The Nose Knows... How To Improve Your Mental Golf Game

More than a month ago I was reading my friend Heather's blog (Real Women Golf) and she had a new *toy* that she claimed was helping her golf game. Called *Golf Scents*, this new idea was brought about by a golfer and endorsed by a renowned golf psychologist with the idea that certain scents can change our mental game as well as our physical golf game, based on memory and smells being linked to our actions and reactions, during play.

Since I'm always the first one to jump on anything that promises to improve my golf game, I was all over it. Now that I've had a chance to use it for a reasonable amount of time, I see major improvements in my golf game. Mainly, I'm hitting better & longer tee shots and my putts all seem to be drifting over the lip of the cup, disappearing into the hole. The last four times I've played, my score has been right at and around 100, which is an improvement of around 5 to 10 strokes, as well as a new consistency I've not experienced before.

I am going to buy one of these for each of my golfing pals, to give them for their birthdays, although not until after it has majorly improved my own game. Hehehe...

Of course, you must follow their explicit instructions on how to use the little olfactory bulb of wonder, but I am seeing major improvements here, which just confirms what I've thought all along. Golf is 40% physical and 60% mental. Now, through associative learning and conditioned response, scents become a part of your memory.

I have found that it is particularly helpful when playing golf with Mr. Snoots. Golf Scents helps me to remember how well I play when playing with *the girls*. It also enables me to ignore all of his comments like "You just looked up, is all." or "You just hit that too hard for a putt." or "Can't you watch where your ball goes?" or "Maybe you need another lesson." or my most favorite "You just need to concentrate more." For that alone, this little tool is worth its weight in gold.

Apparently, these guys are onto something here. Mind over matter, baby!

Also, I'm sure the new golf shoes I've ordered, because I saw them over at Tales of a Golf Gal, will help as well. They are FootJoys LoPro Collection. I still hold firmly to the belief that if you look good and feel good you're going to play a better game. Right? Well, perhaps in just theory, but mind over matter again. The new shoes should be here any day now, so I'm excited!

Last year, I was reading Patricia Hannigan's blog Golf Girl's Diary and she turned me on to another new gadget, which has helped my game tremendously. The Thumb Caddy, which is a tool that teaches you where to properly grip on your club. Once you get used to it, the grip will just become a natural part of your game.

The other pictures are just some shots taken while golfing over the last few months. It seems like we're always waiting on a group of guys who won't let us play through, so that affords me ample time to take pictures of the golf course wildlife.

This last picture is where my tee shot ended up on our #10 hole. Ummm... Could I get a ruling here please? You can click on the picture to get a better idea of my frustration... Okay, this wasn't one of my better tee shots.