Have you ever met anyone who is satisfied with their golf game?

Chances are that if you are like the vast majority of duffers

out there you're always on the lookout for things that you can

do to bring those scores down. But it's probably never occurred

to you that you can use your ears (yes, I said ears!) to improve

your game and lower your handicap.

The first place you might want to try starting is with the CD

included with John Novosel and John Garrity's excellent book

Tour Tempo. Novosel and Garrity studied thousands of players and

reached the conclusion that the best players had a 3:1 ratio

between the timing of their backswing and the timing of their

downswing. The actual timing varied from player to player (e.g.,

Phil Mickleson has a "quicker" swing than Jim Furyk) but the

ratio was consistent across the vast majority of tour players.

Here's how you can apply this revelation to your golf game. The

CD that comes with the Tour Tempo book has a series of tracks

you can listen to and get a feel for your swing's tempo. To gain

the maximum benefit, bring a portable CD player (or load the CD

onto your iPod!) with you the next time you head to the range.

Use the tracks to groove your swing. You'll be amazed at how

quickly your tempo will improve.

Another cool way to improve your golf game is through

visualization and anchoring. Most people are familiar with

visualization but anchoring is less well-known. Anchoring is a

process that links a specific physical activity with a certain

state of emotion. For instance, if you pump you fist a la Tiger

Woods (you don't do that do you?!) every time you sink a long

putt then you've anchored fist pumping to a very positive

emotion.

Anchoring can be used to your benefit by helping you to recall

feelings of confidence and past peak performances. A great way

to practice visualization and anchoring is through a series of

audio programs created by Nicholas Rosa. Integrating Mind &

Body: NLP for Better Golf - Driving will help you to link a

"trigger" with your memories of the best drives you've ever hit.

Integrating Mind & Body: NLP for Better Golf - Putting will do a

similar thing for your short game.

A final way that you can use audio to improve your golf game is

simply by listening to audio books while you're practicing.

Bring a portable player with you to the range or when you head

to the putting green and listen to some of those great books

that you never seem to find the time to read. Some great

golf-related books you can listen to include A Good Walk Spoiled

by John Feinstein, Golf and the Spirit by M. Scott Peck and

Michael Murphy's classic Golf in the Kingdom. Listening to books

while you practice can make practice more enjoyable which in

turn might help you practice a little more and finally start

playing the golf you know that you've been capable of.