Balance is as critical to your golf game as it is to your life.

By Elena King and Denise McGuire

Ever notice how difficult it is to maintain balance in your life? With so many priorities to juggle, living a balanced existence presents a daily challenge. A key to meeting this challenge is having awareness of when you are both in and out of balance. Being aware is the first step in changing some part of your life. You cannot change what you are not aware of. The same principle applies to golf. Optimal golf performance requires balance in the mechanical, mental and emotional aspects of the game.

MECHANICAL

Pre-Swing: Being balanced at address establishes a solid foundation.

Tip: Get grounded by keeping your center of gravity low. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed (left to right and front to back).

Backswing: Your body is always trying to find balance in any motion that you make. For example, during your back swing if your weight is out on your toes, your arms, hands and club will tend to swing more “inside” (or behind you) to counterbalance your weight.

Tip: During practice: swing with your feet together to stay centered; use balance discs or swing standing on one foot.

Swing: To swing in control you must create a balanced finish.

Tip: Take a practice swing and find your perfect balanced finish and assign it a 10 on 1-10 scale. The goal is to re-create this balanced finish while hitting your shot. This is a great playing focus to take to the course; it does not involve mechanical thoughts.

Putting/chipping: Balancing the length of your stroke back and through will give you better consistency and distance control.

Tip: Use a yardstick to measure the length of your backswing and forward swing. In addition, holding your finish will create good balance with your putts and chips.

MENTAL

Decision-making. Optimal decisionmaking requires using both hemispheres of the brain. The left side tends to analyze details such as yardage, target selection, and mechanics. The right side concerns visualization, emotions and the feel of your swing.

Tip: When consumed by swing thoughts or your score, engage the right side of your brain by visualizing to connect with your target right before pulling the trigger.

Attention and focus. It is important to balance your attention or focus between broad and narrow in order to sustain focus for an entire round. It is not helpful to grind yourself mentally about shots during the entire round.

Tip: Between shots take a mental time-out to broaden your focus. Hum a song. Look at the horizon. Think about something fun.

EMOTIONAL

Nerves. When you are nervous or feeling too “pumped up” after hitting a great shot, it can create an imbalance in your nervous system. Experiencing too little intensity can also affect performance.

Tip: Use deep breathing, which has an immediate effect on your nervous system, to restore balance so that you can perform from that optimal state.