CONFIDENCE IS KEY TO GAME

By Drew Ekstrom
Head pro, Vail Golf Club

We, as golfers, want to have complete confidence on each golf shot, on each golf game, all the time.

At one time or another we probably have had some confidence in our golf game; keeping that confidence is the hard part, however.

When you lose your confidence, what do you do to try to get it back? Most golfers just go about playing rounds of golf hoping their confidence will magically reappear. It doesn't quite happen that way, however. Aside from pulling off good golf shots during a round that boost our confidence, having a positive mental approach for a complete round of golf is difficult. That is what it boils down to, having a positive mental approach for a complete round of golf.

For me, confidence starts with a game plan for improvement. Nothing can help your improvement plan better than practice. We all know the immediate value of practice: It works. How we practice is another thing. What makes the game difficult is when we practice right before a game on the golf course. Nothing could be more detrimental to a round than working on mechanics on the driving range.

The time for practice, and mechanics, is on days when you do not play a round of golf. I know, you don't have time for practice. You have a family at home, you have to work late, you're tired, you're satisfied with your golf game, etc. If you believe one of the above, don't read any further; otherwise, a simple commitment of a half-hour once a week will do the trick. On the way home from work, stop for a quick bucket of range balls, or try a bucket of balls before work. Or lastly, take your kids to the practice green for a Saturday morning practice session. Then, while they take a break, work on your 3-footers.

Probably the best practice advice I can give is to practice after you've played a round. You can simply hit a few drivers, a few chips or a few putts to feel good about something in your golf game.

Confidence also can be built with successful rounds on the golf course. A simple way to do this, and it's hard on one's ego, is to move forward with your tee-box selection. A quick illustration: A young touring professional was struggling with his golf game. He went to his instructor for swing advice, assuming that was the problem. The instructor told him he was hitting the ball beautifully and there was nothing in his mechanics he should change. The instructor told the touring pro to play a round of golf from the ladies' tee. His reasoning: The pro had lost the ability to feel comfortable with shooting a low round of golf. By moving forward, the pro could shoot an exceptional round. The pro shot 63 and went to his traditional tee placement feeling more confidence.