Five Easy Tips for Playing to Your Best

By Kim Jeong-kyooKorea Times Golf Columnist

To be a better player, you need to learn new skills to improve your ball-striking ability. However, it is a tall order to master new skills.

You have to sweat blood to achieve this.

Like most players, you probably don't have enough time to practice.

You need some tips that are non-technical or skill-free and thus call for no time-consuming practice. The Five-point advice below will help you play better for sure, without much practice.

They are easy to carry out. Do them in your next round, and you will start enjoying solid ball-striking without overhauling or tweaking your swing.

1. Whisper to you what you want to do

   Often, trying to avoid an obstacle on the course draws your attention toward it.

   Steer clear of, for instance, whispering you not to send your ball into the wood on your right. Doing so, you will slice it.

   Your mind doesn't make out the difference between lsquo;dos' and lsquo;don'ts'. If you say, lsquo;Don't splash the water', you will do it.

   In reality, you are focusing on the water

   Tell yourself what you want to achieve instead of what you don't want to do. That presents more chances of getting what you want from your swing.

   It is essential to commit yourself to hitting your intended target. Whisper to yourself, "Hit a beautiful draw that curves toward the target.

   " Avoid saying, "Don't hit it in the forest."

   Select a specific target, and picture the ball-flight and trajectory you want as vividly as you can.

   Importantly, focus on what you need to do to pull off the imagined shot.

2. Accept the result

   The fear of unwanted results makes it hard to swing freely and gracefully. Typically, a short, restricted swing forces you to yank your club down outside the target line.

   This causes push and pull-slices. You need to be willing to accept whatever result a shot might inflict on you.

   That enables you to swing freely, or rather purges your game of slices and other nasty shots.

   After all, you cannot undo what you've done already.

   Ben Hogan said he considered it a good round if he hit just three shots exactly the way he wanted. You need to understand that golf is a game of near misses rather a game of perfection.

3. Picture the shot called for

   To hit your ball successfully, you need to picture the arc of your shot every time you swing.

   When you hit balls on the practice range, imagine an obstacle in the way every time you swing. Then, think of curving your shot to the left or right.

   Similarly...