You read everywhere about having a consistent pre-shot routine to go through before every shot. That's good advice, and I hope you're following it. Paying careful attention to your grip, stance, posture, alignment, ball position, and aim all go into preparing your body to hit the shot as well as you can. Do you prepare your mind, too? You should. It's just as important.
The mind leads the body. Whatever technique and skill you have acquired will only come out correctly if the mind is able to give the body the right orders. To do that, your mind needs to be in a positive state, free of tension, free of worry and doubt, and thinking only of the present moment.
When you get to your ball, or tee it up, before you start planning your shot, get positive. Think to yourself, "I have a chance to hit a great shot right now," because, why not? You could! Get excited about how good this shot could be and how much fun you will have watching it fly away straight and far.
Next, look downrange to find that fantastic shot. Quiet your analytical mind. Look patiently down the fairway, or across the green, and what that fantastic shot is, where to hit it, and even how to hit it, will reveal itself to you.
I know you've had this experience before. You looked at where the ball needed to go, and something clear but unspoken told you take this club, hit this shot, to here, and you did, and it worked out better than you thought possible. You can do this with every shot.
From the tee or fairway, try to hit the ball to a specific spot in the air, not the ground. There's a spot in the air that your ball has to pass through on its way to where you want it to land. Your job is to find that spot in the air and hit it there so gravity can take over and bring your ball down to earth where you want it.
Aiming your shot this way keeps you from worrying, too. There are no sand traps, creeks, or out-of-bounds markers in the sky, so when you look up, you're staring at a trouble-fee target. That has to be comforting.
You're almost ready. Get into your setup and trust what you have done. You're dialed it to the shot. Give up trying to control what happens next. Let yourself be guided by your mental preparation, and hit a great shot.
To apply these ideas, you have to practice them. When you're at the range, step back before you hit a ball. Pick a target and go through this mental pre-swing routine as well as getting your body into the correct setup position. After you hit that ball, pull another ball over, step away from it, and start the whole process again.
It will help if you hit each new ball to a different target with a different club. On the course, you rarely hit the same club twice in a row. Each shot presents a new set of possibilities, a new puzzle to solve. Re-create that condition as best you can on the range.
You should certainly train your body to hit the ball, but train your mind as well so that your physical training has a chance to work its magic.
