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- Breaking 90
Hey Fellow Golfer -
Thank you for reading this week’s More Pars Than Bogeys Newsletter. Please forward this email to a fellow golfer if you find it valuable.
Thank you.
You can click here to read the online version of this week’s newsletter.
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P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about how mindset coaching and hypnotherapy can help you get unstuck from the proverbial bunker of poor performance on the course and in your business, click here to schedule a coaching discovery call with me.
I played my second round of golf in over 15 years in late April 2024.
I took my first-ever swing lesson in early May.
Since then, I have taken eight lessons and logged around 20 rounds.
I set a goal to break 90 by November 13, 2024 (my son's due date) and spent significant time outlining my priorities and approach to achieving this goal, which you can listen to here.
The result?
On October 7, I shot an 87.
I’ve not been shy about my journey to get to this point (every Tuesday, I recap my previous week of play and practice as part of the “Journey to Scratch” series on The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast).
Since committing to my goal of becoming a scratch golfer and winning my club championship, I've faced a rollercoaster of challenges and new emotions.
In today’s newsletter, you’ll learn some key lessons and pivotal moments in my journey thus far that have played a critical role in helping me break 90.
Let’s tee off!
A Snapshot of the Journey
I started golfing again in April 2024 but didn’t discover the Grint app until July. A few rounds are missing and were not logged, specifically a 105, a 99, a 98, and last weekend’s 96.
The early 91 that you see was on a par 66 course. I hit the ball incredibly well this day. To follow it up with a 109 and 112 brought me back down to reality quickly!
I share this to highlight my journey - the ups and downs - to get to where I am today.
The remainder of this newsletter is organized with short stories and key moments related to learning a specific lesson or how I approached a particular aspect of the game.
Enjoy.
On Goal Setting…
1. Set Short-Term Goals to Boost Confidence
I committed to becoming a scratch golfer in the summer months of 2024.
This gave me immense clarity on where I was going and what I was focusing on.
One of the most important aspects of goal achievement is progress - or at least the perception of it. To help ensure I felt I was making progress and keep my motivation high and commitment strong, I broke this goal into smaller chunks.
The result: I first focused on breaking 100.
Then, I focused on breaking 90.
To me, breaking 100 was simple and easy. I needed more reps and time on the course. It was a matter of time before I attained this goal.
Breaking 90, however, posed a greater challenge that required not only repetitions but intentional repetitions and diligent practice of various techniques to help me begin to foster a basic proficiency level in each aspect of the game.
This is where hiring a coach came into play - more on that later.
Here’s the key point: Setting smaller, short-term goals, like breaking 90, helps build momentum and confidence in becoming a scratch golfer.
These milestones offer measurable progress, keeping motivation high and providing opportunities to refine skills and strategies. Achieving incremental goals creates a solid foundation for long-term success.
2. Add Healthy Pressure to Accelerate Results
To further push myself, I then added a layer of healthy pressure.
This looked like adding a timeline (deadline) to my goal of breaking 90 - which inevitably became November 13, 2024.
The addition of a timeline condensed my window of opportunity, making it imperative that I prioritize effective action steps toward goal attainment (read: no more messing around or lackadaisical actions).
This empowered me to get clear on what I’d prioritize, e.g., practice, playing, and lessons and helped me set my weekly schedule for each. The outcome was a framework that forced me to show up daily to take meaningful action toward my goal.
This aspect of goal setting helped me immensely.
I achieved my goal 37 days early.
I don’t do anything half-assed.
If I commit to something, I will give it 110% and strive to be in the category of best of the best. Anything less doesn’t tickle my fancy.
I caught a lot of slack for stating my goal is to become a scratch golfer. I have even gotten a lot of slack for titling my podcast “The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast” and in the opening episode discussing how I shot a 65…
…on nine holes.
The moment I committed to this goal, however, the path to achieving it became easier and clearer.
Here’s what I mean.
When you’re afraid to speak up and commit to a goal, you’re left in a downward spiral of lack of commitment, clarity, certainty, and action.
You can prioritize the most effective action steps when you go all in on a goal.
My ultimate goal is to become a scratch golfer.
This will not happen overnight, nor, to be frank, in the next year - or will it ;).
To keep motivation strong and to enable me to prioritize the long-term goal while still taking massive action in the short-term, I set a short-term goal, added a layer of healthy pressure and urgency, and then got specific on performance goals - those goals I could monitor and track progress to learn how much my efforts were or were not paying off.
On Hiring A Coach…
4. Take Your Time to Hire the Right Coach
I took four lessons with a great swing coach in May and June. He helped me develop a simple, repeatable swing and offered me a handful of cues to help me remember what to do.
I enjoyed these sessions, yet, felt something was missing. He didn’t take me seriously when he asked me what my goal was and I shared with him I wanted to become a scratch golfer.
Then, one day on the range, I received some unsolicited swing advice…which turned into a mini 30-minute range session. There was a different energy during this experience, and a few weeks later, I hired this man - Melvin Beard - to be my coach.
On the day of my first lesson, he asked me candidly: what’s your goal with golf?
Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant to express my goal at this point because progress was occurring at a snail’s pace, but I persevered and shared with him my desire to be a scratch golfer.
He acknowledged and validated that goal and then took the time to paint the long-term plan to get there, which included a strong emphasis on putting and beginning to build what he refers to as my “core swing.”
Even more, he quickly shared his goal with me, which was to empower me to become my own guru when it came to diagnosing swing issues and adapting and course-correcting on the fly.
He also demanded I send swing videos and sent me a consistent stream of books, articles, and videos to help me better achieve the micro-goals we were working on together.
He was not a swing coach.
He was a golf coach.
There’s a stark difference (albeit in my limited experience). I’ve now found the type of coaching I need to achieve my goal.
He will be a guest on a future episode of The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
5. Slow Down to Speed Up
Once I started working with Coach Melvin, the plan quickly became building the foundational swing that would allow me to take an accelerated path toward becoming a scratch golfer.
Yes, I could’ve hacked my way through sheer volume at the same course over and over until I broke 90. But given my much greater goal beyond that, Melvin helped me prioritize what I needed to focus on to get there.
This meant a lot of unlearning and learning every aspect of what he refers to as my core swing. Furthermore, it meant initially moving at a slower pace - slowing down to speed up.
As someone programmed with what feels like a lifelong feeling of healthy urgency to go, go, go, this has proven frustrating, to say the least. I’ve had plenty of tough, nasty conversations in my head while frustratingly working through the basics of my new swing.
It has all been worth it, though…
On Practice…
Yes, we’re talkin’ bout practice.
Yes, practice…
As you can imagine, this is a potent recipe for massive frustration. I went through a four-week period where I’d show up Jekyll and Hyde on the range: one day, I’d stripe the ball perfectly nine out of ten times, and the other, I’d top it, hozel it or completely shank it right.
To help overcome the frustration that’s organically baked into the natural learning curve, I found it helpful to do the following:
6. Less is More on the Practice Range
Okay, hear me out on this.
I’ve found that when things weren’t clicking during a range session, my frustration grew quickly, producing more tension in my body and leading to more poor shots.
Ending early allowed me to regain my composure and arrive at the clarity I needed to make the necessary corrections.
Another strategy I often use when things aren’t going well on the range is that take a break and move to chipping and putting before returning to the range. I also have found great success going for a walk, taking a 10-minute break, and doing breathwork to refocus and reset.
7. Take Video During Your Practice Sessions
Taking videos of my practice swings and sessions has been a godsend.
As I’ve progressed in my game, I’m beginning to develop a strong diagnostic skillset, meaning I can quickly pinpoint what I did wrong when I missed the ball.
Having a video to look at my takeaway, trunk rotation, and downswing has helped me see this from another perspective, which has sped up the learning process.
I can’t tell you how long I waited to do this and the unnecessary amount of frustration it caused…
8. Gamify Your Practice Sessions
Swinging a club over and over is bound to run its course of excitement to contentment to a state of indifference. To keep motivation sharp and focus dialed in, I have found it helpful to gamify my practice.
Here are some strategies I use on the range:
I play the course I am practicing from the range.
I attempt to replicate a shot five or ten times in a row.
I try to practice more slowly (this one is hard for me) by taking more time between shots to objectively observe my self-talk and demeanor.
Also worth noting: I’m a big fan of both mental practice swings and slow, accelerated swings. These strategies have served me well as I build consistent, confident execution of my core swing.
On Improving Away From the Course
9. Prioritize Training Like A Golfer
One of my biggest lessons related to developing a consistent core swing has been the need for optimal rotation and mobility - two things I was significantly lacking in my trunk, glutes, shoulders, and upper back.
I have a strong background in competitive powerlifting and bodybuilding, yet I began to learn that continuing to train like a meathead would not serve me well on the golf course.
I noticed a significant improvement when I changed my exercise regimen from training like a meathead to training like a golf athlete.
This conversation with Dr. Trevor Hirsch, Titleist Performance Institute Medical Level 2 Certified Physical Therapist, opened my eyes and helped me change my approach.
Daily mobility, flexibility, and rotation have now become pillars of my routine to help me both recover and expand my ability to rotate, which helps me load and swing with more speed and power.
10. Fuel Like An Athlete
I’ve never been much of a drinker, yet, there were a handful of early rounds with friends where the entire group had beers, high noons, and shots flowing. I’m all for having fun and enjoying the moment with peers, yet, this behavior doesn’t align with my ultimate goal of becoming a scratch golfer.
I’m that guy who brings a cooler of fruit, protein oatmeal, and other snacks to ensure I’m well-fueled and hydrated during a 4.5-hour excursion in the 95-degree Florida weather.
I detail more about how you can build an optimal pre- and mid-round fueling framework in last week’s newsletter. This approach has helped keep me and my clients sharp and fueled from my warm-up through the 18th green has been pivotal to my results.
On the Power of the Mind
11. See Success (and Mistakes) in Your Mind Regularly
When I began visualizing what it would feel and look like to break 90 for the first time, I saw myself shooting an 87.
A few months later, I shot an 87 to break 90 for the first time.
Visualization is a powerful tool because it allows you to mentally rehearse success before it happens.
By vividly seeing and feeling your desired outcome - like sinking a crucial putt or breaking 80 - you train your brain to believe it's possible, boosting confidence and focus on the course. This mental practice primes your body to execute with greater precision and consistency.
Equally, if not more important, is taking the time to see and feel what it’s like to make a mistake or execute a poor shot.
Because golf is not a game of perfect, this will happen.
Seeing and feeling what this is like - and how you’ll respond - will help you stay calm and composed when it inevitably happens on the course.
My clients and I have found great success using this “play your best round” pre-round guided hypnosis audio primer. Click here to download for free and begin using.
12. Have a Regular Emotional Resiliency Training Practice
Emotional resiliency in golf is the ability to recover quickly from setbacks, like a bad shot or poor hole, and maintain focus and composure. It means managing frustration, staying calm under pressure, and bouncing back positively.
This resiliency allows you to stay mentally engaged and perform your best throughout the round and also helps you navigate the game's ups and downs without letting emotions derail your progress.
How do you train emotional resiliency?
Consistent exposure to uncomfortable situations.
For me, this means daily breath holds as part of my Wim Hof morning breathwork routine and weekly (soon to be daily) cold plunging.
Each of these actions creates immense tension, fear, and anxiety in the body and then necessitates that I find a way to calm myself while turning down the dial of each. This daily practice has transferred to the golf course when it comes to having a toolkit to help me turn down the dial of tension, fear, or anxiety.
13. Begin A Breathwork Practice
When you have an emotional experience, a significant amount of energy moves throughout your body.
This is what you physically feel.
You experience tightness in your chest when you’re stressed.
You experience tension in your body when you’re frustrated.
You experience heat in your body when you’re angry.
You experience butterflies in your stomach when you’re over-excited or anxious.
You experience heaviness on your shoulders and neck with expectations and pressure to perform.
Unaddressed and not adequately managed, each emotion contributes to tension and tightness throughout the body.
Why is this noteworthy?
Tension and tightness are the antithesis of the smooth, fluid swing you’ve spent hundreds of hours (and thousands of dollars) working on.
A fundamental skill that every great golfer has become proficient in is awareness and managing his or her breath.
Your breath can increase presence, dial in focus, cultivate confidence, and regulate your emotional, mental, and physical states.
Breathing is at the center of everything you do.
When you cultivate consistent awareness, management, and regulation of your breath, you can change your emotional, mental, and physical state on demand.
In turn, you reap several health benefits.
I wrote an entire newsletter outlining the science and benefits of breathwork, as well as providing video and step-by-step directions for my five go-to breathing practices.
As a Golf Hypnotherapist, I use hypnosis to unlearn and upgrade outdated, habitual ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving that are holding you back from your potential.
Click here to schedule a free Mental Game Strategy session to learn how I can help you make playing to your potential a habit.
On Accelerating Learning…
14. Be Open-Minded and Stay Curious
There’s no shortage of great golf content on social media. This has both helped and hurt me.
Staying open-minded allowed me to hear what Melvin had to say one Friday morning on the range. He quietly observed me for about 10 minutes and then spent 30 minutes giving me unsolicited, albeit valuable, feedback.
I quickly could’ve dismissed him.
I chose to listen because I am committed to remaining curious and trusting I can learn something from everybody.
Fast-forward a month or so, and I reached back out and hired him as my coach. He’s been instrumental in getting my game where it needs to be.
15. Learn How (and When) to Develop Strategic Tunnel Vision
Circling back on the shortage (kidding) of social media content. What has helped me most is learning and committing to ONE technique.
At this stage in my game, I don’t need to mast the bump and run, flop, kazoo, or boomerang chip. I need to become great at making consistent contact and sending the ball where I need and want it to go.
Once I learned proper technique to execute a foundational chip shot, I stopped looking at “how to chip” videos in order to avoid clouding my mind with 101 different swing throughts.
I call this strategic tunnel vision.
It has empowered me to practice with greater clarity and commitment, thus producing better results during my rounds.
Your Next Step
Every newsletter will conclude with a suggested action step and further resources on the topic we discussed.
After reading today’s newsletter, take action on the lesson(s) most resonating with you.
Whether you work with a TPI-certified trainer, spend more time being intentional in your practice, or work with a mindset and performance coach, take action today— don’t delay.
Thank you for reading today’s newsletter.
If you found it valuable, share it with a fellow golfer ready to take their game to the next level.
Until next time,
Paul
P.S. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Reply back / drop a comment below to let me know.
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