The Mental Side of Golf

You just stone cold topped that 7 iron into the lake. Why?

Was it because you failed to shallow the club and your wrist was pronating when it should have been supinating?

Did you fail to keep your head down? Tried to peak at the result?

Or maybe… you just weren’t committed? You thought you needed to get it in the air to carry the water and flipped at it, catching it in the forehead? Didn’t quite trust it.

Golf is difficult… And as much as Tangent helps you pick targets when you are uncommitted… your expected dispersion goes out the window… You could literally hit it anywhere! 

Think about a shot where you had a total outlier result. You probably weren’t fully committed and that’s okay. Golf is hard. There are lots of things to distract us.

Whether it’s that funny joke your buddy just told, the beverage cart pulling up on you, your mind drifting to work you gotta do, or even thinking about how you shouldn’t have made double on the last hole… Those are all examples of distractions that don’t help you hit the next shot.

How do you improve your mental game?

I recently had the privilege of being a guest on Josh Nichols Mental Game Podcast. In the pod, I cover how I’ve learned and tackled the mental side of the game and how I have built tools into Tangent to help you do the same.

If you prefer to listen to pocasts, click here.

If you prefer to watch on YouTube, click here.

Tools in Tangent

By default, Tangent is going to assume you were committed to each golf shot, but if you want to start tracking those shots that you might not have been fully committed… you can use the mental scorecard from your watch or phone to change your mental score when distracted or uncommitted. You want to strive to have over 90% of your shots where you were committed to your target.

Tips to improve your mental score

Target / Club Selection

Choose a target and club that you can absolutely commit to. If you are hesitant, feel in between clubs, or feel like you’re aimed too far right… then you don’t yet have a good target.

Nobody is forcing you to hit the golf ball. Even if you have to lie to yourself, convince yourself that the target and club you have in your hand is optimal. Positive affirmation before stepping into the shot.

If there is any doubt, you haven’t committed.

Routine

Routine is primo. Pre-shot routine is critical to fall into a rhythm where the outside world disappears and you are singularly focused on your target. Once you have a target and club you like, try do the exact same thing every time you walk into a ball.

The same cadence, the same breaths, the same number of waggles, the same number of looks at the target. Eliminate variation. Variation is a chance for something to sneak in.

You hear something distracting that grabs your attention, start over.

Your ear itches, start over.

I’m sure the haters will come out of the woodwork saying ‘play faster, don’t slow down’… but in my experience, backing off a ball to get committed and hit a good one is always faster than rushing through and hitting a poor uncommitted one. It’s faster to play your second from the fairway than it is to be searching in the trees.

Along those lines… the best pre-shot routines are also quick with little opportunity for distraction. If your routine requires 3 practice swings and 45 seconds standing over a ball with waggles… thats 45 seconds for a poor thought to enter our head.

Think more like Ludvig Aberg… and less like Patrick Cantlay.

Target Focused

Avoid negative thoughts (and “don’ts”). If you find your eyes darting over to that lake you want to avoid… reset.

You want your last visual and your last thoughts to be on where you DO want to hit it. Not where you DON’T. Your body knows how to hit it at a target, don’t distract it by looking at the wrong thing.

Focus on where you want to go and let your body hit it there.

Improve your self talk

You are what you tell yourself you are.

If you tell yourself that you’re a hack that can’t hit a fairway… You’ll believe it.

Be forgiving, accepting, but encouraging. I can do this. I can hit that fairway. I can hit this green. I am the best driver in the world. The more you believe you can, the more you will. It leads to commitment.

Need more help?

Josh Nichols has not only built a great podcast, but he is also a great resource. From practice plans, to mental coaching, to routine building. Josh covers a lot of bases. And he isn’t just some mental coach that hasn’t lived it. Josh is a distinguished player that made it to the finals of the US Mid Am.

The easiest way to get better is to hit it further. Having less club into the green makes the game easier and the best way to get faster is TheStack System. I've used it personally and it has definitely increased my speed on the golf course. Built with data and science, the app is great. It walks you through the workouts and measures your progression. If you love the data and value you get from TANGENT, you'll love TheStack System.