WHATEVER YOU DO GOOD FOR YOUR BODY IS STILL GOOD, no matter how little.

You don't have to be a world class athlete to play good golf. You don't even have to be in shape to play your best, of course that would help. What I really want you to get out of this letter today is the fact that every little thing you do helps and here's why:

It's the 17th hole and even though you're riding in a cart, you are starting to get just a bit tired. Your attention is off just a hair as you crack another joke to your partner or golf buddies/gals. That's excellent and that's why we come out to golf right? Great!

But, you're still chuckling about that last one about the frog on the man's head in the bar and it's now your turn to tee off. You try to get into your pre-shot routine but it just seems so pointless now as you have played pretty well up to this point and you think "so what if I don't do my practice swing the same way I've done it this round so far." And you step up to the ball and take a big swing and the little white orb goes flying out of bounds with a big fat slice on it.

You cuss yourself out for being so stupid and not concentrating on that last shot. You tee up another one and it hooks into the trees on the other side as you overcompensate for the slice. When you get to the ball, it's right behind a tree and because you are so angry with yourself and figure you need to "make up" those shots, you go for a small gap in the trees .

You know "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would say as you end up carding a triple or quadruple bogey on that hole. You play the 18th hole o.k. and when you add up your score, you find that all you had to do on 17 was to bogey and you'd have broken your scoring barrier.

One swing is all it takes! One little mental lapse about doing your preshot routine focused and in the zone like you did all day is all it was. One swing can turn a score sour like in the blink of an eye. You can't afford to be lazy for one moment on a round that you care about your score. If you want to go drink beer and just have fun, great! Do it! And don't even bother scoring if you have a few bad holes because it will just ruin the fun anyway. I sometimes do this myself.

So what could our serious golfer have done different to have kept his/her energy level high for maximum, sustained focus and concentration? Lots of things...

1. If you care about your score, keep the alcohol to a minimum

2. Drink lots of water. That tired feeling is most likely dehydration

3. Don't eat candy or other processed sugar products during a round, you'll get a quick high and then a very low blood sugar drop soon after. Don't drink fruit juices either, they have too much sugar even if natural. Chips and pretzels do the same thing.

4. Eat complex carbs like an apple, nuts, or a light sandwich during the round to keep your energy up and constant. Do the hot dog after the round if at all possible, it will sap your energy if you eat on at the turn.

5. If you only exercise once in a while, do it a couple days before golf so that your body can repair itself.

6. If you drink lots of caffeine regularly in your coffee, tea or sodas, then make sure you get some in you before you golf otherwise you'll probably have an energy dropoff from withdrawal of it. If you don't do caffeine much, definitely don't do it around golf time.

7. Get the right amount of sleep for you the night before. Not too much and not too little.

8. Turn the cell phone off when you come to the course. It will sap your focus and concentration just knowing that it could go off during the round. Be in the moment and enjoy the game.

9. Movement begets more energy. It doesn't take it away, it gives you more in the long run. Any kind of movement and activity. Park your car in the farthest place in the parking lot at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator when you're not in a hurry. Walk briskly on your lunch break wherever you are going. Close your office door and run in place for a few minutes or do it when you are watching TV at night. Be creative and force yourself to do something.

The small easy things I've mentioned might even lead you to do more, who knows?

10. Listen to music that pumps you up before a round if you're feeling low. Sing it throughout the round!

It's a fact: energy is stored and regulated in your unconscious mind. When you are really up for unleashing it to it's fullest, then it's time to work on that part of your mind that contains the 90% unused potential I keep talking about and teaching folks how to access.

Copyright 2006 Craig Sigl