Warming up and streching can help you get into golf mind set. It will also get blood flowing. Before I tee off on first hole I take two clubs and swing them about 20 times in a full easy golf swing. This gets muscles loose and blood flowing.

Before each shot stand behind ball and think about where you would like to hit it. Pick a spot in fairway or on green where you will target your shot to. Think about and even try to envision shot as you stand behind ball. When you set up to hit clear your mind, swing easy and commit to shot. If your shot does not work out way you wanted spend a very little time in analysing shot. If you know what you did wrong then fine, but if you don't know what happened, forget it. Your not going to figure it out on course anyway. Try not to get frustrated it' onlygoing to spoil your next shot or your entire round.

Don't practice on golf course. I played with my sister in law one day and all she did was remind herself of 25 different things she learned at her golf lesson that week. She never hit a good shot all day and left course more frustrated than when she arrived. Practice at driving range.

As you walk to your ball after you have hit it try to take in surroundings and enjoy time you have on course. Try to get as much relaxation out of your round as possible. Enjoy people you are with or enjoy personal alone time you have, it's precious.

On my way to course, in back of my mind I was going to have my best round ever. Getting to course I would sign in and go to first tee with little or no warm up. I would swing club a few times, tee up ball and with butterflies or shaky knees boom, I would shank it in woods, or slice it bad, or top it about 100 yards. Frustrated I would go find my ball, normallly in a bad lie or have to lift it out of woods if I could find it. Then looking at green about 250 yards in distance I would get out old 3 wood and give it my best (worst) swing. Again I would shank it, top it, slice it or some other terrible shot. By time I was finished first hole I was looking at an eight or worse, and thus started another frustrating bad round. I did this over and over again for over two years.

One of first things I figured out from listening to pros and experts was that golf was a mind set, and in order to play good golf to have to play smart. That means playing within your strengths. This is part of "good course management". That's right, course management is not just making good shots, it's also playing to course design and playing to your strengths as well.

Let me give you an example of how I use my strengths now to lower my score. The other day I was playing our number 5 hole, one of hardest par fours I have played. Not in length, but in design. It's a dog leg left and you ned a really good tee shot over trees to fairway beyond to have any chance of reaching green in two. That's way most people would approach it. And if tee shot is not good most people are thinking boggey. But why?