Juniors Only

Create a Mental Checklist


One of the challenges for some players is that their mind wanders to unhelpful things when they are standing over the ball at address. Some think about mechanical or technical things. Others are flooded with thoughts of hitting the ball poorly or missing the putt, while some are distracted by the sounds of a lawn mower or car in the distance.

One helpful way to keep yourself on task and with your attention where you want it is to create a mental checklist for your set-up elements. Many players have found this a successful tool as they report their minds being filled with the specific steps to go through in their pre-shot and set up elements- thus they don’t have as much room in their mind for random or distracting thoughts to interrupt their flow of preparation.

For you as a player, it may be as simple as having a 1-2-3-4-5 process like: 1) pick a target; 2) take a breath; 3) walk in and square club face and body to the target; 4) take a last look at the target; 5) swing with assertiveness. For many, the checklist is much more detailed and elaborate.

There is no right or wrong list for any player. The challenge is to customize this list so that it works for you, and to be very consistent in paying attention to this as you gear up for the shot in front of you. Whatever the steps in your checklist, the more consistent you are with incorporating these into your pre-shot preparation, the more likely that you will create alignment that is consistent and an internal thought process that is consistent. This often leads to more consistency in ball striking and/or quality results!  

Jeff Troesch's biography and past articles