Golf is all about balance.

You need to get the right balance on your feet, in the movement of your body, in the swing of the clubs and so on.

Balance goes further than just the body however.  You need a balanced approach to the game with your mind in sync with your body.

You need to only consider the one stroke that you are playing and not let other holes impact on your balance.

When we get golf lessons we’re taught about the distribution of weight on our feet and the weight distribution when we swing to strike the ball.

Many of the techniques seem foreign to the beginner but it is all about training the player to find balance in their game so the actions are effortless and natural. 

Our balance should flow through with the movement of the swing in one fluid action to the striking of the ball and even after the ball has been hit with a balanced follow through.  It is a natural feeling that will become second nature with practice.

It is through finding balance in your mind and body that you will start hitting consistently good shots.  Without this it will be very difficult to find any consistency in your game.

Once you get your upper body correctly positioned behind the ball, you will find that you are naturally placing more weight on the back foot.  Try it next time you have a practice swing. 

Stand balanced on your feet with no more pressure on the front of the foot than the back.
Position yourself behind the ball and gently swing through without making any effort to concentrate on the distribution of the weight on you feet.

You will find that this will come naturally with no effort at all and that is precisely how you should feel when you are striking the ball.

Looking at the way you perform through the course of a game can give you a lot of powerful information that can be transferred into lower scores the next time you play.

I have talked to many golfers and there seems to be a consistency with a lot of them relating to their performance on the front nine compared to the way they play on the back nine in most golf rounds.

Not that there is a consistency in their game, but a consistency in the part of the game where they consistently fare worst.

Some people struggle to get their game right for the first nine holes and then improve on the back nine, whilst others start off fine and then fade on the last nine holes.

It is like there is a switch that gets flicked half way through the game and their performance changes in one direction or another.

There is always a reason why this is happening and targeting that reason can result in some excellent improvements to your score.

More often than not the second nine holes result in a poorer performance and this can be due to a number of factors.

Those factors can be fatigue or a lack of hydration.  Hydration in itself will result in fatigue.  These are simple factors that can be easily addressed with regular intake of water and foods containing some carbohydrate content to keep the energy levels up.

Other people find they perform worse on the first nine holes and that can often be from tension where they tend to relax later in the game and start playing better.  Once again, if you are aware that this is happening you can address the problem by making an effort to relax.

Learning relaxation techniques can do more for many people’s game than all the advice in the world and it might be just what you need to take your game to the next level.