Hey Fellow Golfer - 

Thank you for reading this week’s More Pars Than Bogeys Newsletter. If you find it valuable, could you forward this email to a fellow golfer?

Thank you.

You can click here to read the online version of this week’s newsletter. 

And be sure to catch up on this week’s podcast episode:

• #117 [Inside the Mind] Andy Walker: Cultivating a Service-Mentality to First Serve Yourself and Prevent Emotional Burnout

• #118 [Inside the Mind] Justin Su’a: Learning From Wins and Leveling Up Your Mental Game with Reflection, System, and Leading Indicators

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 (and off) the course, click here to schedule a coaching discovery call with me. 

You don’t lose your swing in the winter.

You lose your confidence.

You lose the feeling of being a golfer.

Every off-season, you worry about “losing your swing” and having to find it again in the spring. You picture those first few rounds back: everything feels foreign, your handicap creeps up, and you tell yourself, “Well, I’m just rusty… it’ll come back.”

But what actually disappeared wasn’t mechanics. It was identity – trust – momentum…

• You stopped swinging a club.

• You stopped visualizing.

• You stopped working out consistently.

And slowly, you stopped identifying as a golfer.

So by the time the weather turns, you’re not just rusty—you’re disconnected. You hesitate over the ball. You second-guess your club. You pause over every putt. You feel like you’re starting from zero… again.

Here’s the truth I need you to sit with: Confidence isn’t built during the season. It’s built in the dark.

It’s built in the quiet reps, the early mornings, the winter evenings when no one is watching and no one is celebrating your effort.

And that’s why I call this time of year Separation Season.

Because right now, while most golfers coast, complain, and wait for spring, you have a chance to separate yourself—physically, mentally, and emotionally—from every version of you that came before.

In today’s newsletter, you’ll learn…

• Why you keep ending every year with your handicap in the same 2–3 stroke window

• The real identity problem underneath your yo-yo pattern on the course

• The four mental traps that quietly ruin your off-season

• How to turn winter into Separation Season and build unshakable confidence

• How golf hypnosis and hypnotherapy for golf can help you reset your “handicap thermostat”

• A simple framework to design your minimum effective dose plan for the off-season

Let’s tee off!

What You Really Lose in the Off-Season (It’s Not Your Swing)

Be honest for a moment:

How many times has your handicap bounced between something like 14 → 11 → 13 → 10 → 12 over the past few years?

• You grind in-season.

• You make some progress.

• The index drops a few strokes.

Then winter hits. You stop playing as much. You stop practicing. You stop thinking of yourself as a golfer. 

When someone asks if you play, you shrug it off with: “Eh, I hack it around when I can.”

Meanwhile… you’ve got a putting mat in your living room and a simulator in your garage.

You are investing time and money like a serious golfer, but you just don’t see yourself as one.

That’s the problem.

This is yo-yo golf.

It’s the same pattern I watched as a dietitian with yo-yo dieters:

• Lose 20 pounds

• Gain 25 back

• Repeat

The issue wasn’t a lack of nutrition information - the issue was identity.

They didn’t see themselves as fit, strong, healthy people—so any progress that took them beyond their identity felt unsafe. Unfamiliar. Uncomfortable.

And your golf game is doing the exact same thing…

The Identity Thermostat: Why Your Handicap Keeps Returning to “Normal”

Imagine your handicap as the temperature in your home.

Now imagine your beliefs about what you deserve and are capable of as the thermostat controlling that temperature.

If your “handicap thermostat” is set at 12, then:

• When you go on a heater and flirt with a 7 or 8?

• Your subconscious kicks on the AC.

• You start pressing, overthinking, and sabotaging.

When you spiral and start playing like an 18?

The heat turns on, and suddenly you “find something” and climb back to where it feels familiar.

The thermostat always drags you back to where you believe you belong.

• If deep down you don’t see yourself as an athlete…

• If you don’t identify as a serious golfer…

• If you see yourself as “the guy who shoots 82–88”…

Then that’s exactly where you’ll live—no matter how many lessons, swing tips, or gadgets you buy.

This is why mindset and performance coaching - specifically hypnosis - is so powerful: it works on the thermostat, not just the temperature.

***

If you’re serious about taking your business and self to the next level, click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call to learn how I can help you achieve your potential and scale both your impact and income.

The 4 Mental Traps that Ruin Your Off-Season

You don’t fall behind in winter because of talent or time. You fall behind because of mental drift.

Here are the four biggest traps that create that drift—and keep you stuck as a yo-yo golfer.

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking

“If I can’t practice like I do in-season, it’s not worth it.”

This is perfectionism disguised as logic.

• If you can’t get to the range three times a week, you do nothing. 

• If you can’t play 18, you don’t roll three-footers at home. 

• If you can’t do your full gym program, you skip working out entirely.

And slowly, your confidence decays. Not because you lack time, but because you refused to do something when you couldn’t do everything.

2. Comfort Creep

The off-season is a trap disguised as comfort:

• Warm bed

• Heavy meals

• Holiday drinks

• Late nights

“I’ll start again after the holidays…”

Listen carefully: 

• Everyone else is taking it easy right now.

• Everyone else is coasting.

• Everyone else is softening.

If your goal is to be “like everyone else” (overweight, stressed, inconsistent, stuck at the same handicap year after year), then by all means follow the herd.

But if you’re serious about becoming a different golfer—and a different man in your life and business—comfort cannot be your default.

3. Excuses Masquerading as Logic

• “It’s too cold.”

• “The days are too short.”

• “I’ll just focus on fitness this winter.”

Except… you don’t really focus on fitness. You just do “a little of this, a little of that,” without intention.

Each time you repeat these excuses, they sound more reasonable. But they’re still excuses. They sound smart while quietly stealing your future.

Your subconscious learns: “When conditions are hard, we retreat.”

Guess what happens the next time you’re uncomfortable over a shot in competition?

Yikes…

4. Lack of Accountability

Without:

• A coach

• A clear plan

• A scoreboard

• A written commitment

…your good intentions dissolve into everyday noise.

Your subconscious is wired to keep you safe. The moment you push your comfort zone, it will generate a wildly convincing list of reasons to back off.

Accountability—whether from a coach, community, or structured plan—is what keeps you moving forward when your comfort-loving brain tries to drag you backward.

Redefining Winter as Separation Season

Most golfers label this stretch of the year as:

• “Off-season”

• “Rest time”

• “I’ll get serious again in March”

I want you to rename it: Separation Season.

Because you don’t need the course to become a better golfer.

You can:

• Groove your stroke on a putting mat at home

• Work on mirror drills for setup, posture, and alignment

• Get stronger, more mobile, and more powerful in the gym

• Train your mind with visualization, breathwork, and golf hypnosis

• Review your stats and after-round reports to identify precise scoring leaks

All without stepping on the course.

You bring your whole self to the course—husband, father, business owner, leader. You can’t separate “golf you” from “life you.”

So when you build discipline, resilience, and identity this winter, you’re not just investing in your handicap—you’re investing in how you show up in the boardroom, at home, and everywhere else.

If you’re serious about taking your game to the next level - on and off the course - click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call to learn how I can help you make playing to your potential a habit. 

Designing Your Separation Season

This is where most golfers screw it up: They feel motivated, so they overcommit.

• “I’ll practice 5x per week.”

• “I’ll work out 6 days.”

• “I’ll meditate daily, journal, and do yoga three times a week.”

Two weeks later, real life happens. They miss a session. Then another. Shame and frustration kick in. The plan gets abandoned.

Motivation wasn’t the problem. The plan was.

Instead, I want you to design around your minimum effective dose—the smallest amount of weekly action that, if you hit it consistently, lets you know you’re making real progress and put your head on the pillow at night, feeling at peace and proud.

Ask yourself: 

What do I actually want next season? Not vague goals. Clear ones. Break 90. Break 80. Win the member-member.

What are the 1–2 biggest scoring leaks from last season? Driver? Wedges inside 50 yards? Three-putts? Mental meltdowns?

Given my real schedule, what is truly feasible each week? Not the fantasy version of your life. The real one.

What is my minimum effective dose of:

• Swing/short game practice

• Putting reps

• Physical training

• Mental training (breathwork, journaling, hypnosis audio, etc.)

Start low. You can always add more volume later.

Consistency beats intensity every time.

Where Hypnosis Fits In (Upgrading Your Thermostat)

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: You already know enough to be better than you are.

• You’ve learned the mechanics.

• You’ve watched the videos.

• You’ve taken the lessons.

Your problem isn’t information. It’s integration.

You’re trying to layer better habits on top of old, destructive mindset programs:

• “I’m not really an athlete.”

• “I always fall apart under pressure.”

• “I don’t deserve to play like a scratch player.”

• “I’ll never be as good as those guys at my club.”

This is where hypnosis for golf becomes such a powerful accelerator.

Hypnosis allows you to:

• Access the subconscious patterns that keep resetting your handicap “thermostat”

• Rewrite beliefs around what you deserve, what you’re capable of, and who you are as a golfer

• Build a calmer, more focused nervous system so your body can actually release the swing you’ve built in practice

• Turn trust, presence, and confidence into habits—not hopes

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: You already know enough to be better than you are.

Reflection Prompts for Separation Season

Set aside 10–15 minutes this week and answer these honestly:

• What has my off-season really looked like the last 2–3 years? Be specific. 

• How often did you practice? Train? Reflect?

• If my handicap is a reflection of my identity thermostat, where does it feel “set” right now?

• What number feels “like me”?

• Where did excuses win last winter?

• Which specific stories (too cold, too busy, too tired) did you repeat most often?

• What would it look like to treat this winter as Separation Season instead of off-season? Describe your behavior, not just your intentions.

• Who do I need to become to fully own the identity of “serious golfer” or “scratch-in-progress”?

• How does that version of you think? Train? Talk to himself?

Awareness alone begins to loosen the grip of old patterns. Action—rooted in a more powerful identity—finishes the job.

Final Thoughts: You’re One Winter Away from a Different Golfer

Picture this:

It’s early March. You walk to the first tee, but this time… something feels different.

You don’t feel like you’re “knocking off rust.” You feel like you’re unleashing what you’ve quietly built all winter.

You know you:

• Trained your body like a golfer

• Trained your mind with intention

• Protected and expanded your confidence

• Honored your commitments to yourself

That feeling alone—the knowing—is worth everything.

That’s what Separation Season can give you… if you choose it.

If you’re tired of repeating the same yo-yo pattern—on the course, in business, and in life—and you’re ready to finally address the deeper mindset and identity patterns holding you back…

I’d love to help you.

As a mindset and performance coach for high-achievers, I use hypnosis and other subconscious reprogramming strategies to help my clients… 

• Reset their identity thermostat

• Build unshakable confidence

• Make playing to their potential a habit

If you’re serious about making this your true Separation Season, click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call and let’s talk about how we can build the golfer—and the man—you know you’re capable of becoming.

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, set aside 15 minutes and answer the reflective prompts shared above.

If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Instagram (@thegolfhypnotherapist) or send me an email directly: [email protected]

After reading today’s newsletter, I want you to take the time to complete each step in my goal-setting process. Then, share it with me via email or on social media.

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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