First off, let's put aside the factors that you can't really do anything about because of your age, time constraints, genetics, etc. such as, a) world class players or even the good ones at your club were just born with natural ability; and b) they have a coach, a training regimen, and the time to train. Okay, with that aside, let's concentrate on the things top players do that you can add to your game:

Body English

Good players, even if they've learned the proper strokes, the proper stance, footwork, etc., give themselves leeway to make slight changes with their body to make adjustments to game conditions. If you watch really good players, you'll see them contorting their bodies in weird forms to give the shuttle that little oomph or touch. Maybe they'll hit a stroke on tip-toes, or return a drive to their body by emulating what looks like a Spider-Man pose, or do a cross-court drop by stretching like the Elongated-Man.

Poor players, on the other hand, stay stiff. They can hit shots that they get at early where they can do the proper stance and form, but catch them off-guard and they don't make adjustments.

Before we learned to do the "proper" way to play badminton, we used to use our body english and adopt weird poses to get the shuttle to go to the other side. After we learned the rudiments of the game though, most of us gained this mind-set of no longer letting our body make adjustments. It's like we think, "That's not the proper way to hit the stroke!" so we don't try any other way. But good players are instinctively open to make whatever adjustments they need to execute the perfect shot. They're don't think it's weird or embarrassing to look like a ballerina during one shot and then a Quasimodo in the next. All they care about is adjusting to the moment and hitting the best shot possible.

So do what the good players do: don't be stiff, be like rubber. Make tweaks to your head angle, your shoulder, your back, your elbow, your arm, your knee, go on tip-toes, jump back, jump forward, hop-hop, etc., to control the shuttle and make it do your bidding.

Scramble, Scramble, Scramble!

When the opponent of a good player hits the shuttle to a gap in the good player's court that he/she probably won't be able to reach, the good player will still scramble like a madman to try to return it. And lo and behold, 70% of the time, they are able to! Contrast this to poor players who see the shot to the gap and just say to themselves, "Aww, rats!" and stay rooted where they are.

This is because good players know from experience that sometimes miracles happen and they're able to just get at the shuttle and return it. The opponent, thinking their shot was already winner, then gets caught off-guard by the return and would tend to flub it. Result: point to the good player.

So if you want to do what the great players do: scramble, scramble, scramble! Make it a habit to never give up trying to reach a shot, no matter if it looks like a lost cause. Always go for it!

What do I mean by learning styles? You have your own way of learning that is decidedly different than mine. I understand this and am skilled at tapping your individual style so that you can learn in a way that supports you. Not my teaching style. Does this make sense? The problem is with the “one size fits all” approach that so many golf instructors and mental game coaches use. They are attempting to have their students/clients conform to their teaching style!

This leads to all kinds of needless issues for you in your skill development. Have you noticed this is what the traditional education system does as well? It's called rote learning. Their position is: “We spoon feed you the pabulum WE know is right for you. And it is YOUR responsibility to figure out how to swallow it!”

I am as serious as a heart attack with this. Yet as you know if you've purchased the mental game system already, I don't simply raise a pile of questions and leave you hanging. You'll have practical tools to make the changes you need. Not what I want you to need!

Technical and Natural Learning Styles

Ok, there are two fundamental approaches to learning. Technical and Natural. These terms aren't carved in stone so don't get attached to the labels. It's the learning we're after. The technical learner prefers to use the left brain approach. Enjoys the “how” questions and all the nuances of learning. They do best with specific things to think about along the way and put in their game. This without question is the predominant approach of the modern golf world. Training aids, 1000's of technical “tips” for your game.

The Natural approach is more right brained, creative. These people prefer to get a “sense” of what they're learning. Without being encumbered by any technical details. These people would destroy their chances of playing well if they went to David Leadbetter. You must take the time to ask yourself which approach truly resonates with you. Don't allow yourself to buy into the golf establishment that incessantly promotes the technical side of learning. It is killing the games of half the golfing public!

Neither approach is inherently better than the other. Yet one is far worse than the other to you if you're on the wrong path! Each has their benefit to people and the natural learner can of course benefit from some technical teaching. Yet not at the expense of their need for simple pictures and kinesthetic experience of what they are learning. And the technical players perform at a far higher level when they learn to “let go” of their conscious mind with all its details on the swing and simply “play” golf. Not “think” golf swing.

Know Your Style and Follow It!

I am not overstating this. If Lee Trevino attempted to follow Ben Hogan and try to use the techniques he promotes Lee would have had a career as a caddy, not the sensational player he was. So please do yourself a life changing favor and determine which approach suits you the best and follow this. There are golf instructors out there that understand this. Yet usually it's the ones who have been around a long time.

In terms of mental game training I teach both ways. I can literally guarantee your learning will accelerate after applying the strategies in my system. And every golf lesson you ever have will have more power to you. Your ability to integrate what you're learning will increase. You'll make your instructor look like a genius! But it's all because you took the time to find a teacher who can instruct the way YOU need to learn, not how THEY want to teach.

This is a very powerful distinction, wouldn't you agree?

The power of mental imagery can be transferred into your golf game when applied properly. Let's briefly clarify the critical difference between visualization and mental imagery.

Visualization is seeing with your mind's eye "while you are playing". Mental imagery is "feeling" with your mind's eye before you play.

Ok, this is obviously generalized for the purposes of this article yet the key distinction is revealed. To benefit from mental imagery in your golf game you'll learn how to engage your emotional body while directing specific visual images in your mind. Yet you will do this before you play. Visualization, on the other hand, will be employed during each and every shot you play on the course.

The outcome of using mental imagery is to get your conscious and unconscious minds in harmony. To do what I call a "prehearsal" of coming events.You step deeply into your mental images of playing excellent golf and fill yourself with what this feels like. Acting as if you are already actually doing what you are imagining. This is the heart of true peak performance training mental training.

By repeating this guided mental imagery process your entire being becomes engrossed in the experience. Your mind accepts these "prehearsals" as actual events.

You see, the unconscious mind does not make a distinction between a real or an intensley imagined state. Read that again if this concept is new to you. Now that you're read it again I'll repeat it! The unconscious mind does not make a distinction between a real and an intensley imagined event!

This is verfiable with current neuroscience research. I cover this subject in greater length in my book. Yet you can use this powerful knowledge today. Begin thinking with feeling. Use your emotional body to sesne what your pictures should feel like. Then step deeply into these mental images and play golf in your mind! It may seem simple but by using this technique alone I dropped my handicap from the 20's into the low single digits. Without golf lessons.

Begin by lying or sitting still and recalling a time whwn you played very well. Now step into this memory and really dig deeply into every nuance of this stae you were in. It will be the doorway to future peak performance states. Once you have a good feel for this memory imagine yourself in the future. Stnding over as shot that was previously challenging to you. Then make the swing. And continue your imaginary round of golf.

This single technique can literally transform your game, if you are one of the few who choose to harness the incredible power of their mind.

Use your mind properly and your game will improve. In fact, it is inevitable.

Mental Game Technologies offers the most advanced mental game strategies in golf . Visit their website. It is filled with mental game resources you can use in your game right away.

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It's difficult to recall a round where there wasn't at least something to get distracted by. Well, that is if we let it. What kinds of distractions get you a bit rattled? Are there certain scenarios that seem to take your focus off your shot more than others?

It's useful to make a note of these. This way you can apply some techniques I'll show you and remove the negative impact these "distractions" have on your game. The inner game must be developed to as high a degree as possible.

I want to offer a different perspective. This might fly in the face of conventional wisdom yet it has proven to be an effective shift in mindset. *Just like hockey, where the referees are a part of the game (like it or not), distractions are a fundamental part of the game of golf.*

Distractions disappear first with a change of mindset

Now this might sound strange I realize, but this "reframe" is essential. Once you get it your overall perception of what influence these distractions will have will change forever. So first begin to look at them as a part of the game.

By seeing them as simple elements inside the game, not as something that is destroying your concentration or ruining your good rounds, a mental toughness will develop in you. I will show you how things that previously distracted you can actually trigger increased focus in your shot or putt.

You see, by placing too much emphasis on removing distractions and "getting everyone quiet", or making sure things are just perfect before you make your swing, you are inadvertantly increasing the negative influnece these inevitable distractions will have on your performance.

Now let's be clear. There will always be something we can focus on and blame for our poor shot or bad round. It's the easy out. Do you recall the heat Colin Montgomery took years ago in New York when fans wouldn't quiet down for him and he refused to hit until things were quiet?

I don't support or encourage needless crowd noise or heckling, yet the increased attention he brought to himself caused more distraction than what was already present. It ended up becoming a multi-year issue for him.

How can you manage distractions?

I want you to look at the 3 ares of distractions.

•  What you see - This can be the shadow cast by a partner. Someone standing behind you in your peripheral vision (I'll admit this is one of the most challenging to overcome for me). Players moving across your view when standing over your putt. The list is endless of course.

•  What you hear - Poeple talking. (Have you noticed that sometimes whispers seem louder than someone talking at normal volume!) A horn going off in your backswing. Someone coughing just as you take the club away. I'll let you add to this list...

•  What you feel - This is more about your physiology. A little itch above your left eye you feel like scratching right when you are making your putt. Your blood sugar level.Your mood. Your sense of tiredness. Fatigue. Your attention drifting to how fast your heart is racing.

I've merely expressed a few in each area. You are undoubtedly aware of these and countless others. Which area tends to have the most inlfuence on you? There are mental game strategies you can use to reduce the influence of distractions in golf. It begins with building a solid mental game plan.

Myths -

1) If you have a perfect golf swing you'll have a perfect game.

2) You can buy a better game

3) Technology has lowered golfers scores

Most every golfer subscribes to these beliefs in one way or another. The entire golf instruction, training aid, and golf club making market bear this out. Golf magazines, tv shows, and article after article offer tips, fixes, cures and virtually every imaginable training aid conceivable to craft the perfect swing. All with the pretense of helping you play better golf.

Well has it worked? Let's take a look...

In 1978 75% of all golfers never broke 90 - so barely 25% ever shot in the 80's.

In 2004, a full 26 years later, after the advent of 460CC drivers with 45" multi-kick point shafts, cavity back irons, balls that prevent hooks and slices, and world class instruction from the smartest minds in the buz, that number has been increased by a wopping 3%!

Now a full 28% of all golfers has broken 90! But hey, let's cut the industry some slack, there's only been 90+ billion spent on golf equipment over that time! That doesn't include lessons or training aids! All that technology and collective wisdom and this is how far we've come...impressive, huh.

Seriously, any other business that produced numbers like these for their customers would be out of business! But the golfing public has an insatiable appetite that an ever growing horde of manufacturers and marketers are more than willing to feed.

Ok, do you want to pay me now or later for the moral booster? What? This doesn't get you pumped about your prospects of dropping your handicap by 10 strokes by buying the next training aid?

You mean to tell me you're not going to do that $2,500 re-shafting, ball changing, loft angle adjusting, launch angle increasing, club-fitting session you had booked for next Saturday? Hmmm, was it something I said?

As golfers we are bombarded with instruction tips, training options, and product offerings that'll have your head spinning faster than Paris Hilton after swizzeling a half dozen Crantini's.

So where's the moral of this myth busting story? Do we all just give up trying to improve? Absolutely not. We all need to fulfill that important human craving of getting better at what we love. Yet where we place our attention to achieve this goal is what has to change. Our core beliefs about what causes improvement should be based on reality not myths. They should empower us, not encourage wishful thinking and needlessly empty our wallets.

"So if it isn't gear that makes us better maybe it's lessons," did I hear you say? Certainly lessons are an asset and obviously accelerate your skill development yet they're not absolutely essential. Ask Lee Trevino, Jim Furyk, Chris Dimarco and countless others who are self taught. And I think we can all agree that there isn't much "pretty" about any of their swings.

Do you think any of them were intent on crafting the perfect swing? Yet if we look at things from a different perspective maybe they do have perfect swings. Why? Because they work! Golf ain't a beauty contest.

In the final analysis there is only one area that promotes the quickest and most lasting change in any golfers game. And what's interesting about it is this is the only area that doesn't cost a penny to use yet almost no-one uses it!

That area is the often quoted 6 inches between your ears! Your mind. The mental game. Using your mind in a strategic, methodical and focused way is the surest method of lowering your scores. Period.

If you want to run out and spend $500 on a new driver and another $1000 or more on irons to make you play better, feel free. You might be that one in a million that changes the statistics. I realize we'll all buy nice gear once in a while but we can't buy it with a belief that this will seriously lower our scores.

Needless to say, my articles won't be sponsored by Taylor Made or Nike any time soon! I don't help sell much golf equipment! No, my approach to lowering your handicap, improving your swing, and increasing your satisfaction leans towards inner change before outer gains.

True improvement only arrives when we first assess where we are in relation to our goal. Then we must take an inventory of all the things that have actually produced measurable results. Which means no denial! We can't hope to move our game to the next level by hanging on to a lie, now can we? If you do then that's what I call a real "hanging lie". Ok, that was a cheap pun but it was there for the taking...

Each and every one of us has the innate ability to tap our own potential and transform any part of our lives, including golf. We just require the right road map and a good compass to keep us on target.

It's time to wake up and smell the napalm or the myths that cloud our brains will keep us believing we can buy a better game.

Your Comfort Zone is Sabotaging Your Scores

We all have what I call an inner game thermostat. It governs your inner game temperature, so to speak. Your comfort zone is like a climate controlled room. If it gets too cool then it's time to heat up. If it gets too hot the air conditioner turns on to cool things down.

Your inner thermostat does exactly what it is preprogrammed to do - bring your game back to *normal*! How? By producing what appears to be the "wrong swing at the wrong time". Yet in reality it is actually the "right swing at the right time!" Your inner game thermostat calmly runs beneath your conscious awareness. Perfectly controlling your game.

The same goes for when you are approaching your personal low score. Yet there's something funny about the settings on the low side of our comfort zone... The thermostat seems to kick in with even more certainty!

(Have you ever noticed that even though your scores might be climbing and you are not happy about it, it feels easier and somehow more acceptable than going really low? I'm not saying you don't want to go low. I'm saying that you are *familiar* with shooting higher scores because you've done this more often than shoot really low scores.)

Your Inner Game Thermostat and How To Reset It

As you get nearer to breaking your personal best it kicks on and returns your game to "normal". How? You card a couple bogies in a row and guess what? You magically shoot within the range of scoring your unconscious has hardwired for you! Your comfort zone is maintained*...The strange thing is there's nothing comfortable about it at all! We are comfortable because of only one thing: we have made it a habit.

Comfort zones are a long and slow death to any hopes you have of reaching your potential. I don't care what kind of goal setting plan, or mental game worksheet you follow or how much you practice. Your internal setting for what you "believe" about your game is what calls the shots. Pun fully intended. :-)

There are specific strategies for creating new settings on your inner game thermostat. Nothing complicated yet they are extremely powerful and effective. But hey, only you know how much you want to break out of your comfort zone.

...it's kind of like the proverbial frog in a pot of water. Set the frog in a pot of water and slowly bring it to a boil and the frog stays there because it is comfortable along the way...

Reach the next level in your game and make the changes you want now. After all, the water is slowly coming to a boil...