If you must think while playing, do so sparingly.

How often have you been playing with someone who’s having a good round and they say, “I’m playing out of my head,” or “I wonder when the wheels are going to fall off.” With that kind of thought process, you won’t have to wait long.

The hole starts on the tee! It doesn’t take much to figure that one out. But far too many people don’t really pay much attention to what they’re doing when they get to the tee box. Grab the driver, march up to the tee, get somewhere between and behind the markers and tee it up, giving little thought to the consequences of what you’re doing.

Have you ever wondered why your hard swings hit shots that rarely go very far and are usually offline, whereas your smooth “just get it out there somewhere” swing frequently hits the ball 20 yards further than usual and right down the middle? It’s probably because you have “soft hands” on the smooth swings and release the club properly.