For about five years I’ve been writing blog posts devoted mainly to helping you play better golf. Most of the instruction posts have been about physcial technique, mainly because it’s the easier to write about, and you need to know it.

Having good technique, though, isn’t necessarily what makes you play better. What does concerns the condition of your mind as you plan your shot and hit it. You know this is true.

When you’re playing poorly, your mind is full of doubt and worry. It’s hard to hit a good shot in that state. Conversely, when you’re playing well, your mind is relaxed and full of quiet confidence. You hit one good shot after another.

Nothing about your technique is different in either case. You’re the same golfer. What changed was the condition of your mind.

As I have improved (begun to shoot lower scores consistently) my technique has certainly improved, but not to the degree that my scores would indicate. My mind is more relaxed than before, which allows my improvement in technique to be applied more often, and that’s the key.

Fact: knowing how to hit better shots doesn’t lower your score. Knowing how to hit better shots more often does, and that part depends on the condition of your mind.

Last year I published a book that guides you through a program to develop a mind that stays clear and calm while you play. There is little I can add to it in a 500-word blog post, except to emphasize in another way how important this is.

My last eighteen holes came in at 74. I played the back nine one Monday morning and turned in a 38. The next Monday morning I played the front nine and shot 36.

At no time did I make what I would call a great shot. They were all good enough, shots that you can make any day. It’s just that I was making one of them after the other, and I attribute that to the state of my mind.

Put another way, if you’re a 15-handicapper, I can easily say that you are just as good a ball-striker as me. The quality of my best shots is no better than yours. What I am that you are not is consistent. I hit my best shots more often because my mind stays calmer than yours does.

Let me be clear on this point.

A golf swing does not have consistency built into it. How you swing now does not influence in any way how you will swing the next time. That influence is entirely contained in the mind.

Once you have trained yourself to the point where you know what to do with a golf club, that is, a good swing is not a matter of luck, repeating that swing is a mental activity. If there is a secret to getting the most out of the skills you have, this is it.