John Updike Quotes

How you think, and how much you think, is so important in golf. There are countless things we can work on and think about in the swing, but when it's time to play in competition, you don't want to think too many thoughts.

First and fore-most, you must have confidence. Your second mental problem is concentration. Think the shot through in advance before you address the ball. Draw a mental image of where you want it to go and then eliminate everything else from your mind, except how you are going to get the ball into that preferred spot.

You get to the plate and nothing is going through your mind. You see the ball, you see the seams.

Golf is 90% mental. Once you know how to hold the club, swing it, it's all in the mind.

I'm pretty much a self-taught player. My swing hasn't changed a whole lot, I don't think. But I watch a lot of people.

But hitting is so crazy. You feel great today and get three hits. And the next day you show up and it's, 'What happened to my mechanics? Where's my swing?' Sometimes I even Google it and the search comes up with no results.

Golf is played between the ears and if you are not 100 percent focused on what you are trying to do, then people will go past you no matter who you are.

I've got a good game plan... keep things simple with my golf swing.

Golf is day-to-day. It's shot to shot; it's not four days at a time.

Everyone knows how to play tennis, but it's the mind that really controls everything.

A lot of people go up there and think about what they're going to do - I just hit. I relax and don't think about anything. I just want to hit the ball as hard and as far as I can.

When I swing at a golf ball right, my mind is blank and my body is loose as a goose.

You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about.

You ever go up to the tee and say, 'Don't hit it left, don't hit it right'? That's your conscious mind. My body knows how to play golf. I've trained it to do that. It's just a matter of keeping my conscious mind out of it.

When I have a match to play, I begin to relax as soon as I wake up. Everything I do, I do slow and easy. That goes for stroking the razor, getting dressed, and eating my breakfast. I'm practically in slow motion. By the time I'm ready to tee off, I'm so used to taking my time that it's impossible to hurry my swing.

There isn't a hole out there [Augusta] that can't be birdied if you just think. But there isn't one that can't be double-bogeyed if you stop thinking.

You don't lose your swing between the ninth green and the tenth tee, and you don't lose your swing from one day to the next. If you think you do, something is going on that you don't understand. A diary might help explain it to you.

The most important shot in golf is the next one.

One of the worst mistakes you can make in golf is trying to force the game.

The mental game is what separates the good players from the great players. So anything I can do to get that mental edge to help me stay my best, I'm gonna try and do it.

For some people to say, 'I just go up there and hit it,' we'll that's good for you. If it works for you, it works for you. But I want to be as precise as possible heading into that shot.

The mental part of the game, being able to free up on the tennis court, is much easier said than done.

In my mind, I slowed down and I feel like I translated it over into my game.

I clear my mind; I don't think about the pressure before a fight. I focus on going in the cage and being successful while doing my job.

I see things written about the golf swing that I can't believe will work except by accident .