How to trade fear for calm, according to a Tour mental games coach

If a wayward drive on the home hole can ruin your weekend round, imagine what a similar shot does to a Tour pro’s blood pressure.

Well, at least that’s what we do think happens. It makes sense: those who play golf for a living should certainly care more about shots and scores than recreational players.

In fact – and this may come as a surprise – in some ways professional golfers actually care less. It turns out that card-carrying members of the PGA Tour are not only better than you and me at splitting fairways and holding approach shots; they are also much better at separating their swings from their scores. It’s a legitimate superpower that’s as valuable as any other in the game.

Days before winning his second Masters in April, Scottie Scheffler spoke about his mindset during the competition. “I am mainly focused on my mental attitude,” he told the media. “I don’t look at results.”

Scheffler went on to say that he channels all the nerves that bubble up inside him during a round into laser focus, focusing on the process rather than on pars or birdies.

That’s easy to say if, like Scheffler, you have a knack for going low, but trust me, you can fool him at this point. The process is something I discuss with my golfers on a weekly basis. It’s critical.

I want you, like them, to focus on your pre-shot routine and the intention to hit every shot with absolute dedication. These two things are completely within your control. From there, all outcomes should have an equal impact on your mood and attitude, because once the ball lands, there’s no emotion or expletive-laced response that can change your lie or distance. When you separate what you do from what the club, the ball, the wind, and the turf did, you trade fear for calm, ultimately leading to smooth swings that operate almost on autopilot, saving you aggravation and strokes.

There’s an important distinction here: I’m not suggesting you try check your emotions. That’s unrealistic. My advice is rather to accept them. That’s the heart of mindfulness, a concept popularized in meditation and written about extensively by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who defined it as “candid, moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness.” (1). In sports, as in many other activities, mindfulness can feel like a true flow state. That’s why after a good round you might not remember much of what it felt like to swing the club; the good shots just happened.

Science and research support this in two ways. On the one hand, studies have shown that attempts to control our internal states do not help us perform better, probably because they misdirect energy toward trying to do the impossible. On the other hand, researchers like Dr. Marc Bernier have found that mindfulness is strongly correlated with lower scores and higher rankings in a range of sports. (2) Negative feelings do not have to have negative consequences, as long as we see them for what they are.

You can apply this from tee to green, but accepting your emotions can be most important on the shortest shots. Putting is a simple stroke, made much simpler or more complex by your thoughts. If you think too much, you can pay the price in rhythm, contact or direction. When I talk to my players after practice rounds, they rarely remember which putts were dropped and which were missed. But they can tell me how sharp their pace and line were that day. That tells me they were stuck in what they could control, not what they couldn’t.

Important: don’t confuse this with apathy! I want my players to be passionate, and I want you to be too. The trick is to tap into your passion at the right time, which is when you choose a goal, commit to it and envision the ball flight. This is how my PGA Professionals play their best game, maximize their potential and stay focused from the first drive of the day to the last putt.

It’s hard to argue with success and even harder for golfers to argue with green vests. Scheffler’s intention requires his full attention. When you hear a golfer say that his mental approach is what he works the hardest on during a tournament, pay attention. Happy golfers, like happy people, are committed to the process and agnostic about the results. This is the goal that makes all the other goals (i.e. birdies and wins) happen like magic.

So the next time you land a drive or an approach exactly where you wanted it to go and one of your playing partners offers something along the lines of “You couldn’t have placed it there better,” just smile, say thank you and bask in your new appreciation for one of golf’s greatest inside jokes: choosing where the golf ball comes to rest was never an option.

See you next month!

Julie Elion has worked with half of the top 10 earners of all time, representing more than $500 million in career earnings, 150 PGA Tour wins and 25 major championships.

(1) KABAT-ZINN, JON. 2005. Coming to our senses: Healing ourselves and the world through mindfulness. HYPERION.
(2) BERNIER, MARC, ET. ALREADY. 2009. MINDFULNESS AND ACCEPTANCE APPROACH TO SPORTS PERFORMANCE. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY, FULL. 3, NO. 4, pp. 320-333.