere “up there in the fairway” than over a sloping four-foot putt. The mental approach to both shots, though, is identical.

You control what your mind does, not the golf course. The mental challenge is to be calm and at peace with the shot you’re about to hit, regardless of the circumstances, and if you practice, you can do it whenever you want to. These doesn’t have to be rare moments. The catch is, that you won’t be able to do it on the golf course if you don’t do it all the time in your daily life. Being at peace on the golf course cannot happen unless you’re at peace with your life.

Away from golf, practice calming your mind before you do anything. Whatever other people say or do, or whatever happens to you, stay calm and receive it in a positive way. There is good that can come out of any situation or any person and let the rest of it go.

When you’re calm and at peace in your daily life, you’ll be that way on the golf course, and you will play better. Guaranteed.

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