[BerntR]

Good points but you have to realize that it is different for each person. I think Bobby Jones said he just "whacks it out there somewhere and hopes it gets close to the flag." Doesn't sound like he's trying too hard to me.

I think you can try too hard and that's what I tend to do, rather than just going along and playing the game and having fun. It's easy to put pressure on yourself when you try too hard and have high standards for yourself.

In my opinion, you ideally want to keep any thinking on the golf course to a minimum. What I have to realize personally, is that perfection is not something that happens everyday, or you can expect to happen everyday. You only get into 'the zone' every once in a while when EVERYTHING is going your way. I've been trying to keep it athletic lately...but that's what's so hard about this game...you're out there not really doing much and at a damn slow pace.

I think saying "be confident" is pretty much useless. You have to truly believe that you are the best and you are capable. You have to ACTUALLY believe it. Not just say it to yourself. And that's not an easy thing to do. Try telling a non-confident person to be confident. Nuh-uh.

IMO these are vg points and important issues.

I agree that there are large individual differences. For instance, everyone has an optimal stress level. But no one plays well if the stress level and the mood is like a roller coster. Even steven is what works best. It is Utopia, but worth striving for.

I also agree that it is possible to try too hard. Bob Rotella has a putting training session, where you are supposed to find out how hard you try when you hole most putts. On a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is nonchalant and 10 is the most intense effort you can produce - you shall test put on every effort level from 1-10 and find out on which level you sink most putts.

But I still think trying is much more fruitful than expecting. Even if Bobby Jones wasn't aiming for a small spot in the fairway, he was probably very focused on his preshot routine and on his stroke execution.

I disagree with you regarding confidence. Confidence is not something that comes and disappears by itself. It is something most players can play and talk themselves in to or out of. If we play with high expectations that we constantly fail to reach, and we critisize ourself we are likely to break our confidence.

On the other hand, we can pick shots that we are comfortable with, accept the results - and dwell with the good shots and forget the bad shots - and thereby breed confidence.

Golfers tend to be more emotional when they make a poor shot than a good one. Maybe we should try to do the opposite? Emotions breed learning and it is far better to learn from the sucessful shots than from the mistakes. The same goes with confidence.

As far as the thinking goes, I agree to a certain extent that too much thinking is not a good thing. Particularly "fixing the swing" thinking and "got to make this shot" thinking. That will only confuse the computer, to put it in TGM terms. On the other hand - if we can monitor ourselves - feel the pressure points in our strokes - monitor our own thinking process and spirit ... well, I believe awareness breeds good golf.

Best regards,