A = Aggressive

B = Be Conservative

C = Caution (or Cautious)

An example of an A shot would be if a golfer hits a great drive down a long par 4 and they’re in the middle of the fairway with a great lie. They have 190 yards to go to the pin and that’s the perfect distance for a solid 4 wood. There’s a big bunker in the front of the green but this golfer has a lot of confidence in their 4 wood and they’re confident that they’re going to hit a good shot over the bunker. So that’s a situation where a golfer would choose the A (Aggressive) option.

An example of choosing a B (Be conservative) shot in that same situation may be hitting a 6 iron so the ball ends up in the fairway with a simple pitch over the bunker to the pin. But here’s a clearer example where most golfers should choose a B shot.

Let’s say you’re playing a short par 5, which is playing downwind, and you’ve hit a terrific drive straight down the middle of the fairway. You have a good lie and there’s 220 yards between your ball and the pin. But there is a small lake in front of the green that you need to carry. And to carry this lake you need to hit the shot 200 yards in the air.

You have a 3 wood that could do this but it’s at the very limit of how far you can hit the ball with that club. If you miss-hit the shot slightly it will probably end up in the lake. So a B shot would be to figure out a distance you’d like to be pitching from. You decide you’d like to pitch from 80 yards as that is a distance you’re confident from. So to do that you’d have to hit a shot 140 yards. For you that’s a solid 7 iron.

See, that’s smart thinking golf and it’s those sort of decisions that will help to slash shots from your score.

Now here is an example of a C shot. You’ve sliced your drive deep into some trees on the right of the fairway. You get to your ball and amazingly you can have a full swing. You’re 160 yards from a small green that is surrounded by deep bunkers.

As you’re assessing your shot options you notice a small opening in the trees that would be about the perfect height for a 6 iron shot. Also, that is the perfect distance for your 6 iron but you decide it’s too risky, because if you hit the shot just slightly less than perfect you’ll hit trees and who knows where the ball will end up. So you then try and find a way that you can get the ball to finish just in front of the green….before the bunkers.

To do this however you’d have to hit a low punch shot and make sure the ball travels the correct height. Because if it goes too high the trees will catch it, and if it goes too low the rough will stop it and you’ll still be in the trees.

So even though that’s a B shot option you think it’s still too risky. Now the C option (remember, C stands for caution) is to chip the ball out to the fairway and have a shot of about 140 yards. You’re confident you can get that 3rd shot on the green so that’s the smartest play and one that will greatly reduce your chance of a big number.

Now after reading this I need you to understand that you’ve got to apply this mental fundamental to all your straight forward shots as well. For example, let’s say you’ve hit a great drive on a par 4 hole. Your ball is sitting in the middle of the fairway with a perfect lie…and you’re 150 yards from the pin. But the pin is hard to the left side of the green. In fact, just 10 feet to the left of the pin is a big bank that will cause any ball left of the pin to run down it leaving a very difficult shot back.

Now in that case an A shot would be to fire straight at the pin. But you would only ever do that if your confidence was sky high and you’ve been stiffing your iron shots all day. Even then I’d say it’s a very risky shot.

Then you have a B shot which is to aim 15 feet right of the hole. And lastly a C shot would be to aim 30 feet to the right of the hole so it takes the bank completely out of play.

So when you’re assessing your shots you’ve got to look at where the ball is going to land as well and what could potentially happen to it.

This is true for every shot….even putting! And here’s an example to prove it.

Let’s say you’ve got a 5 foot putt with a slight right to left break. Now the A option there would be to ignore any break and aim straight for the back of the hole. To do this naturally you’re going to have to hit the ball quite hard and you do run the risk of running the ball way past if you miss, and possibly missing the next putt. But if you’re putting really well and your confidence is sky high then that may be a good option to take.

The next option…the B option is to aim your ball to finish about 1 foot behind the hole if it misses the hole. At that pace you’ll have to allow for the break but you have much more margin for error than the A option.

Finally a C option would be to allow for a lot of break and for the ball to just die in the hole. That way there’s no possible chance of a 3 putt but then the chances of the ball going in are much less than the B option.

Trust me, every shot you face in golf has these three options. The only exception is a simple tap in putt. So that’s the A, B, C rating that you should use before each shot you play. Now you know this you’ve got to put it into use. To help you do this here’s how to put this into action….

Before you play each shot I want you to see in your mind three types of shots. An A shot (Aggressive), a B shot (Be Conservative) and a C shot (Caution). For example, if your first hole is a par 5 and if you hit a perfect shot with a driver you’d have a good chance of getting to the green in two. That would be an A shot. Then if you hit a 3 wood off the tee you’d have more chance of hitting the fairway but you wouldn’t have a chance of hitting the green in two so that would be a B shot. Finally, you could hit a 5 iron off the tee which would almost guarantee a straight shot but you’d have a longish third shot. Naturally that would be a C shot.

So I want you to do this scenario of an A, B or C shot for every shot you face.

Important Note: An easy way to do this is simply to ask this question “what would be an A shot in this situation?”. Then ask that same question for a B shot and a C shot.

Once you’ve looked at the A, B, C options for each shot I then want you write down on a piece of paper the shot you’ve decided to use for each shot. Do this writing down before each shot and then commit to the shot you’ve chosen.

If you’ve got a bunker shot and you feel nervous, act as if you are Gary Player.  If you need to hit a real long shot over some water, then act as if you are John Daly.  You can have some fun with these.  Act as if you are playing like someone else for each shot of an entire round.  Play one shot like Lee Trevino, another like Greg Norman, etc.

Hey, golf is only a game, so make it fun.  Play these fun games and don’t worry about what you shoot.  Just let go for a game or two and play around with this acting thing.  You may not win an “Oscar” but you sure will have some fun, and isn’t that why you play?

So go out there and “act as if” you are someone else for each shot you play, the next time you play.  Act as though you’re confident.  Act as though you are a great golfer and you’ll play better, have less anxiety. more fun and enjoy playing golf instead of it being a nervous experience.  Make it a game again and have fun….just like Tiger Woods does!

Setting Too Many Golf Goals Too Soon

It’s only natural that when you first learn about how to set goals that you are eager to do and use this everywhere.  When people set too many goals they generally get so overwhelmed with the amount of record keeping that is involved that they give up.

I don’t want that to happen to you so here’s what you should do.  First just pick one golfing goal and set about achieving that and once you have then select another golfing goal and so on.  Build slowly and you’ll find you won’t get overwhelmed.  If you ever feel overwhelmed simply start this simple process again and pretty soon it will become a habit for you and you’ll learn to handle more and more golfing goals.

Setting Golf Goals That Are Too General

Setting general golf goals is almost as bad as having no goals and to easily stop this problem always, always measure your goals against the “SMART” acronym…

S-pecific
M-easurable
A-ction orientated
R-ealistic
T-ime conscious

Doing this will hopefully stop the mistake of setting general goals like “I must hole more putts.”

Failing To Modify Unrealistic Golf Goals

If you are on the practice green and you have set a goal of holing 1000 three foot putts, and you can only hole 20 three footers in a row then it’s probably a good time to modify your goal, unless you want to sleep and live on the practice green.  A good change might be to change your target to holing 30 or 40 putts in a row.  Setting a goal just out of reach will help but setting a golf goal that is unachievable will just cause frustration.

Failing To Set Performance Golf Goals

If you remember back to your great golf rounds I bet you weren’t thinking about your score when you were playing so well (you probably were at the end and that’s when the tension sets in, doesn’t it?).  When you’ve putted like a magician I bet you weren’t thinking about what holing the putt would mean to your score but instead you would’ve been immersed in the performance of smoothness.

So remember, if your performances are up to your potential then so will your results.  So forget about the outcome (i.e. your score) and focus on improving the things that improve your score (i.e. your performance in critical areas, long game, short game, putting etc.)

When you lose your golf swing rhythm here’s what I suggest you do.  Go out to the practice fairway and do this following exercise with your irons only.

Take out an iron (e.g. 8 iron) and swing fully but hit the shot with only 50% of your effort, and after that shot change to another club (e.g. 4 iron).  So hit one shot with one club at 50% of your power and then hit another shot with another club with only 50% of your power.  Keep doing this and you’ll find that with your short irons it’s quite easy, but it will get progressively harder with your longer irons. That’s when you’ll really have to make a conscious effort to swing slowly and smoothly at 50% of your maximum.

After repeatedly doing this you’ll find that your natural golf swing rhythm has returned.  So anytime you lose your golf swing rhythm do this drill and watch your natural golf swing pace and timing return.

Now to keep your golf swing rhythm for longer here’s what I suggest you do. Whenever you are hitting any practice balls do the 50% golf swing rhythm drill.  By doing this often you’ll be training your body to swing smoothly and within yourself.  Then when you swing normally your swing will be in control and rhythmic.

So do this golf swing rhythm drill often as it really does work great.

In short, do something different.  Remember if you do the same things, expect the same results.  To gain in golf confidence you’ve got to do new and different things.  When you’re practicing you should simulate action playing conditions where you lack confidence.  For example, if you tend to miss short putts under pressure then practice 3 footers and have a goal of holing 20 in a row.

When you get to the 15th putt and on you’ll start to feel the pressure you feel on the course, but once you’ve achieved your goal your confidence will increase and that’s at least a start.  Next you can model yourself on a pro that you admire and would love to play like.  Imagine you’re that person as you’re playing your shots.

Watch this pro hit shots that you’re having trouble with and become very aware of their technique and how they’re using their body.  Once you’ve formed this image simply try to copy it, and keep doing this until you become more confident and it won’t take long.

Another great way to build your confidence is to “Act” confident.  Now how would a confident person act?  Would they walk slowly and move hesitantly.  Of course they wouldn’t!  A confident person would walk strongly with their head up, and move their body with the assurance that they know what they’re doing.  So you must do the same.  Play a little game called “Act as if.”  Act as if you’re confident, even if you’re not.

Talk to yourself confidently.  Instead of saying “that was a horrible shot”, say “that shot was not up to my potential, but the next one I’ll do better,” and then walk up to the next shot expecting to get better and you will.

Sometimes when you feel unconfident you may label this as ‘lacking confidence’ and this is not helping.  Anytime you feel you’re lacking in confidence, change the name of this feeling to “keen to do well,” or “excited about being here,” or “expecting the best.”  Simply make up your own terms and change your labels.  If you say you’re sick, you’re going to feel sick and the same principal applies in golf.

To boost your confidence you should work on your physical body.  Do some exercise, get strong because it’s common knowledge that the fitter you are the better mentally you’ll be.  So do regular exercise and you will feel better, no matter what.

Lastly, give each shot your best.  If you do that, then at least you can come off the course proud that you’ve done your best and you can look people straight in the eye and say that.  This will help your confidence no end and this combined with the other techniques I’ve given you will certainly improve your confidence.  They can’t do anything else, but they’ll only work if you do them.  So like the Nike ad slogan says, “Just do it!”