Listen Your Way To a Better Golf Game

Have you ever met anyone who is satisfied with their golf game? Chances are that if you are like the vast majority of duffers out there you're always on the lookout for things that you can do to bring those scores down. But it's probably never occurred to you that you can use your ears (yes, I said ears!) to improve your game and lower your handicap.

The first place you might want to try starting is with the CD included with John Novosel and John Garrity's excellent book Tour Tempo. Novosel and Garrity studied thousands of players and reached the conclusion that the best players had a 3:1 ratio between the timing of their backswing and the timing of their downswing. The actual timing varied from player to player (e.g., Phil Mickleson has a "quicker" swing than Jim Furyk) but the ratio was consistent across the vast majority of tour players.

Here's how you can apply this revelation to your golf game. The CD that comes with the Tour Tempo book has a series of tracks you can listen to and get a feel for your swing's tempo. To gain the maximum benefit, bring a portable CD player (or load the CD onto your iPod!) with you the next time you head to the range. Use the tracks to groove your swing. You'll be amazed at how quickly your tempo will improve.

Another cool way to improve your golf game is through visualization and anchoring. Most people are familiar with visualization but anchoring is less well-known. Anchoring is a process that links a specific physical activity with a certain state of emotion. For instance, if you pump you fist a la Tiger Woods (you don't do that do you?!) every time you sink a long putt then you've anchored fist pumping to a very positive emotion.

Anchoring can be used to your benefit by helping you to recall feelings of confidence and past peak performances. A great way to practice visualization and anchoring is through a series of audio programs created by Nicholas Rosa. Integrating Mind & Body: NLP for Better Golf - Driving will help you to link a "trigger" with your memories of the best drives you've ever hit. Integrating Mind & Body: NLP for Better Golf - Putting will do a similar thing for your short game.

A final way that you can use audio to improve your golf game is simply by listening to audio books while you're practicing. Bring a portable player with you to the range or when you head to the putting green and listen to some of those great books that you never seem to find the time to read. Some great golf-related books you can listen to include A Good Walk Spoiled by John Feinstein, Golf and the Spirit by M. Scott Peck and Michael Murphy's classic Golf in the Kingdom. Listening to books while you practice can make practice more enjoyable which in turn might help you practice a little more and finally start playing the golf you know that you've been capable of.