Not sure where to start? Ask Mulligan
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best
Young Teachers in
America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
Mental Game Overview
The process of hitting a golf ball can be divided into three phases:
- Pre-shot routine (or planning)
- Execution (or actually hitting the golf ball)
- Post-shot routine (or responding to the feedback from the previous shot)
In the pre-shot routine, you will be primarily using left brain and making logical decisions about the shot at hand. What does the lie dictate about this shot? Where do I want this ball to end up? What trouble do I need to avoid? What shot would I be at least somewhat comfortable hitting? These are the type of questions to ask yourself as you design a plan for the upcoming shot.
In the execution phase, your goal is to be unconscious and primarily right brained. This gives you the best chance of performing a skill at your optimal level. Use triggers and consistency in your routine to create the feeling of being "automatic"
In the post-shot routine, you will go back to being a left brained golfer and analyze the shot without judgement. If you did not hit a quality shot, your goal is to decode why. Did you fail to see something in your planning, or did you simply lose focus at some part of your swing? If it was losing focus, then try and decode what specifically caused the distraction. If you did hit a good shot, your goal is to take a second to create positive imagery and reinforce that swing you just made.
The process of hitting a golf ball can be divided into three phases:
- Pre-shot routine (or planning)
- Execution (or actually hitting the golf ball)
- Post-shot routine (or responding to the feedback from the previous shot)
In the pre-shot routine, you will be primarily using left brain and making logical decisions about the shot at hand. What does the lie dictate about this shot? Where do I want this ball to end up? What trouble do I need to avoid? What shot would I be at least somewhat comfortable hitting? These are the type of questions to ask yourself as you design a plan for the upcoming shot.
In the execution phase, your goal is to be unconscious and primarily right brained. This gives you the best chance of performing a skill at your optimal level. Use triggers and consistency in your routine to create the feeling of being "automatic"
In the post-shot routine, you will go back to being a left brained golfer and analyze the shot without judgement. If you did not hit a quality shot, your goal is to decode why. Did you fail to see something in your planning, or did you simply lose focus at some part of your swing? If it was losing focus, then try and decode what specifically caused the distraction. If you did hit a good shot, your goal is to take a second to create positive imagery and reinforce that swing you just made.
Hide
Video Transcript
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.680
This video is the overview of the mental game. So the overview of the
2
00:00:04.680 --> 00:00:07.840
mental game we're gonna walk through kind of the process of what you do on
3
00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:11.320
the golf course. So we have other videos in this mental game section of kind of
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:16.000
how to transfer practice, how to design practice programs on the routine or on
5
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.080
the range, all that stuff. But ultimately it comes down to when you're on the
6
00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:27.280
course and you've got absolutely no feedback whatsoever. So for the sake of
7
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.200
this video I'm actually gonna take away our trusty alignment rod. Because when
8
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.780
you're on the golf course you only get to rely on what you've practiced,
9
00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:37.440
internal
10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:43.800
feedback, external stuff is pretty much illegal. So what's the process of kind
11
00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:48.680
of going through the mental game on the course? Well most of the programs that
12
00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:52.840
I've looked at and that I've read, whether it's vision 54 or hardwired for
13
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.200
golf, there's a bunch of very good systems that kind of walk through this
14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.020
process. But essentially you're gonna have at least two different zones. So I'm
15
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:08.000
gonna have my analytical zone which vision 54 is gonna call the think box or
16
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.640
the hardwired for golf is gonna call the caddy phase. Where basically you're
17
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.320
processing all the data. So you're looking at your lie, you're looking at
18
00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.960
the wind, you're looking at the trouble around you, you're trying to factor in
19
00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:27.680
and come up with the plan. So what shot am I gonna be most comfortable with?
20
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.160
What
21
00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:31.520
shot am I gonna execute that's gonna give me the best chance of getting this
22
00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:37.360
golf ball into the next best place I can be? So this is all left-brain activity
23
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:37.360
.
24
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:42.480
This is all very analytical. This is something that you can learn to do pretty
25
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.720
quickly but it's not something that you necessarily have to have a consistent
26
00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:52.720
rhythm or timing to. You may find that you forget a few things but if you look
27
00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.560
in the notes section of this video you'll see a lot of the different ideas I
28
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:56.800
like
29
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:02.400
to factor in when going through this think box. So once you're done with the
30
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.400
think box analytical zone there needs to be a trigger from going from left
31
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.320
brain to right brain because when you're actually swinging a golf club you want
32
00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:15.920
it to be a very rich kind of deep experience. You don't want to have a lot
33
00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.360
of words or chatter in your head. I know that a lot of golfers have talked
34
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.440
about having swing thoughts. When a tour golfer mentions that they had a
35
00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:28.160
good swing thought what I really think that they mean is that they had a good
36
00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:33.320
swing feeling or sensation or vision or they had a good rhythm. It doesn't mean
37
00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:37.400
that they have the words running across their brain. So you need to have a
38
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.160
trigger from going from analytical to right brain. Right brain is I'm gonna be
39
00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:47.360
an athlete I'm gonna be an animal I'm gonna be unconscious or super conscious
40
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.520
depending on how you look at it but I'm basically gonna be over the ball and
41
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:56.080
just kind of react. So once I've done all my processing I'm gonna have a
42
00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.800
trigger. Now whether it's kind of you know a specific thing you do with your
43
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.480
club whether it's I put on my glove and I'm committed to this shot there has to
44
00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:09.840
be this trigger that's going to get me in this zone. In other sports say
45
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.720
basketball you kind of have this little routine that you use but that routine
46
00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:20.520
starts with once you've caught the ball. So you basically need the spot back
47
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:20.880
here
48
00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.640
in this analytical zone of alright somebody just passed me the ball time to
49
00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:29.800
go. Once I decide that I'm gonna go that's when my pre shot routine really
50
00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:35.360
kicks into effect. Now the different pre shots routines or the different ways
51
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.120
that golfers tend to get most comfortable over the ball are gonna
52
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.320
differ depending on what part of your brain you're using. So if you're a field
53
00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:47.960
golfer they will tend to have a very kind of mechanical process but then they
54
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.440
will get into this little moment of zen or stillness over the ball and then
55
00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:56.040
almost like a martial artist breaking a board they're gonna explode into action
56
00:03:56.040 --> 00:03:56.040
.
57
00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:00.520
So that swing even if it's a really graceful kind of Ernie Ells type swing
58
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.520
it's going to come from this place of stillness. If you're a rhythmical golfer
59
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520
what's gonna happen is you're gonna kind of hear the music in your head you
60
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.640
got this feeling of this tempo right you got this rhythm in your body and
61
00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:20.320
basically you're gonna try and move to that rhythm the whole time. So whether
62
00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:25.880
that's involving looks whether that's steps whether that's waggles kind of
63
00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:32.920
like a Jason Duffner everything is going to be going off that rhythm. Lastly if
64
00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:37.640
you're a visual golfer you want to stay out of your body and you're gonna try
65
00:04:37.640 --> 00:04:42.000
and almost create this vivid image of seeing exactly the shot that you want
66
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.000
hit. So there's my target I've got that crystal clear image I'm gonna get over
67
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.720
the ball and I'm gonna make sure that all my alignments match up so I still am
68
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.360
looking out there and I'm just imagining this target I'm imagining this flight
69
00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.720
of the ball or whatever I see as a visual golfer. Once I have a crystal
70
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.640
clear picture I'm gonna come back to the ball and I'm not gonna spend very much
71
00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:09.840
time. Field golfers can stay a little bit longer over the golf ball they can
72
00:05:09.840 --> 00:05:10.080
kind
73
00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:14.880
of hang out here and they can kind of take what they need in order to feel
74
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.400
comfortable for breaking that board. Rhythm golfers have to stay on their
75
00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:25.240
count and visual golfers have to stay over here as little as possible so that
76
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.920
they can keep a clear picture of what they're trying to do. So then after I've
77
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:37.190
done this little golf swing or hung out in the playbox or player zone I then
78
00:05:37.190 --> 00:05:37.400
have
79
00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:41.800
to go back to the analytical and the analytical is going to be the post shot
80
00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:49.600
routine. So how do I how do I process what I just did if it's a good shot what
81
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.350
can I do to kind of reinforce and build a stronger mental pattern right I can
82
00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:54.520
do
83
00:05:54.520 --> 00:06:00.480
little things like you know take a deep breath smile a little bit I can
84
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:00.840
actually
85
00:06:00.840 --> 00:06:04.240
kind of tap different parts of your body if you're familiar with something
86
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.560
called EFT so I can I can help trigger my brain to store a memory that way if I
87
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:16.040
hit a bad shot how do I not go into the past and say oh I always hit bad shots
88
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.320
how do I not go into the future and say man I'm gonna hit play terribly the
89
00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:19.520
rest
90
00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:24.440
this day how do I just kind of take this moment in time process the data say
91
00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:25.000
all
92
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.320
right what could I do better what what did I do well what can I learn from this
93
00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:36.120
and then have the ability to then process it and move on I always used
94
00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:42.000
because because I value nutrition on the course I would use taking a swig of
95
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:49.680
water as the end of my shot so basically I would hit a shot and I would quickly
96
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.600
kind of go through my process all right what did I do did I not get the right
97
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.640
feeling because I was a field golfer yeah okay that's a better feel all right
98
00:06:57.640 --> 00:07:00.600
I can move on to the next shot I'm excited about whatever challenge that's
99
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:07.080
gonna pose grab my water take a drink let's go I can move on but you want to
100
00:07:07.080 --> 00:07:12.120
build your post shot routine so that you don't take whatever happened with this
101
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.080
shot up there to the next shot so that's kind of the overview we're gonna go
102
00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:22.200
through different pieces as to more details in that player zone that catty
103
00:07:22.200 --> 00:07:26.240
zone that think box a play box whatever you want to call it we're gonna figure
104
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.760
out when to be left brain when to be right brain and how to take this this
105
00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:36.000
swing that we've built on the range ultimately on to the course
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.680
This video is the overview of the mental game. So the overview of the
2
00:00:04.680 --> 00:00:07.840
mental game we're gonna walk through kind of the process of what you do on
3
00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:11.320
the golf course. So we have other videos in this mental game section of kind of
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:16.000
how to transfer practice, how to design practice programs on the routine or on
5
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.080
the range, all that stuff. But ultimately it comes down to when you're on the
6
00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:27.280
course and you've got absolutely no feedback whatsoever. So for the sake of
7
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.200
this video I'm actually gonna take away our trusty alignment rod. Because when
8
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.780
you're on the golf course you only get to rely on what you've practiced,
9
00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:37.440
internal
10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:43.800
feedback, external stuff is pretty much illegal. So what's the process of kind
11
00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:48.680
of going through the mental game on the course? Well most of the programs that
12
00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:52.840
I've looked at and that I've read, whether it's vision 54 or hardwired for
13
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.200
golf, there's a bunch of very good systems that kind of walk through this
14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.020
process. But essentially you're gonna have at least two different zones. So I'm
15
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:08.000
gonna have my analytical zone which vision 54 is gonna call the think box or
16
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.640
the hardwired for golf is gonna call the caddy phase. Where basically you're
17
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.320
processing all the data. So you're looking at your lie, you're looking at
18
00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.960
the wind, you're looking at the trouble around you, you're trying to factor in
19
00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:27.680
and come up with the plan. So what shot am I gonna be most comfortable with?
20
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.160
What
21
00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:31.520
shot am I gonna execute that's gonna give me the best chance of getting this
22
00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:37.360
golf ball into the next best place I can be? So this is all left-brain activity
23
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:37.360
.
24
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:42.480
This is all very analytical. This is something that you can learn to do pretty
25
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.720
quickly but it's not something that you necessarily have to have a consistent
26
00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:52.720
rhythm or timing to. You may find that you forget a few things but if you look
27
00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.560
in the notes section of this video you'll see a lot of the different ideas I
28
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:56.800
like
29
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:02.400
to factor in when going through this think box. So once you're done with the
30
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.400
think box analytical zone there needs to be a trigger from going from left
31
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.320
brain to right brain because when you're actually swinging a golf club you want
32
00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:15.920
it to be a very rich kind of deep experience. You don't want to have a lot
33
00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.360
of words or chatter in your head. I know that a lot of golfers have talked
34
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.440
about having swing thoughts. When a tour golfer mentions that they had a
35
00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:28.160
good swing thought what I really think that they mean is that they had a good
36
00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:33.320
swing feeling or sensation or vision or they had a good rhythm. It doesn't mean
37
00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:37.400
that they have the words running across their brain. So you need to have a
38
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.160
trigger from going from analytical to right brain. Right brain is I'm gonna be
39
00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:47.360
an athlete I'm gonna be an animal I'm gonna be unconscious or super conscious
40
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.520
depending on how you look at it but I'm basically gonna be over the ball and
41
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:56.080
just kind of react. So once I've done all my processing I'm gonna have a
42
00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.800
trigger. Now whether it's kind of you know a specific thing you do with your
43
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.480
club whether it's I put on my glove and I'm committed to this shot there has to
44
00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:09.840
be this trigger that's going to get me in this zone. In other sports say
45
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.720
basketball you kind of have this little routine that you use but that routine
46
00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:20.520
starts with once you've caught the ball. So you basically need the spot back
47
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:20.880
here
48
00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.640
in this analytical zone of alright somebody just passed me the ball time to
49
00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:29.800
go. Once I decide that I'm gonna go that's when my pre shot routine really
50
00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:35.360
kicks into effect. Now the different pre shots routines or the different ways
51
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.120
that golfers tend to get most comfortable over the ball are gonna
52
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.320
differ depending on what part of your brain you're using. So if you're a field
53
00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:47.960
golfer they will tend to have a very kind of mechanical process but then they
54
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.440
will get into this little moment of zen or stillness over the ball and then
55
00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:56.040
almost like a martial artist breaking a board they're gonna explode into action
56
00:03:56.040 --> 00:03:56.040
.
57
00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:00.520
So that swing even if it's a really graceful kind of Ernie Ells type swing
58
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.520
it's going to come from this place of stillness. If you're a rhythmical golfer
59
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520
what's gonna happen is you're gonna kind of hear the music in your head you
60
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.640
got this feeling of this tempo right you got this rhythm in your body and
61
00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:20.320
basically you're gonna try and move to that rhythm the whole time. So whether
62
00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:25.880
that's involving looks whether that's steps whether that's waggles kind of
63
00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:32.920
like a Jason Duffner everything is going to be going off that rhythm. Lastly if
64
00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:37.640
you're a visual golfer you want to stay out of your body and you're gonna try
65
00:04:37.640 --> 00:04:42.000
and almost create this vivid image of seeing exactly the shot that you want
66
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.000
hit. So there's my target I've got that crystal clear image I'm gonna get over
67
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.720
the ball and I'm gonna make sure that all my alignments match up so I still am
68
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.360
looking out there and I'm just imagining this target I'm imagining this flight
69
00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.720
of the ball or whatever I see as a visual golfer. Once I have a crystal
70
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.640
clear picture I'm gonna come back to the ball and I'm not gonna spend very much
71
00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:09.840
time. Field golfers can stay a little bit longer over the golf ball they can
72
00:05:09.840 --> 00:05:10.080
kind
73
00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:14.880
of hang out here and they can kind of take what they need in order to feel
74
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.400
comfortable for breaking that board. Rhythm golfers have to stay on their
75
00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:25.240
count and visual golfers have to stay over here as little as possible so that
76
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.920
they can keep a clear picture of what they're trying to do. So then after I've
77
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:37.190
done this little golf swing or hung out in the playbox or player zone I then
78
00:05:37.190 --> 00:05:37.400
have
79
00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:41.800
to go back to the analytical and the analytical is going to be the post shot
80
00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:49.600
routine. So how do I how do I process what I just did if it's a good shot what
81
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.350
can I do to kind of reinforce and build a stronger mental pattern right I can
82
00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:54.520
do
83
00:05:54.520 --> 00:06:00.480
little things like you know take a deep breath smile a little bit I can
84
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:00.840
actually
85
00:06:00.840 --> 00:06:04.240
kind of tap different parts of your body if you're familiar with something
86
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.560
called EFT so I can I can help trigger my brain to store a memory that way if I
87
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:16.040
hit a bad shot how do I not go into the past and say oh I always hit bad shots
88
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.320
how do I not go into the future and say man I'm gonna hit play terribly the
89
00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:19.520
rest
90
00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:24.440
this day how do I just kind of take this moment in time process the data say
91
00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:25.000
all
92
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.320
right what could I do better what what did I do well what can I learn from this
93
00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:36.120
and then have the ability to then process it and move on I always used
94
00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:42.000
because because I value nutrition on the course I would use taking a swig of
95
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:49.680
water as the end of my shot so basically I would hit a shot and I would quickly
96
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.600
kind of go through my process all right what did I do did I not get the right
97
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.640
feeling because I was a field golfer yeah okay that's a better feel all right
98
00:06:57.640 --> 00:07:00.600
I can move on to the next shot I'm excited about whatever challenge that's
99
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:07.080
gonna pose grab my water take a drink let's go I can move on but you want to
100
00:07:07.080 --> 00:07:12.120
build your post shot routine so that you don't take whatever happened with this
101
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.080
shot up there to the next shot so that's kind of the overview we're gonna go
102
00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:22.200
through different pieces as to more details in that player zone that catty
103
00:07:22.200 --> 00:07:26.240
zone that think box a play box whatever you want to call it we're gonna figure
104
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.760
out when to be left brain when to be right brain and how to take this this
105
00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:36.000
swing that we've built on the range ultimately on to the course
Have questions?
Ask Mulligan for help
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of
Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
Mental Game Overview
The process of hitting a golf ball can be divided into three phases:
- Pre-shot routine (or planning)
- Execution (or actually hitting the golf ball)
- Post-shot routine (or responding to the feedback from the previous shot)
In the pre-shot routine, you will be primarily using left brain and making logical decisions about the shot at hand. What does the lie dictate about this shot? Where do I want this ball to end up? What trouble do I need to avoid? What shot would I be at least somewhat comfortable hitting? These are the type of questions to ask yourself as you design a plan for the upcoming shot.
In the execution phase, your goal is to be unconscious and primarily right brained. This gives you the best chance of performing a skill at your optimal level. Use triggers and consistency in your routine to create the feeling of being "automatic"
In the post-shot routine, you will go back to being a left brained golfer and analyze the shot without judgement. If you did not hit a quality shot, your goal is to decode why. Did you fail to see something in your planning, or did you simply lose focus at some part of your swing? If it was losing focus, then try and decode what specifically caused the distraction. If you did hit a good shot, your goal is to take a second to create positive imagery and reinforce that swing you just made.
The process of hitting a golf ball can be divided into three phases:
- Pre-shot routine (or planning)
- Execution (or actually hitting the golf ball)
- Post-shot routine (or responding to the feedback from the previous shot)
In the pre-shot routine, you will be primarily using left brain and making logical decisions about the shot at hand. What does the lie dictate about this shot? Where do I want this ball to end up? What trouble do I need to avoid? What shot would I be at least somewhat comfortable hitting? These are the type of questions to ask yourself as you design a plan for the upcoming shot.
In the execution phase, your goal is to be unconscious and primarily right brained. This gives you the best chance of performing a skill at your optimal level. Use triggers and consistency in your routine to create the feeling of being "automatic"
In the post-shot routine, you will go back to being a left brained golfer and analyze the shot without judgement. If you did not hit a quality shot, your goal is to decode why. Did you fail to see something in your planning, or did you simply lose focus at some part of your swing? If it was losing focus, then try and decode what specifically caused the distraction. If you did hit a good shot, your goal is to take a second to create positive imagery and reinforce that swing you just made.
Hide
Video Transcript
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.680
This video is the overview of the mental game. So the overview of the
2
00:00:04.680 --> 00:00:07.840
mental game we're gonna walk through kind of the process of what you do on
3
00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:11.320
the golf course. So we have other videos in this mental game section of kind of
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:16.000
how to transfer practice, how to design practice programs on the routine or on
5
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.080
the range, all that stuff. But ultimately it comes down to when you're on the
6
00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:27.280
course and you've got absolutely no feedback whatsoever. So for the sake of
7
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.200
this video I'm actually gonna take away our trusty alignment rod. Because when
8
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.780
you're on the golf course you only get to rely on what you've practiced,
9
00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:37.440
internal
10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:43.800
feedback, external stuff is pretty much illegal. So what's the process of kind
11
00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:48.680
of going through the mental game on the course? Well most of the programs that
12
00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:52.840
I've looked at and that I've read, whether it's vision 54 or hardwired for
13
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.200
golf, there's a bunch of very good systems that kind of walk through this
14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.020
process. But essentially you're gonna have at least two different zones. So I'm
15
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:08.000
gonna have my analytical zone which vision 54 is gonna call the think box or
16
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.640
the hardwired for golf is gonna call the caddy phase. Where basically you're
17
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.320
processing all the data. So you're looking at your lie, you're looking at
18
00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.960
the wind, you're looking at the trouble around you, you're trying to factor in
19
00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:27.680
and come up with the plan. So what shot am I gonna be most comfortable with?
20
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.160
What
21
00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:31.520
shot am I gonna execute that's gonna give me the best chance of getting this
22
00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:37.360
golf ball into the next best place I can be? So this is all left-brain activity
23
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:37.360
.
24
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:42.480
This is all very analytical. This is something that you can learn to do pretty
25
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.720
quickly but it's not something that you necessarily have to have a consistent
26
00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:52.720
rhythm or timing to. You may find that you forget a few things but if you look
27
00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.560
in the notes section of this video you'll see a lot of the different ideas I
28
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:56.800
like
29
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:02.400
to factor in when going through this think box. So once you're done with the
30
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.400
think box analytical zone there needs to be a trigger from going from left
31
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.320
brain to right brain because when you're actually swinging a golf club you want
32
00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:15.920
it to be a very rich kind of deep experience. You don't want to have a lot
33
00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.360
of words or chatter in your head. I know that a lot of golfers have talked
34
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.440
about having swing thoughts. When a tour golfer mentions that they had a
35
00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:28.160
good swing thought what I really think that they mean is that they had a good
36
00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:33.320
swing feeling or sensation or vision or they had a good rhythm. It doesn't mean
37
00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:37.400
that they have the words running across their brain. So you need to have a
38
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.160
trigger from going from analytical to right brain. Right brain is I'm gonna be
39
00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:47.360
an athlete I'm gonna be an animal I'm gonna be unconscious or super conscious
40
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.520
depending on how you look at it but I'm basically gonna be over the ball and
41
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:56.080
just kind of react. So once I've done all my processing I'm gonna have a
42
00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.800
trigger. Now whether it's kind of you know a specific thing you do with your
43
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.480
club whether it's I put on my glove and I'm committed to this shot there has to
44
00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:09.840
be this trigger that's going to get me in this zone. In other sports say
45
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.720
basketball you kind of have this little routine that you use but that routine
46
00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:20.520
starts with once you've caught the ball. So you basically need the spot back
47
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:20.880
here
48
00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.640
in this analytical zone of alright somebody just passed me the ball time to
49
00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:29.800
go. Once I decide that I'm gonna go that's when my pre shot routine really
50
00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:35.360
kicks into effect. Now the different pre shots routines or the different ways
51
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.120
that golfers tend to get most comfortable over the ball are gonna
52
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.320
differ depending on what part of your brain you're using. So if you're a field
53
00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:47.960
golfer they will tend to have a very kind of mechanical process but then they
54
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.440
will get into this little moment of zen or stillness over the ball and then
55
00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:56.040
almost like a martial artist breaking a board they're gonna explode into action
56
00:03:56.040 --> 00:03:56.040
.
57
00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:00.520
So that swing even if it's a really graceful kind of Ernie Ells type swing
58
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.520
it's going to come from this place of stillness. If you're a rhythmical golfer
59
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520
what's gonna happen is you're gonna kind of hear the music in your head you
60
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.640
got this feeling of this tempo right you got this rhythm in your body and
61
00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:20.320
basically you're gonna try and move to that rhythm the whole time. So whether
62
00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:25.880
that's involving looks whether that's steps whether that's waggles kind of
63
00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:32.920
like a Jason Duffner everything is going to be going off that rhythm. Lastly if
64
00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:37.640
you're a visual golfer you want to stay out of your body and you're gonna try
65
00:04:37.640 --> 00:04:42.000
and almost create this vivid image of seeing exactly the shot that you want
66
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.000
hit. So there's my target I've got that crystal clear image I'm gonna get over
67
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.720
the ball and I'm gonna make sure that all my alignments match up so I still am
68
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.360
looking out there and I'm just imagining this target I'm imagining this flight
69
00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.720
of the ball or whatever I see as a visual golfer. Once I have a crystal
70
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.640
clear picture I'm gonna come back to the ball and I'm not gonna spend very much
71
00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:09.840
time. Field golfers can stay a little bit longer over the golf ball they can
72
00:05:09.840 --> 00:05:10.080
kind
73
00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:14.880
of hang out here and they can kind of take what they need in order to feel
74
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.400
comfortable for breaking that board. Rhythm golfers have to stay on their
75
00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:25.240
count and visual golfers have to stay over here as little as possible so that
76
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.920
they can keep a clear picture of what they're trying to do. So then after I've
77
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:37.190
done this little golf swing or hung out in the playbox or player zone I then
78
00:05:37.190 --> 00:05:37.400
have
79
00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:41.800
to go back to the analytical and the analytical is going to be the post shot
80
00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:49.600
routine. So how do I how do I process what I just did if it's a good shot what
81
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.350
can I do to kind of reinforce and build a stronger mental pattern right I can
82
00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:54.520
do
83
00:05:54.520 --> 00:06:00.480
little things like you know take a deep breath smile a little bit I can
84
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:00.840
actually
85
00:06:00.840 --> 00:06:04.240
kind of tap different parts of your body if you're familiar with something
86
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.560
called EFT so I can I can help trigger my brain to store a memory that way if I
87
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:16.040
hit a bad shot how do I not go into the past and say oh I always hit bad shots
88
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.320
how do I not go into the future and say man I'm gonna hit play terribly the
89
00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:19.520
rest
90
00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:24.440
this day how do I just kind of take this moment in time process the data say
91
00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:25.000
all
92
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.320
right what could I do better what what did I do well what can I learn from this
93
00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:36.120
and then have the ability to then process it and move on I always used
94
00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:42.000
because because I value nutrition on the course I would use taking a swig of
95
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:49.680
water as the end of my shot so basically I would hit a shot and I would quickly
96
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.600
kind of go through my process all right what did I do did I not get the right
97
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.640
feeling because I was a field golfer yeah okay that's a better feel all right
98
00:06:57.640 --> 00:07:00.600
I can move on to the next shot I'm excited about whatever challenge that's
99
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:07.080
gonna pose grab my water take a drink let's go I can move on but you want to
100
00:07:07.080 --> 00:07:12.120
build your post shot routine so that you don't take whatever happened with this
101
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.080
shot up there to the next shot so that's kind of the overview we're gonna go
102
00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:22.200
through different pieces as to more details in that player zone that catty
103
00:07:22.200 --> 00:07:26.240
zone that think box a play box whatever you want to call it we're gonna figure
104
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.760
out when to be left brain when to be right brain and how to take this this
105
00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:36.000
swing that we've built on the range ultimately on to the course
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.680
This video is the overview of the mental game. So the overview of the
2
00:00:04.680 --> 00:00:07.840
mental game we're gonna walk through kind of the process of what you do on
3
00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:11.320
the golf course. So we have other videos in this mental game section of kind of
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:16.000
how to transfer practice, how to design practice programs on the routine or on
5
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.080
the range, all that stuff. But ultimately it comes down to when you're on the
6
00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:27.280
course and you've got absolutely no feedback whatsoever. So for the sake of
7
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.200
this video I'm actually gonna take away our trusty alignment rod. Because when
8
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.780
you're on the golf course you only get to rely on what you've practiced,
9
00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:37.440
internal
10
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:43.800
feedback, external stuff is pretty much illegal. So what's the process of kind
11
00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:48.680
of going through the mental game on the course? Well most of the programs that
12
00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:52.840
I've looked at and that I've read, whether it's vision 54 or hardwired for
13
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.200
golf, there's a bunch of very good systems that kind of walk through this
14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.020
process. But essentially you're gonna have at least two different zones. So I'm
15
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:08.000
gonna have my analytical zone which vision 54 is gonna call the think box or
16
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.640
the hardwired for golf is gonna call the caddy phase. Where basically you're
17
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.320
processing all the data. So you're looking at your lie, you're looking at
18
00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.960
the wind, you're looking at the trouble around you, you're trying to factor in
19
00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:27.680
and come up with the plan. So what shot am I gonna be most comfortable with?
20
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.160
What
21
00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:31.520
shot am I gonna execute that's gonna give me the best chance of getting this
22
00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:37.360
golf ball into the next best place I can be? So this is all left-brain activity
23
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:37.360
.
24
00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:42.480
This is all very analytical. This is something that you can learn to do pretty
25
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.720
quickly but it's not something that you necessarily have to have a consistent
26
00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:52.720
rhythm or timing to. You may find that you forget a few things but if you look
27
00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.560
in the notes section of this video you'll see a lot of the different ideas I
28
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:56.800
like
29
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:02.400
to factor in when going through this think box. So once you're done with the
30
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.400
think box analytical zone there needs to be a trigger from going from left
31
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.320
brain to right brain because when you're actually swinging a golf club you want
32
00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:15.920
it to be a very rich kind of deep experience. You don't want to have a lot
33
00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.360
of words or chatter in your head. I know that a lot of golfers have talked
34
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.440
about having swing thoughts. When a tour golfer mentions that they had a
35
00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:28.160
good swing thought what I really think that they mean is that they had a good
36
00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:33.320
swing feeling or sensation or vision or they had a good rhythm. It doesn't mean
37
00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:37.400
that they have the words running across their brain. So you need to have a
38
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.160
trigger from going from analytical to right brain. Right brain is I'm gonna be
39
00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:47.360
an athlete I'm gonna be an animal I'm gonna be unconscious or super conscious
40
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.520
depending on how you look at it but I'm basically gonna be over the ball and
41
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:56.080
just kind of react. So once I've done all my processing I'm gonna have a
42
00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.800
trigger. Now whether it's kind of you know a specific thing you do with your
43
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.480
club whether it's I put on my glove and I'm committed to this shot there has to
44
00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:09.840
be this trigger that's going to get me in this zone. In other sports say
45
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.720
basketball you kind of have this little routine that you use but that routine
46
00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:20.520
starts with once you've caught the ball. So you basically need the spot back
47
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:20.880
here
48
00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.640
in this analytical zone of alright somebody just passed me the ball time to
49
00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:29.800
go. Once I decide that I'm gonna go that's when my pre shot routine really
50
00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:35.360
kicks into effect. Now the different pre shots routines or the different ways
51
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.120
that golfers tend to get most comfortable over the ball are gonna
52
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.320
differ depending on what part of your brain you're using. So if you're a field
53
00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:47.960
golfer they will tend to have a very kind of mechanical process but then they
54
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.440
will get into this little moment of zen or stillness over the ball and then
55
00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:56.040
almost like a martial artist breaking a board they're gonna explode into action
56
00:03:56.040 --> 00:03:56.040
.
57
00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:00.520
So that swing even if it's a really graceful kind of Ernie Ells type swing
58
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.520
it's going to come from this place of stillness. If you're a rhythmical golfer
59
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520
what's gonna happen is you're gonna kind of hear the music in your head you
60
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.640
got this feeling of this tempo right you got this rhythm in your body and
61
00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:20.320
basically you're gonna try and move to that rhythm the whole time. So whether
62
00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:25.880
that's involving looks whether that's steps whether that's waggles kind of
63
00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:32.920
like a Jason Duffner everything is going to be going off that rhythm. Lastly if
64
00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:37.640
you're a visual golfer you want to stay out of your body and you're gonna try
65
00:04:37.640 --> 00:04:42.000
and almost create this vivid image of seeing exactly the shot that you want
66
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.000
hit. So there's my target I've got that crystal clear image I'm gonna get over
67
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.720
the ball and I'm gonna make sure that all my alignments match up so I still am
68
00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.360
looking out there and I'm just imagining this target I'm imagining this flight
69
00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.720
of the ball or whatever I see as a visual golfer. Once I have a crystal
70
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.640
clear picture I'm gonna come back to the ball and I'm not gonna spend very much
71
00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:09.840
time. Field golfers can stay a little bit longer over the golf ball they can
72
00:05:09.840 --> 00:05:10.080
kind
73
00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:14.880
of hang out here and they can kind of take what they need in order to feel
74
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.400
comfortable for breaking that board. Rhythm golfers have to stay on their
75
00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:25.240
count and visual golfers have to stay over here as little as possible so that
76
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.920
they can keep a clear picture of what they're trying to do. So then after I've
77
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:37.190
done this little golf swing or hung out in the playbox or player zone I then
78
00:05:37.190 --> 00:05:37.400
have
79
00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:41.800
to go back to the analytical and the analytical is going to be the post shot
80
00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:49.600
routine. So how do I how do I process what I just did if it's a good shot what
81
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.350
can I do to kind of reinforce and build a stronger mental pattern right I can
82
00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:54.520
do
83
00:05:54.520 --> 00:06:00.480
little things like you know take a deep breath smile a little bit I can
84
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:00.840
actually
85
00:06:00.840 --> 00:06:04.240
kind of tap different parts of your body if you're familiar with something
86
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.560
called EFT so I can I can help trigger my brain to store a memory that way if I
87
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:16.040
hit a bad shot how do I not go into the past and say oh I always hit bad shots
88
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.320
how do I not go into the future and say man I'm gonna hit play terribly the
89
00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:19.520
rest
90
00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:24.440
this day how do I just kind of take this moment in time process the data say
91
00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:25.000
all
92
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.320
right what could I do better what what did I do well what can I learn from this
93
00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:36.120
and then have the ability to then process it and move on I always used
94
00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:42.000
because because I value nutrition on the course I would use taking a swig of
95
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:49.680
water as the end of my shot so basically I would hit a shot and I would quickly
96
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.600
kind of go through my process all right what did I do did I not get the right
97
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.640
feeling because I was a field golfer yeah okay that's a better feel all right
98
00:06:57.640 --> 00:07:00.600
I can move on to the next shot I'm excited about whatever challenge that's
99
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:07.080
gonna pose grab my water take a drink let's go I can move on but you want to
100
00:07:07.080 --> 00:07:12.120
build your post shot routine so that you don't take whatever happened with this
101
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.080
shot up there to the next shot so that's kind of the overview we're gonna go
102
00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:22.200
through different pieces as to more details in that player zone that catty
103
00:07:22.200 --> 00:07:26.240
zone that think box a play box whatever you want to call it we're gonna figure
104
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.760
out when to be left brain when to be right brain and how to take this this
105
00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:36.000
swing that we've built on the range ultimately on to the course
Have questions about this video?
Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.
Ask Mulligan
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.