Freezing

As my swing coach says, stop thinking and hit the ball......thinking on the golf course is your own worst enemy......

Everyone suffers nerves....the best players use it to their advantage
As a youngster my Soccer coach told me " Three deep breathes through the nose and slowly out through the mouth"
I have remembered it to this day and still use the technique because it certainly helps relax me and act as a trigger
Try it

Hi Mark, that is a great question. I would say the best thing to do would be creating a routine you are comfortable. Whether you are trying to hit a 100 yard shot to 10 ft on the range or on the course, at the end of the day it is the same thing. I call it normalizing the situation then just be confident in your abilities. Practicing this on the range with shots you are already dialed in with will help your confidence for sure. You just have to let go and play!

When I was younger, I seemed to hit the ball great at the range but had no transfer to the course. A friend recommended using a range ball (red stripes) on the course. Shot in the 38 for the first time on nine holes.

Second, sometimes when you get over a shot and it tends to cause internal consternation, think a positive thought. Mine was a coffee milkshake. Get on the tee, go through pre-shot routine and right before takeaway think your positive thought. Seemed to take the edge off and free my swing from tension.

Good luck and lastly, you may want to see a pro to make sure it is not a swing fault. Cannot hurt to go back to the basics.

Mark,
Keep trying. Since you stated "Some of the ideas worked for a couple of games then as usual my brain susses out my fix and over rides it again..."

This may not fix the issue all at once but it did work for a couple of games, so that in itself is progress. Remember the TT members on this blog are all behind you....summer is approaching so again keep trying.

Hi I’d be very interested to hear how you got in Mark . It’s been a few years !
Tom