Great golf is an art form for advanced players.  The golf course is their canvas and their creativity is expressed by exceptional athletic performances.  This article discusses the need for creativity and artistic expression as a means to improvement and golf success.

Greatness Comes From The Master expressing His Visions On A Canvas

Think back to some of your best rounds of golf or greatest shots.  Everything around you at the time seemed to be moving in slow motion with vivid colors, sounds, and smells.  It was like you were part of a painting that was happening without effort and you were the center of attraction.

Your canvas was the course.  Your brush was your creativity and sense of inner calm;  allowed to express itself. 

There were many things that day that you noticed, birds chirping, the gentle breeze on your face, the warmth of the sun, the vivid color of the grass set against the clear sky.  Many things...other than swing mechanics.

Pay Attention to The Details

Great players express their paintings with a lot of detail.  poor players struggling with their performance do not see any of these details or they see a lot of details; all of which are about the wrong things.  The next time you are frustrated with the pace of play, mannerisms of playing partners, the condition of the course, or other meaningless thoughts, notice how poorly you are probably playing.

A beginning player or golfer struggling with bad performances will tend to see a lot of detail about process and mechanics...head still, arm straight, low and slow.  Good golfers tend to see a lot of detail about the intended outcome...good targets, feelings, shot shape...not scores or swing thoughts.

Good golfers see the process of playing golf as part of a bigger picture with successful outcomes being paramount.  They see the process as a very small increment in time in which they can prepare for the shot.  Amazingly they paint smaller paintings that become part of the whole; several shots that become a great round of 65.

How Good Are Your Pictures?

Learn how to play golf with good mental pictures.  Your pictures can be created from the creativity of your brain in the form of visualization.  See the result before you make the swing.

I recall Jack Nicklaus referring to this process as going to the movies.  He visualized very vivid and detailed pictures about hitting good shots before he swung the club.  His greatness came from his ability to do this repeatedly, time after time.  He would see the flight of the ball and its roll.

Raymond Floyd talked about seeing the ball in the air with the proper trajectory, hitting the green, bouncing twice, and then spinning back into the hole.

There are two ways of painting these pictures to the brain; one way is to step outside of yourself and see the movie as a third party.  Its as if you are watching a movie about yourself from the outside.  The other way is to see yourself making the shot from within.  Seeing the trajectory of the ball and the shape of the shot as if you had already hit the ball and looked up to see the result.

The Power Of Intention

Intention is a very powerful expression of the mind.  When you intend to do something you set the stage for success.  You give the brain all of the signals needed to chart a great course of action.

I believe that Tiger Woods is the epitome of the power of intention when it counts the most.  His last two putts at Bay Hill on the 18th green to win his last two Bay Hill starts are the story of legend.

After his last Bay Hill victory, in an interview he described what his mind and his pictures were like as he pondered the putt.  Among other things he spoke about the temperature change, more dew on the blades of grass in the late afternoon, the impact those things would have on the grain, and how that would influence the break and speed of his left to right downhill breaking putt.

Are You Getting The Picture...A Master At Work !!!

It's as if he is willing the ball into the hole.  Non of us would presume that his mind can control the ball after it leaves the putter blade, however, his power if intention is strong enough to control all of the variables before the stroke and that intention manifests itself as success, time after time.

As Part Of Your Masterpieces, We Encourage You To Use Intention