🎯 Most golfers lose 35% of their performance between the range and first tee. Here’s the science behind why – and how to fix it permanently.
⏰ TIMESTAMPS:
00:04 – Introduction & Sponsor
00:52 – Personal Golf Experience
02:55 – Performance Science Breakdown
07:20 – BRAVR Mental Performance System
18:08 – $3K Giveaway Details
🏆 $3,000 PERFORMANCE TRANSFORMATION GIVEAWAY
Enter at: eliteperformancejuice.com
Deadline: October 15th
Winners Announced: October 18th
Two complete 6-month coaching packages included:
• 12 one-on-one coaching sessions
• Complete TPI physical screen
• Custom biomechanical workout program
• Matt Fitzpatrick’s course planning methodology
• Swing analysis & practice plans
• BRAVR mental performance system
📚 RESEARCH CITATIONS:
– Lovallo et al., Journal of Applied Physiology
– Rimmele et al., Sports Medicine International Open
🔗 CONNECT WITH PERFORMANCE JUICE:
Website: eliteperformancejuice.com
Instagram: @performancejuice
Sponsor: Hopstar Organic Coffee (code: PERFORMANCE10)
The BRAVR System:
B – Baseline (present moment awareness)
R – Reset (interrupt stress response)
A – Affirm (positive self-talk & confidence)
V – Visualize (mental rehearsal & pattern recognition)
R – Ready (physiological synchronization)
#GolfPerformance #MentalGame #PerformanceCoaching #BRAVR #ElitePerformance #GolfPsychology #FirstTee #RangeToTee
Welcome back to Performance Chiefs, where we dive deep into the science of elite performance. I’m your host, Drew Hopper, and today we’re exploring one of golf’s most frustrating mysteries. Why your range performance vanishes the moment you step onto the first tea. But first, I’d like to thank our sponsor, Hopstar Organic Coffee, for today’s episode. Hopstar delivers single origin Ethiopian beans with a proprietary clean roast process. No toxins, just pure clean energy. Use code performance 10 for 10% off your first order. And here’s something you’ll want to stick around till the end. We’re going to uh announce how to register for our 3K coaching giveaway. We’re going to have two winners announced uh October 18th. You have until October 15th to register. We’ll give you the uh the specifications, if you will, on how to do that at the end. So, let me tell you about what I observe very frequently, and this story may sound familiar to you. Um, my sons and I will usually play nine holes of golf five days a week and we usually come in straight from jiu-jitsu. So, our body is very warm. Our mind has just been competitive. So, we’re, you know, we’re kind of already in that energy space and we’ll usually either meet a friend or a client and play those nine holes. And what I end up seeing is they’ll hit the ball great on the range and, you know, chip and putt a little bit, feel good about things, but as soon as they get to the first TE, something changes. And whatever was working on the range, it seems to disappear for three or four holes. If that’s happened to you ever, then that’s what we’re going to talk about today. essentially where your performance on the range isn’t matching up for the first few holes and then what ends up happening is that can create anxiety, right? How to transition successfully, not just physically and technically from the range, but also mentally as we change that environment, right? Because we’re on the range in what might be perceived as a low stress, low pressure environment. Uh, and then we go to that first tea and all of a sudden the very big wide open driving range turns into for some of us a very small uh anxietyprovoking space or maybe you’re gambling and that pressure gets to you. It’s personal, right? But the reason is not necessarily what’s important. It’s what happens downstream from that. And that’s what we’re going to talk about. So, let’s jump into the science as well as the solution. All right. I’m sure every golfer has either seen or experienced this moment. You feel confident after a solid rain session, but then something shifts the moment you step onto the first tea. Well, let’s talk about the science and why this happens. We’re looking at and I’ll put this up on the screen for you. Research published in the journal of applied physiology. See here by Lavalo. Yep. And colleagues demonstrates cortisol, your stress hormone. And we’ve talked about this in other episodes. And the percentage of degragation that is observed with cortisol flowing through your system. And then there’s also counter hormone responses like testosterone. That’s a negative. And so there’s a lot of things happening at this moment physiologically. Once you’ve entered that space and you perceive the first tea to be a place that isn’t safe, uh there’s another landmark study by Rimmel and Sports Medicine International Open. Let’s put that up on the screen. And this one showed something even more shocking and it’s that performance anxiety reduces motor skill accuracy by 35%. And you think about golf and the precision that’s required to hit the middle of the club face and and you know we all know the geometry that’s involved. That’s the difference between a great shot and a horrific shot, right? So again, what’s happening here then? Physiologically, your brain is unable to distinguish between a threat like a saber-tooth tiger, a bully, um something along those lines and your first T-shot. And so the stress response is really identical in that moment. And your brain is attempting to actually protect you. So your sympathetic nervous system activates, cortisol spikes, muscle tension increases, and your precision is gone. So this isn’t again, this isn’t in your head per se. It’s partially how your brain is interpreting the situation. Your mind is interpreting the situation, but also then the physiological performance degragation that follows. And we’ve all seen it on TV. We’ve seen it with our friends. We’ve probably seen it within oursel if we’re being honest that this affects everybody at different times or it can. And so that neurological shift that’s occurring is truly profound. You’re in a low stress environment at the range. Minimal to no threat is perceived, right? There’s no consequences if you shank one. But then on the first everything changes and and whether again the input is sort of something we have to be mindful of. you’re in a tournament, um you’re playing with a group that you haven’t played with before. It’s important that we understand what’s provoking that interpretation and then therefore the cascade response of what’s seen as a highstakes scenario. So from a brain perspective, we know the pre the prefrontal cortex is playing a large part here, which is responsible for fine motor control and also precise decision-making. And so think about those two things alone. Find motor control within the context of golf. A chip. That’s the difference between perfect onface contact and a little fin. And then your spin and your you missed your spot and then everything is different, right? As well as decision making though. And so again, if you’re losing access to that prefrontal cortex, you’re also compromising your decision making. Um meanwhile, other parts of your brain are also active. um your threat detection center goes into overdrive and then the result of that is well golf is very much a game of repeatability and that smooth confident swing that you had on the range just moments ago is it’s gone and so this isn’t about your skill. I’m I’m confident that if you’re listening to this that you either have great skill or you’re definitely working on it. You’re creating it. You’re putting in that effort. This is about understanding and managing your body’s automatic stress response as well as your thinking that contributes to that. So let’s talk about how we do it. So let’s talk about the question that changes everything really for myself, for my clients. What if we could systematically prepare our nervous system for this transition from range to first te? So, I’m going to lead you through the process that I developed to address this called Braverber. Braver stands for baseline reset, affirm, visualize, and ready. Before I do, I want to say this. Um, I started playing golf right after college in my early 20s because Captain Dicki, my first boss in the army, was a college baseball player as a college wrestler. and he said, “Man, you know, you uh you got to take up a hobby because you’re going to lose your mind if you don’t.” And he offered to uh teach me how to hit a seven iron at the driving range that night. And I have been hooked ever since. And you know, living the 1% every day, trying to get 1% better with golf and and you know, all the things that that are associated with it. And I did that for man 20 plus years without the benefit of the education and training, everything else that I’ve had since then, as well as the experiences on and off the golf course. And here’s what I’ll say. If you’re still listening, that’s a good sign because you’re going to get something really good that follows this. Um, this is not something you can see, right? Like you can see a driver on a shelf and get excited about $600 spend on a driver hoping that you hit it straighter and further or expecting that to be the case. Um, you can see the results of a swing lesson with a coach, but with the mental game side, I think you really have to experience it and you have to first believe that it’s possible. because it’s not often something that you can see. Now, others might see a difference in you over time and mention it downstream, but initially you can’t go into Dick Sporting Goods and buy mental game off the shelf for $6.99. You have to first recognize there’s opportunity and then you have to actually have a system that addresses all the necessary parts to optimize your performance. I did not have the benefit of this for my first 20 years of golf and I reached the scratch plus handicap despite frankly having terrible mental game. But now with these tools in my toolbox at a much more advanced age at where I should be seeing a decline in my performance, I’m seeing the opposite. I’m seeing effortless, nearpar, slightly below par golf. Ask my friends, ask my sons. It’s It’s never been like this for me. And And I want to tell that because I think there’s a lot of golfers that are missing out. And I think you’re you’re you’re just ignorant to it like I was. And there’s no shame in that. But now you’re not because I’m going to give you a protocol that if you apply it, I guarantee you will see improvement. I guarantee it. It’s It’s unquestionable. So, not only will you enjoy playing more, but you will elevate the rest of your game, it’s not just about trying to be technically better more often. You actually see improvements across the board in all four dimensions of the game. So, that’s the end of my soap box, but I have a lot of passion about this. And I see a lot of golfers playing golf that are miserable, throwing clubs, swearing. And if that’s you, I’m I’m not necessarily trying to call you out. Or maybe I am because I love you and I want you to enjoy this game more and score better. And there is a way to do that. So let’s talk about it. I’m going to throw up a visual aid here so you can follow along. Um I go through, you know, this in my library of content. There’s various application of this. B is for baseline. All right. We’re establishing pro uh present moment awareness here with baseline. So we’re interrupting that mental chatter about your range sess your session and we’re going to be in the current moment. That’s where peak performance is. Not about the range, not about the first te that’s coming and and and what might happen. We’re going to be right here right now. And so with that, we’re going to deploy box breathing or Huberman has recently shown a different type of breathing in which you do a very long inhale where you’re about at what you could consider full and then one more additional sharp inhale followed by an exhale and that completes the cycle. So it’s and you can exhale through your nose or your mouth. I’m sure heman has a preference on what you do. I personally don’t. I do like though when you’re doing the breathing that if you put your hand on some like it on their chest. Um I like to feel it more around kind of my abdomen kind of where I would feel is my center if you will. And so I’m first is baseline. We’re doing breathing. You can do box breathing navy seals do that or you can do what I just did with the Huberman. But the mindfulness of the breathing and downregulating your nervous system is where we’re going with this. then reset. Um you know earlier like I said through those breathing what we’re doing here is we’re really trying to accept where we are right now. What is our situation? Our situation is we’re walking to the first tea right and we want to make sure that we’re interrupting any of those negative thoughts that would lead to fight or flight and that we’re very present uh in this moment. I even like to listen to the birds, feel the sun on my face. Really try to use grounding techniques with your five senses. Maybe you take a drink of coffee, a drink of water, whatever your drink of choice is. Try to employ those senses and become present in the moment. Avoid that future thinking, right? That’s what we’re trying to avoid, which is what creates the beginning of that stress cascade. So, we’re trying to avoid that future thinking by being very much in the present. Next next step is a for affirm. We’re going to move into uh replacing that inner critic or that that an that voice of anxiety or that voice that’s provoking anxiety. Things like don’t mess this up. Rather than those commands or those inputs, we’re going to replace those for positive inputs. And David Gogggins calls this his cookie jar. Every single person that’s listening to this has hit a good shot before. I want you to stop and think. For me, my first hole is either a 391 yard par4 or a 425 yard par4 or a 361 yard par4. I play like three courses on rotation as my primary courses. And so, so I’m thinking of that T-OT and I’m thinking of the best one that I’ve ever hit, right? And I’m replaying that in my mind over and over. That’s what Gogggins says. Go to your cookie jar, find something good that you’ve done in the past, re-emphasize that to yourself, and from that you can then create words of affirmation like, “I’m a world-class driver of the ball,” or whatever it is that you personally need to say to yourself. When I work with my clients, we customize those statements so that they’re very powerful. Um, and and again, they’re I am statements that are consistent with your performance identity and they build and increase your self-belief in that moment. Use the the Gogggins cookie jar. trick too. I really like that. So, David, if you’re listening to this, love and respect. Visualize. Next is visualize. All right, we’re almost done. We’re going to wrap it up. This is priming your pattern recognition system. So, your brain is rehearsing that exact shot you want to execute, creating neural pathways that make your swing feel automatic rather than forced. That’s the scientific explanation. So, let’s think about this practically. Um, a baseball player is standing in the batters box and they have a blink of the eye to respond and hit that hit that uh ball that’s coming down the middle. Golf’s different. The ball is static. And so because of that, we have to prime our mind differently, but we still want to activate that same reflex like response. And to do that, we really have to activate the vision system. And so visualize. And you want to be very specific like you’re watching a movie in real time, seeing the ball take off, fly, peak. If you’re a fader, it’s dropping to the right if you want to hit a straight shot. So in other words, see exactly what you want to happen in real time. Last is ready. The ready is about synchronizing your physiology for optimal performance. So heart rate, breathing, muscle tension, everything is aligned in that moment. Um, for me, everybody’s different. Everybody’s different. That the goal is to have a phrase or word that locks you in full commitment to performance and execution and and it’s I it’s optimal if that word creates a positive um a positive emotional response. So, I worked with a sports psychologist in college when I was a college wrestler. And for me, it was was finish. And there was a reason behind that. We don’t need to get into that. But for me, it was finish. And that’s what I was thinking about all the time when I was on the mat. Whatever I was executing was finish, finish, finish. And so, for me, it’s sort of graduated to that with golf. But it’s balance finish because I kind of reverse engineer where do I want to go with this swing? And I’m seeing and feeling that within my practice swings, etc. So really, really that last bit is about again a trigger word, a trigger phrase that completely locks you into focus and execution. And a cherry on your Sunday is if it creates a positive emotional response. Some of my younger athletes might think of a pet that they dearly love as an example and they say that name to themselves and it makes their heart full of love so they feel good, they feel positive. Um, and it it really brings out their best, right? So, as an example. All right, so wrapping up here, just want to announce again the 3K giveaway. We’re giving away two comprehensive performance coaching packages. Again, these can be this 100% virtual, y’all. If you live in Ireland and you’re listening to this, I got you. I got clients all over the world. Technology is amazing and what we can do virtually. If you live in Dallas Fort Worth, we can do it in person. Otherwise, virtual is where it’s at. Um, you have nothing to lose. Absolutely. Go to eliteperformancejshu.com, click on the 3K giveaway. There’s a form that you I’m not even collecting your phone number, y’all. I don’t want to call you. It’s just your name, email, and a couple of qualifying questions so I can understand who you are and where you’re coming from. Takes 10 seconds. Super easy peasy. What’s included? Two winners will be announced. Again, October 18th, October 15th is um we start. So, two two winners will be announced. And what’s included is 12 one-on-one coaching sessions, a complete Titleless Performance Institute physical screen. So remember, I’m a Tylus Performance Institute certified expert. We’ll also then provide you a Tyler Performance Institute uh custom biomechanical workout program that’s 100% based on the results of your physical screen. I’m also going to teach you the same course planning methodology that Matt Fitzpatrick uses using the same software. And of course on the technical side uh swing analysis is is included as well as other technical things like practice plans etc. And then on the mental side we’ll of course work through the braver mental protocol and implement that. So nothing to lose. Again we’re giving away two six-month coaching packages. Register to win. Winner will be announced October 18th. And lastly thanks again to Hopstar Organic Coffee for sponsoring today’s episode. Go to Hopstars Hopstar Coffey’s website, enter performance 10 and you’ll get 10% off. Until then, keep optimizing. This is Drew Hopper with Performance Juice. Stay elite.
