By: Annie Grace Smith
For this month’s Up & Down, we have Annie Grace Smith, one of our 2024 USGA P.J. Boatwright Interns sharing a few tips she uses for the mental side of the game of golf.
Hey everyone!
I’m back with another list of tips for this month’s edition of The Up & Down.
If you recall from last month, I mentioned some of my own tips for avoiding frustration during your round.
April excerpt:
Golf is not only a skill game but a mental game
I like to think of distance running (I ran track in high school) and golf as similar because they are long, endurance sports where a huge chunk of your time is spent in your mind. It is frustrating when you mess up a shot, didn’t read the green well or even when the pace of play is moving at a snail’s pace. These are the times when it is crucial to not let these frustrations pile up and affect your game.
Strengthen your mind and build up your resiliency to be a better and stronger golfer. Make sure to follow along for an upcoming edition this summer where I will give you some tips for how I avoid frustration on the course when I played in college tournaments!
The game of golf is not only a skill game but also a mental game. If you’re looking to hone your skills and challenge your mind, then golf is the game for you. Maybe that is not why you got into the game of golf, but no matter how you got here, golf is a mental game.
As you may remember, I played college golf for four years at my school, so I have some tips that I learned and taught myself on how to handle the mental side of the game of golf. Let me preface this by saying, I played DIII golf on a very small women’s team. I was not one of the best golfers on the team or even in my conference. I played because I enjoy golfing and loved my team. There were points when it was hard to see why I was playing a college varsity sport when I wasn’t “successful” and when I had so many other extracurriculars and academics taking up my time. From my experience both on and off the course I learned how strengthen my mental game.
Here is my list of things I did to strengthen my mental game on and off the course:
Some examples: No three putts; hit every fairway; hit every Green in Regulation; a consistent pre-shot routine; or making every target under 60 yards.
On every hole, remind yourself of your goal and evaluate how you will meet it on this specific hole. That may mean putting your driver away to hit the fairway, even if it means you won’t hit the ball as far.
It may mean you need to hit your driver on a par 3– don’t be embarrassed if your group is pulling out irons to hit the green. Play your own game and know what your goal is.
Maybe you’re not up for normal Green in Regulation– change it up! A good challenge to start with is doing GIR +1 (or more). Instead of hitting the green in two shots on a par four, it means your goal is in three shots. If you’re always a shot or two (or more) over par, then aim for playing bogey golf, then work to get closer to par golf.
If you’re 200 yards to the green and you know you can hit it that far but would struggle to get it on the green or close to the pin on your next shot, hit a different club that would set yourself up in a good position to get it close to the pin on the next shot.
For example, I may decide to only hit the ball 150 yards, keeping it in the fairway and setting myself up to hit it 50 yards next to the pin. I know hitting it 200 yards with my 3 wood is inconsistent and that my short game is better when it comes to 40-60 yards rather than under 30 yards.
Create a simple, repeatable routine that helps you calm your nerves and not rush your swing. Maybe you line your feet up the same way every time, or you take four intentional breaths before each swing. Make sure you replicate these routines on the driving range, too. Don’t just hit balls, be intentional on practicing the way you play.
Most of your round is spent traveling from shot to shot and preparing to swing. Stay focused on your next shot. Don’t think too far ahead or dwell on past bad shots. This next shot is the only one that matters.
Like staying in the moment, don’t focus on your bad shots. Recognize what you did wrong and try to fix it, but do not beat yourself up about it. Positive pressure is what will drive you forward but negative pressure will hold you back.
If there’s water on the right, don’t say “I can’t go right because that is where the hazard is.” Instead, say “I want to go left.” Set a good target and aim for that rather than creating a bad target to avoid.
He always tells me to “keep smiling” even through the bad shots because the most important thing is to have fun, even when your golfing more competitively.
To summarize, gaining an appreciation and understanding for the mental side of golf will help you to improve your skills and lower your scores. Now, this is not an overnight fix, and it is not an easy process. It takes many rounds of dedication and determination to get all these harnessed to be a strong-minded golfer.
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