Alright, let’s talk about that golfers psychology course I took. Honestly, I was getting pretty fed up with my game. It wasn’t even about the score anymore, though that wasn’t great either. It was the sheer frustration. One bad shot, and my whole round would just spiral downwards. Felt like my head would explode sometimes.
I remember this one round, nice sunny day, playing with friends. Shanked a simple chip on the 5th. Next tee shot? Snap hook into the trees. Bogey, double bogey, triple bogey… just like that. Ruined the whole day, not just for me, probably for my buddies too listening to me grumble. Got home and thought, something’s gotta change. I practice enough, hit the ball okay on the range, but on the course? Different story.
So, I started looking around online. Saw a bunch of stuff, swing coaches, fancy equipment ads. Then stumbled upon this psychology course thing. Seemed a bit fluffy at first, you know? All this “mind power” stuff. But the description talked about handling pressure and staying focused, which hit home. Figured, what the heck, can’t hurt more than that triple bogey did.
Getting Started Felt Weird
It was an online course, mostly videos and some exercises. First few modules were about recognizing thought patterns. Realized I was basically beating myself up mentally after every single less-than-perfect shot. No wonder I couldn’t recover!
The main thing they hammered on was building a solid pre-shot routine. Not just the physical stuff like waggling the club, but the mental steps too. Visualization, a specific breathing technique, focusing on a single target, and a key swing thought. Simple stuff, really. The hard part? Actually doing it. Every. Single. Time.
The Real Work Began
Took it to the range first. Felt mechanical, almost silly, standing there taking deep breaths before hitting a bucket of balls. Sometimes I’d forget, just step up and whack it like usual. Then I’d catch myself. Had to force myself to slow down, go through the steps.
- Visualize the shot shape.
- Take that slow breath.
- Pick a tiny target.
- One simple swing thought.
- Then, just trust it and swing.
It wasn’t magic. Still hit bad shots. Plenty of them. But the course also talked about acceptance. Okay, bad shot happened. Acknowledge it, learn maybe one quick thing if possible, then let it go before the next shot. That was tough. Really tough. My old habit was to replay the shank in my head all the way to the next tee.
Seeing a Difference, Slowly
The first time I really noticed it working was during a club competition. Always get nervy on the first tee. Usually rush it. This time, I made myself do the routine. The full routine. Took an extra 15 seconds maybe. Nailed the drive down the middle. Felt good, but more importantly, I felt calmer.
Later in the round, hit one fat from the fairway. Old me would have started the internal cursing. New me? Took a breath, walked to the ball, went through the routine for the next chip, and got it up and down for par. It wasn’t that the routine guaranteed a perfect shot. It was that it helped me reset, focus on the next shot, and stop the bleeding.
So, yeah. That course didn’t suddenly turn me into a pro. My handicap dropped a bit, sure, but the biggest thing it helped develop was the discipline to actually use a pre-shot routine consistently and the mental space to recover from bad shots. It stopped the downward spirals. I actually enjoy playing more now, even when I’m not scoring my best. It’s more about the process, managing myself out there. Still gotta practice it, still slip up sometimes, but knowing how to get back on track? That’s made all the difference.
