Hey brownman! I can relate to your post when I was an amateur golfer. My thoughts were about correct angles, alignment to the ball, body mechanics, grip that was not even relaxed and unstable, and so on. They keep bugging my head thus keeping me away from concentrating the game. These are the reasons why I became a terrible golfer during my practice period. Then someone who looked like a pro approached me and advised the same thing you mentioned. He said "Relax kiddo, just keep it simple." I realized my mistakes.
