9 Mental Techniques Guaranteed to Improve Your Golf Game

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When I posted these 9 mental concepts on Twitter/X a couple of years ago, it got me a job as a PGA Tour coach. I know they can help any golfer reach the next level in their game.

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.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
0:17 Commitment to Fun
0:41 No One Gives a Sh*t
1:07 Stop Being a Control Freak
2:09 Stay In the Moment
2:45 Growing Your Grit
3:16 The Caring Game
4:10 Swing Thoughts
5:23 Pre-Shot Routine
6:43 Post Shot-Routine

a couple years ago I posted a thread on Twitter that a PGA Tour player winner read and eventually hired me as his coach here are nine powerful and actionable mental techniques that every golfer needs and these are all chapters from the mental section of my best-selling book the four foundations of golf check it out on Amazon number one a commitment to fun yes you heard me correctly too many golfers lose sight of why they’re playing in the first place you’re there to enjoy yourself embrace it things can go arai when you start taking golf too seriously and focus too much on the performance aspect always remember this is not your job it is your leisure a surprising side benefit is that you’ll likely play better and shoot lower scores by relieving the pressure on yourself number two no one gives a golfers are selfish and mostly care about their own games we will all embarrass ourselves in front of each other once you accept that and stop worrying about what others think your game will be in a much better place there’s something called the spotlight effect which is a real psychological phenomenon which shows that humans actually over estimate how much others are actually noticing us so don’t think you’re on the golf course and everyone’s looking at your every step and shot you take they’re mostly worried about their own games number three stop being a control freak golf tricks us into believing we have way more control than we do drawing the line between what we can control and what we can’t control is transformational here are my big three of what you can control first is preparation think of your practice studying a course getting your body ready the second is your routine exerting total control over how you approach each shot and lastly your reactions how you process each shot your emotional and analytical responses but more importantly here’s what you cannot control the variability of your Technique each day a different golfer shows up it’s so frustrating but you have to accept it your swing path might be a little different how you’re striking the ball is different on the club face every day there’s a change no matter how good you get at this game and secondly you cannot control the universe golf is played in the elements and on uneven terrain you’re going to get a bad gust of wind or an unlucky bounce this is the way it is and you just have to accept that you do not have control over that number four staying in the moment golf is a battle between the past and the future we ruminate on shots that have already occurred and we’re worrying about shots that haven’t even happened yet introducing mindfulness and meditation techniques to your game can help fight this battle though you’re never going to win it there are so many ways to keep your focus on the quote unquote now when you play this could be your routine breathing techniques or even taking a moment to soak in the experience and enjoy the company of your playing Partners sometimes I even play songs in my head on the putting green there’s so many creative ways golfers can do this to remain quote unquote present and fight the battle between the past and the future number five growing your grit the word grit often gets a bad rep you don’t always have to be white knuckling it through your rounds to see better results a better definition for grit is from Angela Duckworth and a great book that she wrote her definition is perseverance and passion for long-term goals every golfer needs grit the game frustrates you and challenges you all the time and your grit is the fuel that keeps your mind focused on long-term goals so when you’re feeling frustrated in a practice session or rounds not starting off the way you want grit is going to be the thing that gets you through all of that number six what I call the Caring Game golfers play their best when they can exist in the space of caring too much or not at all this is very hard to do but you can get better one extreme of this is living and dying the result of each shot so if you’re missing a five-footer and you’re losing your minds and you’re so frustrated you’re placing way too much importance on every shot that’s not a way to enjoy the game or get better you can’t Panic or peacock your way around the golf course the roller coaster is just not sustainable but the other end of the spectrum can be just as damaging sometimes you’re not engaged enough and you give up and don’t care at all let’s say you had a rough front nine and you’re like I’m done for the day that’s not a good habit to keep either we need to find a middle space for all of us but that’s different for each golfer but it’s something you need to reflect upon of finding your middle again where you’re not panicking on every shot or you’re not playing I don’t care golf either number seven swing thoughts this is a big one that almost every golfer struggles with most players default to thinking about their golf swing mechanics before during and after each shot we trained to think about our swings all the time I mean you’re watching this on YouTube you’ve probably watched 20 other videos on the golf swing before you got to me but what if there’s another way swing thoughts themselves are something that are called internal and focus focus on what your body is doing though they’re not completely damaging having only one or two can be productive not five six or seven at the same time however many golfers can see tremendous results by focusing on what are called external or neutral thoughts external thoughts can be focusing on brushing a blade of grass in front of the ball or it could be consciously trying to strike a certain part of the club face they’re goal oriented and the whole point is to have your body self-organized to achieve that goal in an athletic way without thinking about what your body is doing and a second option are called neutral neutral thoughts have nothing to do with the golf swing at all they could be humming a song in your head I do this when I putt all the time what it does is it drowns out thoughts of thinking about my putting stroke or thinking about making or missing the putt there’s plenty more examples of neutral thoughts and external ones but start experimenting with them when you practice and on the course it can be a total Revelation number eight let’s talk about your pre-shot routine your routine before every shot is a chance to get into your mental Foxhole this is your little Zone that you have complet complete control over it helps mitigate many of the game’s mental challenges but you have to spend time and effort building one it doesn’t have to be long but it should be intentional there’s a really interesting study a few years ago by Dr Matt bridge on the European tour he actually found that players that spent less time over the ball and had an overall faster routine made more cuts and more money on the tour so faster is better for most players your overall goal is to get into as much as an autopilot or reactive State as you approach the ball here are the three phases of pre-shot routine first is the analysis this is where you examine conditions you face like the distance the LIE what the wind is doing or an elevation change the next phase is preparation this is where you’re standing behind the ball and establishing your thoughts for the shot going back to my prior example you can have external thoughts here or even neutral ones and the last is execution this is where you cross the imaginary line and initiate your swing with commitment hopefully overall you’ve got to hang your hat on routine like I said it doesn’t need to be long but it needs to be repeatable one thing you should focus on is using it in your practice sessions so that it becomes the same over and over again whether you’re on the golf course or at the practice range the last concept can actually be the most important for a lot of players it’s called the post shot routine this is when the shot is over you can take a few seconds to absorb what happened if things went well you want to identify a good shot and internalize it take ownership of it or you could do a quick objective non-emotional analysis of impact and the ball flight feedback if things did not go well it can be so helpful if you can develop a quick system for yourself to go through this process but here’s the most important part of the post shot routine once the shot is over it is over close the door on it and move on to the next one if you’ve enjoyed these Concepts these are all chapters from the mental section of my bestselling book the four foundations of golf check it out on Amazon and check out my other video where I teach you what I learned in over 25 years of golf in less than five minutes