It wasn’t long ago that a cold beer at the turn was all a golfer wanted to improve his mental game. A few sips relaxed the body, erased bad shots from his mind and made the game seem more enjoyable. Boy, how times have changed.

Now, half the best-selling golf books are written by psychologists and duffers who once thought the only guy named Yogi was a catcher for the Yankees. When did we all get so sensitive?

Brad Faxon writes in the introduction to Bob Rotella’s "Putting Out of Your Mind" that when he joined the PGA Tour in 1983 "players who talked to psychologists didn’t advertise the fact." But soon, because of Rotella’s insight into the mental game, the best in the game are now happy to tell the world about their "links shrinks."

Anyone who’s ever teed it up knows that golf tests the limits of our mental and physical abilities and rewards those who excel in both — just as it punishes those who don’t.

Instructor Jim Flick says "golf is 90 percent mental and the other 10 percent is mental, too." That pretty much adds up to the mental side of the game being the most important component in golf. But is seeing a psychologist the best thing for everyone? It depends who you ask.

Fortunately, the Southland has some of the finest minds in the game to help golfers get their heads on straight. Grab a seat (it doesn’t have to be a couch) and check out a few of their tips.

1. PREPARE A GAME PLAN

Rick Sessinghaus starts by asking his clients why they play the game. When a businessman recently told Sessinghaus that he was going to play in a corporate event in three weeks and didn’t want to embarrass himself, Sessinghaus knew what needed to be done

"It wasn’t the greatest goal in the world, but I knew where he was coming from," said Sessinghaus, owner of Sessinghaus Golf Performance Systems in Burbank.

Once you know what you want out of golf you can work on clearing a path to achieve your goals, said Dr. Joseph Par-ent, author of "Zen Golf."

"What I try to do is enhance a player’s mindfulness and their awareness and notice what kind of obstacles lie in their path," he said. "You have to have awareness to recognize your obstacles. Then you have to change your habits and remove the obstacles."

2. HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

When golfers approach a round with no expectations they’re often surprised at how well they play, said Dr. David Wright, owner of the Wright Balance Golf Academy in Mission Viejo.

"My tour players and I will tell you that some of our best rounds of golf are when we’re hitting it sideways on the range," Wright said, adding that expectations are much higher for players who are striping it on the range. "As soon as you miss your first shot, we think, ‘Why did that happen?’"

Self-analysis and focusing on a bad swing often leads to technical thoughts, which can kill a round, Wright said.

"Walter Hagen had the best technique I’ve ever heard of," he said. "He expected to hit seven bad shots a round. But the average amateur doesn’t want to hit any. When Hagen hit a bad one, it was just one of the seven."

Wright said amateurs should adopt a similar philosophy of 20 shots to help clear the mind for the next shot while forgetting about past failures.

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