Golf is not just a physical game, the mental approach to golf is equally important. A lack of confidence and indecision are the two biggest negatives that most golfers fight against. It's also one of those idiosyncracies of golf that we are seldom doing what we think we are during the golf swing. Even teaching professionals get this wrong, they instruct you to do something, but when you watch their swing, it's obvious that they're not taking their own advice. This is not done on purpose, they think they are executing their golf swing the exact way they teach it.

Indecision can show up in various ways, for instance it can happen in your own mind just as you start your golf swing, you have a plan in mind and just after you start the downswing your plan suddenly changes, this happens most often when a sudden doubt springs into your mind, it happens in an instant and there is nothing you can do to about it, and it is too late to stop the shot.

A simple thing like a water hazard can initiate this change in thought patterns, it suddenly becomesvery prominent, or you question your skill to avoid it. A sudden stray thought or a loss in confidence can cause it too, whatever the cause, the outcome is usually the same, the result is normally a bad shot.

Because it has nothing to do with the normal golf faults like balance or a bad golf swing and also because it has a tendency to be intermittent, it means that you are not prepared for it when it happens. it's a mind thing and as such it can happen for almost any reason, confidence being high on the list, but it's.one fault that you have to find a cure for or it could last the rest of your golfing life.

Routine is a great way to avoid these moments, repeating the same things before we initiate our golf swing has the nice effect of concentrating our minds on something familiar and helps to boost our confidence as well.

The golf professionals call it a pre-shot routine, and each pro will get you to go through a different one depending on which one they personally use. However, the reality is that whichever one you use is not so important, what is important though is that you find a pre-shot routine that suits you and you use it consistently before every shot.

Another useful routine to prevent the recurrence is to have the same golf swing thoughts for every shot. Once again the actual thoughts are not so important, it does not really matter what these swing thoughts are, the crucial part is that you have them. Concentrating on having a smooth, rhythmically controlled and precise golf swing will leave less room for these doubts and indecision to take place, just remember to always do it.

There is an awful lot more to the mental game of golf, entire books have been written on the subject, and they don't all agree with each other, however, in my experience, having a pre-shot routine and having the same golf swing thoughts for every shot eliminates a lot of the faults caused by the mind aspect of the game.

Have a look at Golf and the Axis of Power.