Golf tips are infinite. So is the garbage that goes through your head as you close in on actually hitting the golf ball.

Really, why are you worrying about work, or homework, on the golf course? Or beating the traffic? Or anything else that has absolutely nothing to do with golf?

Maybe worse, why do a dozen swing thoughts suddenly pop into your head while you are taking the club back.

A little focus would be great. So what’s the best advice for quieting your mind before you pull the trigger?

For some, mindfulness and focus isn’t about allowing just one swing thought. It’s about completely clearing your head.

In his “Inside Golf” and “Inside Tennis” books, Tim Gallwey’s most memorable words might have been to focus solely on the logo or seams of the ball before you hit it. Think of nothing else and let your instincts — and training — take over.

Or, as Wailea Golf Academy instructor Renee Lee says, “After a perfect setup, be an athlete. Do what comes naturally when there’s a little ball in front of you that needs to move forward.”

It might not happen when you first start. It might not ever happen. But for a lot of us, clearing a cluttered head and letting instincts take over might be best.

Even if you aren’t old enough to have cluttered your head yet.

“When I putt, I don’t really think of anything,” says 11-year-old junior golfer Tyler Tamayori. “My mom always tells me to trust my heart. Most of the time I just read the green and just trust my heart. But sometimes flashes of spicy ahi poke come into my head, or ice cream.”

He is not alone. It is much easier to get distracted or overwhelmed on the golf course than to hit the ball pure. That elusive skill usually comes with a lot of athleticism, wisdom and hard work.

Former Punahou athletic director and coach Chris McLachlin, better known now as Rainbow Wahine volleyball’s color analyst, has helped more than 150 teams with the mental side of sports.

He keeps it simple on the golf course — “deep breath and one or two cue words, maybe add a target over the shot or putt.”

His son Parker, who won on the PGA Tour and now plays Web.com, tries to do the same. He sees Brandt Snedeker take five practice strokes on the green and Jordan Spieth take zero. Whatever works for you, he says.

And, if your mind wanders …

“I’d suggest saying a mantra while over the ball,” McLachlin adds. “Every time you look at the hole say ‘target,’ and when you look back at the ball, say ‘ball.’ Wherever you look, say that object and then stroke the putter without hesitation. It’s an amazingly simple way to distract the mind, and it really works.”

Not surprisingly, pros provide a wide array of tips, but all ultimately return to the same “mantra” — keep it simple and positive, with no doubts.

“Tour caddies say two things more than anything else — ‘Pick a good target’ and ‘trust it,’ ” says Kailua’s Scott Simpson, who won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the 1987 U.S. Open. “You will hit your best shots when you do trust your decision and your swing. Indecision creates more bad shots than anything else. So commit to your shot and then commit to your swing.”

Whether it is thinking about balance, a full finish, accelerating into the ball, feeling the club head, sensing pressure points — often related to grip — or inspiring tempo and repetition by repeating a song, instructors try to keep thinking to a minimum.

Some say it is better to focus on sensations, as opposed to mechanics, so athleticism takes over. Others describe the swing as the hardware, which won’t work without proper software.

Amateur Tyler Ota lines up, thinks tempo and solid contact, then makes sure he is comfortable over the ball.

“I just do my best to execute everything that I have control over to the best of my ability,” the 2015 Manoa Cup champ says, “because I know that whatever happens after I make contact with the ball is open to the elements surrounding me.”

Aloha Section PGA Vice President Eddie Lee is director of instruction at Wailea Golf Academy. He wants players to have a swing thought, but thinks it should be done before the swing or in the early part of the backswing — never on the way down.

He also calls this line from internationally known coach David Leadbetter the best advice he ever got — “For every piece of information there is a seed planted for its own destruction.”

“As humans,” Lee says, “we either don’t understand the material, overcorrect the diagnosis or simply cannot perform the task.”

That explains a lot, particularly about golf.

Just ask Waianae’s Alvin Okada, who coaches on the Symetra Tour and caddies for Kalani alum Nicole Sakamoto. He is a keep-your-eye-on-the-logo kind of guy.

“Golf can and always will be a very draining mental sport,” Okada says. “When it comes to getting into the shot, no thoughts required. I believe that all your thinking should be done before you step into your shot. When you step into your shot the only thing you think about is where you want the ball to go, in essence only think about a target.

“The more complicated it gets, the more your mind drifts from the task at hand. Too many times people think they control the outcome of any golf shot, but really we don’t. The only thing we can control out there is ourselves. Once we lose that, our game rapidly diminishes.”

At that point, it’s time for spicy ahi poke — with a chaser.