Accuracy dramatically lowers golf handicaps. Hitting a ball where you want when you want time and time again chops strokes off your scores and golf handicap. To help golfers improve, golf lessons on accuracy usually focus on swing mechanics. That’s a great place to start. The better a golfer’s mechanics, the better are her chances of hitting the ball exactly where she wants.

But perfecting swing mechanics is only half the battle. The other half is mastering the non-mechanical fundamentals, for lack of a better term, that also help determine accuracy. Golfers don’t always work as hard on these fundamentals as they do on grooving the right swing mechanics. But make no mistake about it. They’re as important to accuracy as having the right grip or swinging on plane.

Start Off In Balance

A good golf tip on achieving accuracy is to focus on balance. Balance is among the most overlooked of all swing fundamentals. Every big name swing teacher agrees that it’s critical to maintain balance throughout the swing. The best way of doing that is to start out in balance. A balanced starting form sets the tone for a good swing. It also promotes feelings of simplicity, freedom, and confidence.

Determine The Shot’s Key Factors

Another good golf tip is to always determine a shot’s direction before hitting it. Too often golfers address the ball without determining direction. In addition, determine other key factors like distance, trajectory, and curvature. All these factors must be considered to hit a target. Determining a shot’s purpose, also essential to accuracy, greatly influences those other factors.

Visualize Ball Flight

Once purpose and direction are determined, golfers must visualize the ball’s flight path. They need a mental picture of how the ball will reach the target. Once they have that, they can let their subconscious take over. Visualizing ball flight includes drawing a target line mentally. Focus on starting the ball on the target line and getting the ball to do what you want it to. Use any visualization technique that works.

Focus On Striking The Ball

A fourth golf tip for achieving accuracy is to focus on striking the ball. That’s especially true when it comes to driving. Once a golfer picks out a target and determines the ball’s flight path, he or she needs to focus on striking the ball. Too often a golfer tenses up in an effort to blast a 300-yard drive only to lose focus on hitting the ball. That usually results in a flubbed or an off-target shot.

Maintain Target Awareness

Target awareness is probably an important factor in accuracy. Some consider it even more important than confidence or good swing mechanics. While that’s debatable, there’s no doubt that it’s among the top keys to accuracy. But choosing a target doesn’t mean picking out a spot “somewhere out there.” It means picking out a very specific target and aiming for it.

One day when Ben Hogan was practicing on the range, a colleague challenged him to hit a ball into a clump of trees. Hitting it into the trees wasn’t specific enough for Hogan. He asked the colleague which tree he wanted him to hit. While no one expects you to be as accurate as the legendary Hogan, the story is a great example of what picking out a target means.

These five golf tips help improve swing accuracy. When combined with the proper mechanics, they help golfers pinpoint their shots with consistency. Practice also helps. Hitting a shot exactly where a golfer wants to-over and over again-not only grooves mechanics, but also builds confidence. Together, confidence and accuracy shave strokes off your golf handicap.

Golf mental toughness is an essential requirement of the high caliber athlete. Many professional players, while describing why they hadn’t reached their goals of the season often talk about “trying too hard or even not letting it happen out there,” and similar phrases. Indeed the challenge for golfing professionals is not only to sharpen their swings and putting strokes, but to sharpen their golf mental game as well.

Here are 5 golf mental game tips:

1. Learn to keep each shot in perspective. There is no need to be tensed up by a bad hole or two. There are no life and death shots in golf – only good and bad ones. You are not helping yourself by getting unnecessarily tensed or psyched up. The best golf shots are taken with a relaxed mind and a smile on your face. Remember you have years of golfing ahead. Take your time and learn your shots.

2. You must try and focus on the task at hand rather than on the outcome. This is admittedly the most difficult to do as the mind is focused on the result and its consequences. However this thinking is nothing but a distraction which will not take you any nearer to your goal. Banish such thoughts. Here is an interesting mental golf tip. Try and think of something pleasant like your favorite song. This will drive away the tension and bring you to a proper frame of mind for taking the shot.

3. Even the best players in the world get tensed up while handling tight situations. This tension directly affects their ability to swing their club smoothly. Here is a mental golf tip: stand still and take out a deep breath. Tell yourself that you are breathing out your worries.

4 . Maintain your mental golf cool on the golf green. Remember that as a golfer, you can only control your preparation and reactions, and not every thing else in the universe. Golfing regulars know that something unexpected happens in nearly every round. For example a great tee shot may land in a divot, your golf club may suddenly develop problems or you may miss a simple putt. Give each shot your best and relax. Do not fret or carry any baggage from the shot. Develop mental golf toughness.

5. Experts say that many players are so preoccupied with the thought of avoiding mistakes that it severely affects their play. In contrast, successful players are quietly confident in their abilities, and play to succeed rather than to avert failure.

These simple mental golf tips will help you to develop habits that will stand you in good stead on the golf green and help you climb the heights of golfing.