Why You’re Losing Money in Match Play (And How to Flip It)

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Most golfers lose match play matches—and money—because they react emotionally instead of sticking to a solid strategy.

In this video, I’ll show you how to win more match play matches without taking unnecessary risks. You’ll learn the exact mindset and decision-making habits that separate smart, consistent golfers from the ones handing over their cash every weekend.

We’ll break down:
• The #1 mistake golfers make in match play
• Why reacting to your opponent backfires
• How to stay calm and focused under pressure
• The real reason your “must-make” putts keep missing

Whether you’re playing a $10 Nassau or trying to win your club championship, this match play strategy will help you stay mentally sharp and walk away with more wins—and more money.

Who am I?

My name is Jon Sherman 👋. I’m a best-selling author, PGA Tour coach, and a golfer just like you. I aim to help golfers of all levels lower their scores and enjoy the game more, but without talking about the golf swing. I focus on four topics – expectation management, strategy, practice, and the mental game. I’ll share some of my best advice on this channel in an easy-to-understand, actionable format.

your buddy just hit it into the trees and you pull four iron to play it safe three shots later he’s making par and you’re scrambling for bogey sound familiar that’s the emotional trap of match play and why so many golfers lose holes that they should win in this video I’m going to show you how to win more matches and more money without playing any riskier hi my name is John Sherman i’m the author of the best-selling book The Four Foundations of Golf and on this channel I’m going to teach you how to play golf match play is one of the most fun formats in golf because it’s emotional volatile and really unpredictable i think it levels the playing field a lot and it creates a lot of fun drama and that’s also exactly why so many golfers lose the plot in this format because when there’s pressure or money on the line that’s when golfers start making decisions for the wrong reasons they stop playing their game and they’re reacting more to their opponents now if playing shot forshot against your opponent is working for you that’s great keep doing it but for most players that mindset leads to a lot of mental fatigue bad decisions and like I said unnecessary losses i know a lot of you struggle going head-to-head and I’ve been there myself and I want to offer you a different approach in this video this mindset has helped me become a much better match player win multiple club championships and helped countless players that I’ve either coached directly or have read or listened to my content now before we get into the common mistakes I want you to reframe how you think about match play you want to become the golfer that nobody wants to play against that’s the player who’s calm focused and completely unbothered no matter what’s happening around them and I can tell you from experience I’ve seen so many crazy things happen during matches that I never expected now if I’m playing against someone who gets rattled after a bogey or starts changing clubs based on what I did I know that I’ve got the mental edge because that golfer isn’t playing their game anymore they’re simply reacting to mine and to be honest that’s exactly what I want but if I’m up against someone who’s staying in their bubble whose walking pace never changes who hits a bad shot and doesn’t flinch that’s more of a problem that’s going to be a tough match experienced matchplay golfers understand something that most don’t you can’t control your opponent this isn’t basketball or other sports you don’t get to play defense so I think the best matchplay golfers simply don’t beat themselves they don’t chase they don’t play recklessly they just play solid smart golf and they make you earn every hole that’s the kind of match player you want to be if you do want to get better at this and win more of your friends money now here’s where most golfers get it wrong they think match play means playing checkers shot for shot let’s say your opponent hits their drive into the trees and you’re thinking “Oh yeah I’ve got them now.” And then you start changing your game plan for the hole but a few shots later as I said earlier they’re making par and you’re struggling to make a bogey and suddenly you feel like your momentum is gone and worse you’re kicking yourself from deviating from your original plan of course we notice what our opponent does it’s impossible not to but if you’re constantly reacting here’s what happens you’re going to burn mental energy you’re going to abandon your strategy and you are going to start making some dumb decisions and once that cycle starts it’s really hard to stop match play is completely random it’s unpredictable and you can’t control if your opponent gets a lucky bounce and their ball rolls 3 ft from the hole you can’t control whether they drain a 20footer at a really key moment in the match but you do have complete control on how well you stick to your game plan so if you want to feel less nervous and more consistent let go of the idea that you need to match your opponent put the horse blinders on a bit you’re noticing what they do but you don’t let it change what you do now here’s where a lot of golfers really blow it they start changing clubs or targets based on what their opponent is doing i used to do this all the time and it really cost me in some key moments for example let’s say you’re on a hole where the correct play is driver off the tee your opponent slices one into the trees and suddenly you’re reaching for that iron to play it safe now your second shot is going to be about 50 yards longer and you don’t even know if you’re going to hit the fairway or let’s say it’s a different situation and your opponent pipes a drive in a tight landing area surrounded by a ton of trouble your original plan was to lay back but now you are reaching for your driver in either scenario this isn’t strategy this is really panic in disguise you’re reacting to one shot and that’s really not enough information to change your plan it’s just incomplete information i’ve seen plenty of my opponents chunk a wedge after a perfect drive and I’ve done that myself i’ve also seen players save par from the trees when you least expect it but if your entire plan is to react to whatever your opponent is doing again you are giving away a lot of control this is why it’s so important to have a strategic game plan that you can rely on no matter what format you are playing those who have read my book The Four Foundations of Golf luckily have that plan again you want to play like the golfer that you wouldn’t want to face i really don’t want to play against someone who’s going to make smart decision after smart decision someone who doesn’t get that emotional or doesn’t give me a free win but I love it when I see someone go flag hunting after I hit a good approach shot that’s the easiest way to let me off the hook so if you do want to win more of your friend’s money you have to think long term if you play into the chaos in each match that’s exactly what you’re going to get for your game you don’t know if your opponent’s going to make that 10-footer after they hit it close to a tuck pin heck I’ve seen people three putt from those distance plenty of times but if you go chasing after that pin to match them and you shortside yourself you’re likely out of the hole at that point now let’s talk about putting because this concept sneaks up on a lot of people in match play let’s say you’re standing over a must-make putt you know if you miss it you will lose the hole so what do you do you hit it harder because you don’t want to leave the putt short we always hear that term never up and never in but here’s the problem with that strategy the faster the ball is moving the smaller the effective size of the hole becomes this is a concept called capture speed that’s really important to understand whether you’re a match play or even a stroke play round when your putt finishes more than 2 to 3 ft past the hole you’ve actually shrunk the effective cup from 4 and 1/4 in all the way down to an inch and a half or even less than an inch here’s a great image from Eric Barzeski and Aimoint it shows how quickly the hole shrinks when your putt is moving too fast again this is called capture speed essentially you want to give yourself the biggest margin for error with good speed that means rolling it 12 to 24 in past the cup not four or 5 ft proper speed gives the ball a chance to fall in the hole even on a slightly offline putt so the next time you think you need to smash a putt because it has to go in resist that urge because you are actually lowering your chances of making the putt i get asked all the time on social media and via email what’s your strategy when you’re in a matchplay tournament like a club championship and my honest answer to most golfers is that if you feel like you need to do something totally different in match play you’re probably just working against yourself and putting more undue pressure on your game yes there are some moments where adjustments make sense it could be really late in the match when you’re up a lot or down quite a bit but to be honest doing something extreme is likely not going to change the result at that point for the vast majority of players obsessing over your opponent just leads to unforced errors the real key except that you have zero control over what they are doing but if you have complete control over your mindset your plan and your execution well if you can commit to that you’re going to win more in the long run and I think you’re going to have a lot more fun doing it as I said match play brings a lot of chaos and in a way you have to lean into that and not be rattled your job is to stay calm in the storm so the next time you’re playing a match let your buddy play emotional checkers and you play patient chess if you’ve enjoyed some of the thoughts from this video this is from both of my book The Four Foundations of Golf and The Foundations of Winning Golf which is more focused on competitive play and don’t miss my last video where I show you how watching golf on TV is quietly ruining your