Learn to love yourself

Golfers generally think a positive mental attitude means dealing with negative events in a positive way, but this is only half the story. Just as important is how a person deals with positive events. There are many golfers who, even when things are going great, don't enjoy or celebrate the fact. Is that you? What do you do after hitting a great shot? Do you use that feeling to improve your game or are you content to rest on your laurels?

It is vital to have a strategy for dealing with shots that make you happy and harnessing that energy. Using an "ALIAS" will help you reproduce great shots more consistently. Try this technique and it will become an important part of your game.

Acknowledge the great shot you have made by saying it to yourself, "Great shot", "Fantastic", "Perfect", "Just what I was trying to do." No need to bore your playing partners with self-congratulation, but let yourself know!

Love yourself for playing it! Create a gesture that builds the feeling into your body, such as holding your arm out in front and then clenching your fist.

Imprint the shot into your mind. Replay it again and again so you can see, hear and feel it. Maintain this simple routine until you can relive the whole sensation of the shot and all the senses it unleashed at the flick of a mental switch.

Ask yourself to do it like that again the next time. When you are faced with a similar shot, pull out your own personal "ALIAS" and rewind to that great moment. Ask yourself to repeat what you have done before.

Score. Watch the numbers suddenly shrink as your great shots become second nature. By now, you have raised the bar in your mind's eye and you can fully expect to reproduce those great moments on a regular basis.