Target Retention - Use Imagination to Improve Your Golf Game

You have heard the term that golf is 90 percent mental, well it is once you kind of got the mechanics down.

This is something for even an eighteen handicapper, you can actually do this, it is called target retention. Imagine in your mind right now that you are seeing an orange. You are seeing the dew on the orange, you are seeing the beautiful orange color. Doesn't that make your mouth water almost a little bit? You can almost taste it. Well that is target retention. You have created a vivid, visual picture in your mind. We want to do the same thing with this shot.

Golf is one of the few sports that are played where we actually do not look at the target when we are hitting the ball. If you look at hockey we are always looking at the target, when you look at baseball you are looking at the target that is coming at you. In golf you are actually looking at the golf ball and you have to retain the image of the golf shot in your mind. That is why some of the guys and gals on tour practice this all the time.

Here is a good way for you to get started off and it is great for juniors also. See the shot that you want to be able to hit, see where you want it to land, and now as you turn away from the ball can you still retain the image of that in your mind. The longer you stand over the golf ball the target is going to get away from you much faster. So, see the image, got it, it is still in my head. Give this a try, I know at first it will be difficult but after a little bit you will get better and better at it and you will be surprised how much the target stays in your mind.