Winter weather means WAY less time to practice my actual golf swing or play golf. So that gives me/us an opportunity to learn more about our mental states while playing golf and practicing. We can do a LOT of great work during the off-season preparing our MENTAL game so when next season roles around, we are unflappable.
I will say that I have seen immense benefits that past couple of years by putting more focus on my mental game and strategy. It doesn’t guarantee that I play my best golf but it makes it much easier to play my best golf and bounce back quickly when I have a bad stretch of holes.
Below are the primary resources I will be using to develop a strong mental game and strategy.
*Disclaimer: For some of the links, I do have an affiliate link and may receive a payment if you use the link to purchase. I purchased all of these products myself and have not received anything to write about them.
The Four Foundations of Golf
This excellent book by Jon Sherman of Practical Golf provides insight on practical ways to improve our golf games. The four foundations included:
Managing Expectations
Strategy
Practice
The Mental Game
Reading this book or taking his masterclass will give you many ideas on ways to improve your game in a measurable manner.
Be A Player by Vision54
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve read this book but it goes hand in hand with the Vision54 self coaching I will be utilizing. This book explores human skills and how refining those skills can help us perform at our best on the course. There’s no “one size fits all” and utilizing this book can help us to find what works best for us.
How to Develop the Mental Game of a Champion
David Mackenzie at Golf State of Mind has this great book full of practical ways to develop our mental games and follow processes that are completely within our control. It’s an easy read and a great resource for developing our mental games.
Wrap Up
I personally love to read as it gets me away from screens for a bit and able to digest the material at my own pace. All of these resources listed above are books but I also linked the individual’s websites within each note so you can explore their other blogs, videos, and audios.
I challenge you to pick one of these or find something else to work on your mental game. It is by far one of the most controllable things we can learn to help our games and something that will increase our enjoyment of the game even more.
If you’ve heard of other resources, please leave a comment so we can all keep learning together.
Enjoy the weekend and until next time,
Enjoy the odyssey!
-Nick