This month we’re going to look at a part of the game often overlooked or misunderstood. It doesn’t have anything to do with the physical swinging of a golf club yet it’s a major component of the better player’s game.

We’ve all heard, read or been told to try to “see” or visualize the shot prior to hitting the shot. How many recreational golfers actually do “see” the shot before they attempt a shot? It’s hard to say for sure but I’d guess it’s a pretty small number.

Good news! It’s not that difficult to improve your visualization skills and as you’re visualization skills improve your use of these skills also improve.

There are 5 visualization techniques you can use to become a visualization genius. When you start using these visualization techniques, it’s important to remember one thing: ‘visualization’ just means using your imagination. Visualizing is simply imagining.

Some people are more visual than others. They might take to these visualization techniques easily. Others can use them just as effectively by describing what they are imagining, or getting an emotional feel for what they are imagining. No matter what, you can improve your visualization skills.

Neuroscientists now say that the brain captures visual images as perfectly and completely as a digital camera. And it has stored everything that you have ever seen. You have a vast photo library in your head to draw upon when doing visualization techniques. The key is to constantly refill your photo library with positive, well defined, visually rich images.

Understanding the different ways we visualize and each methods role in our overall visualization skill will help you further develop your visualization skill.

Here are the 5 visualization techniques:

1. Internalizing – This means seeing pictures in your mind’s eye. You might visualize yourself making the perfect golf swing, perfect putting stroke. If you have trouble seeing yourself making a golf swing try imagining or re-living a past event in your life and see as much detail as possible. If you can do this you can learn to internalize your golf swing.

2. Externalizing – This means projecting pictures outside of your self with your eye’s open. Try this now. Visualize a golden cup or trophy on the desk next to your computer. Reach out and ‘pick it up’. It will seem even clearer and more real as you do this. Feel the weight in your hand, sense the texture, be aware of any markings. The more details you can see the more real it will become to your mind.

3. Forecasting – Here you are seeing yourself in an imagined situation like holing a putt for a victory, hitting a solid approach shot under pressure. You just imagine yourself there and see yourself delivering the perfect shot and the gallery responding enthusiastically to it. Many of golf’s major championship winners have described having “rehearsed” making winning putts or hitting important shots when it counts as youth on the range or practice putting green. This rehearsal is Forecasting.

4. Emotionalizing – With emotionalizing you are feeling the emotion and energy but not actually ‘seeing’ anything. If you get into the emotion of an imagined event it will often trigger visual images to form. Try to remember what it felt like the last time you made a great shot or won a tournament.

5. Verbalizing – means describing real or imagined objects or events out loud. This is the basis for image streaming, the IQ-boosting technique of describing the images in your stream of consciousness. Sounds complicated but it’s actually very easy. Sit in a quite place and tell yourself story. Verbally tell yourself step by step a past event or better a future event. For example, out loud, tell yourself step by step the process of playing a difficult hole. Start with the tee shot and verbally describe as much detail about the tee box and surrounding area. What does the fairway look like from the tee? What is your target? What’s the wind direction? What shot are you hitting? Talk yourself through your pre-shot routine and continue until you’ve holed out. Again, be detailed, don’t leave anything out.
 
With all of these visualization methods it’s important to include as many of your other senses as possible. Suppose you are imagining walking up the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach. Instead of just picturing the fairway and the approaching green you could feel the grass under your feet, hear the sea crashing against the retaining wall, smell the salt air, smell freshly cut grass, hear the flag flapping in the wind, hear the gallery’s applause, etc. The more detailed your visualization the more “real” your mind makes the experience.

With practice, using all 5 visualization methods, you will get great results visualizing during your round.