First things first: I don’t teach “flow state” or anything of the sort. It’s like trying to teach happiness. Rather than trying to make effortlessness happen by doing certain things, instead think of doing the right things so that effortlessness will happen a bit more often.
Train properly and you’ll have tools you can trust in any situation. Be connected to your intentions and you’ll be ready for whatever comes your way. Put in the needed effort and you may well have that wonderful day where everything falls into place.
Check out below for six mental tools you can use to shoot lower scores.
1. Be a realist
Have realistic standards for your game. The biggest mistake we make as golfers is thinking that our best days should be the norm instead of looking at the quality of our average day. We measure everything against our ideal and that creates disappointment, frustration, anxiety — all of which thwart effortlessness. Consider your handicap index. It’s a measure of your potential, not what’s expected. A three-handicap tends to think he should shoot 75 every time. No. His average is going to be in the 79 to 82 range, yet he’s disappointed in those days.
2. Be who you are
To play more effortless golf is to play to who you are — your individual proclivities and processes. If you hit a draw, hit a draw. There’s no law that says to be effective you must hit a cut when that’s “the right shot.” Cam Young, the 2026 Players champ, won his first Tour event last year by eliminating his left-to-right ball flight. If the pros do it, why shouldn’t we?
3. Avoid target scores
Don’t have a scoring goal set before you tee off. Too many players, especially juniors, once they feel they can’t reach that day’s goal, just lose interest in or give up on the round versus playing to the end and maximizing it. You simply don’t know what you’re capable of each day or how the day is “supposed” to go, and all-or-nothing thinking creates frustration. If you don’t stay fully invested, you’re not going to keep improving and developing. That’s a lot more important than the outcome of any given round.
4. Play the percentages
A competitive round isn’t the place to try new things. Most of us don’t have a lot of time to practice, and if you’re not the most confident in something, the odds of pulling it off only decrease. Don’t expect hero shots to come off just because you’ve done it once before. Your B game is your go-to game, just like your car must get into third gear in order to do the things you need it to do. It’s the starting point to what might morph into your A or A+ game.
5. Lose “control”
I hear from a lot of players, “I’m about to play in a big event. I need to play great.” Now, we should accept that not all rounds are alike, because they aren’t. But our approach can and must be the approach we’ve trained, practiced and readied. As consequences increase, our desire to control increases too. We try to control our movements, our mechanics, our strategy, everything. That’s not good at all and the opposite of flow.
6. Prepare for hard yards
Often, we respond to high pressure by romanticizing that everything’s going to go according to plan. This is highly unlikely, but what makes it possible at all is preparing for a hard day. Train for hard days. Understand that golf is going to be a challenge, an obstacle course with trapdoors you can’t see coming. Train to be connected to your body, your preparation, your strategy. To the best of your ability, separate your processes from the results.
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