Why do ladies and men's approaches to golf seem to differ so much? Of course, this is a generalization...but one always hears men harping on about this or that lady who "doesn't hit the ball that far", but it "stays on the fairway"; this accompanied by an intonation or expression which infers that it's not really fair, almost as if women cheat by not hitting it as hard or as far as the men - that it's not "proper" golf!

By comparison of course, you more often hear wonderful stories of the hugest slice or hook that this MAN hit, or the incredible distance this shot went...or the terrible tantrums such and such a man displays to all and sundry. I personally recall a wonderfully entertaining moment while playing with three gentlemen. One tees up on a relatively straight and open par 5, swishes his driver a few times and then grips his jaw in readiness for the strike, sending the ball three hundred yards straight left into a field of unsuspecting cows. The replacement ball, still hit with the same force (if not more), flies three hundred yards straight right; and one of my other playing partners commented that whilst both balls had travelled an enormous distance, there was still greater yardage between the points where they eventually came to rest! What a wonderfully entertaining game this is!

The fact is that women tend to, in general, be more cautious than men. And this is part of our genetic programming. Going back to "cave man" days, a man had more chance of survival if he displayed strength and power and so he had to take risks and go out and secure the food and other necessities for the survival of himself and his mate. The woman, on the other hand, learnt that it was better to be more cautious and relied on the man to look after her. Men in those earlier days were forced to compete whilst women learnt to be rather more submissive. The effect of this programming is evident in our genetic disposition in the current day.

If you watch young children you will see that boys are more inclined to take things apart, to see how things work, etc, whereas girls are more likely to ask to be shown what to do, and are more inclined to look after things in their present form instead to destroying them in the interests of curiosity.

Parents also encourage their children to learn to play in different ways and to perform gender specific roles. Different toys and games are provided depending on the gender and preconceived ideas of how a man should act or a woman should act is imposed upon the growing psyche. Thus we are not only genetically programmed but also conditioned through experience to learn, act and behave differently.

"Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" as the bestselling book is titled, and so it should come as no surprise that women and men approach the game of golf in unique gender specific ways. And, as those of you who have read past articles of mine will know I keep saying, everything in life starts with a thought; how you think about something and your mental approach and expectations will dictate your outcome. You play golf from the platform of you the person, you the woman or you the man.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis downloads.