5 Home Exercises To Improve Your Mental Game For Golf

Golf is a difficult sport that requires us to work on all aspects of the game to improve - technical, physical, and mental. To work on the technical, you can head to the driving range or putting green. To work on the physical, you can head to the gym or work out at home. So how do we work on the mental game? With mental training. 

The idea of mental training is relatively new in the world of sports performance. Though practices like meditation and visualization have been around for quite some time (thousands of years actually, for meditation), science has only recently been able to quantify their benefits and make them more accessible to everyone. 

In the golf space, some of the best players in the world are opening up about their struggles with the mental game and some of the approaches they use to improve it. Though the motivation to engage in mental training may be greater for them, given that they’re professional athletes who play golf to make a living, my perspective is that mental training transcends golf and its benefits can help improve performance both on and off the golf course. 

Here are 5 exercises to help you get started.

Exercise 01 - Breath Training

The biggest mistake we make when trying to improve the mental game is to stay focused primarily on the mind. No doubt, the mind is an important piece of the puzzle, but the most important player we should focus on is the nervous system. The nervous system connects body and mind, and it’s responsible for everything we experience on the golf course, good and bad. 

Developing a strong mental game requires tools to take control of the nervous system, and the most powerful and most available tool we have at our disposal is breathing. Before we dive into these exercises, an important fact to note is that when we inhale, our heart rate speeds up, and when we exhale it slows down. 

Here are three breathing techniques to help you get started: 

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing - This technique is the foundation for breath training. Breathe in and out of the nose with a focus on expanding the abdominals, chest, ribs, and back on the inhale, maximizing the movement of the diaphragm. Exhale slowly. Move right into the next breath. Inhale and exhale should be of equal length.

2. The Physiological Sigh - This technique is best for calming the nervous system in stressful or high-pressure moments. Inhale deeply through the nose. At the end of the first inhale, take a second shorter inhale. Hold that breath for 3…2…1… Exhale slowly through the mouth with lips half closed, slowing down your heart rate. Repeat as needed.

3. Activation Breathing - This technique can help you wake up the nervous system and activate your senses. This is a great technique for when you’re losing focus or feeling tired on the golf course. Take a long, deep breath through the nose, increasing the heart rate, and exhale quickly through the mouth, maintaining the heart rate elevated to boost energy levels. Repeat as needed. 

Just like working on your swing requires time and repetition on the range, breath training also requires time and practice to perfect. It is also the first step toward developing the following mental training strategies. 

Exercise 02 - Creating A Focus Trigger

This breathing exercise is based on an eyes-open Buddhist meditation exercise to help develop the ability to achieve mindfulness and presence on the golf course. In the original exercise, the goal is to focus on a single object, zooming in on a specific detail of the object with each breath. 

In this modified version, we’ll use a golf ball as the object of our focus. Place a golf ball, preferably the same model you play with, a few feet in front of you and in a location that makes it easy to focus on. Using the Diaphragmatic Breathing technique, start by focusing on the entire ball. With each exhale, zoom in on a single detail of the ball, like the logo, number, or even a single dimple. If your mind wanders, and it will, bring your focus back to the ball. 

In time, this practice will help create a positive bond between the ball and the focused state you’ll trigger with the meditation. You’ll then be able to use that same trigger on the golf course, connecting your breathing to the ball to help achieve a calm and focused state. 

Exercise 03 - Alternating Between Calm and Activation

As we previously learned, the Physiological Sigh technique can help calm the nervous system, and the Activation Breathing technique can help wake it up. In golf, like in life, you’ll run into situations requiring one or the other. The best way to prepare for those moments is to practice, moving from one state to the other. 

With this mental training exercise, you’ll alternate between the two breathing techniques, alternating between both mental states. Start with the Physiological Sigh, triggering a state of calm focus. Then, use the Activation Breathing technique to elevate your heart rate and boost your energy levels. Keep moving in between states as many times as you need to feel in control, from calm focus to focused energy, and back again. 

Exercise 04 - Full Shot Simulation - Pre-Shot To Post-Shot     

Learn how to work on your game away from the golf course with this full shot visualization and simulation exercise. Now that you have these new breathing tools to work with, it’s time to get ready to move to the golf course. 

The point of this exercise is to go through the entire process of hitting a golf shot, from the pre-shot routine to processing the result of that shot. Many sports use visualization as a tool to improve performance, especially individual sports like tennis, gymnastics, figure skating, and martial arts. The more realistic you can make the simulation, the better results you’ll get on the course. 

There are different ways to work on visualization. In this case, you’ll want to stand up and go through the process as if you’re on the golf course. Start by picking a hole you’ve played before, that you can close your eyes and see in your mind. Go through your pre-shot routine, planning every detail of your shot. Step up to the ball, as if you have a club in your hands. Set up at the ball, go through your process. Simulate the shot, focusing on all aspects of the swing. Hold your position and visualize the result of the shot you just hit. Take a step back and start again for as many shots as you want. 

Exercise 05 - Scorecard Visualization Round

This last exercise is a great way to prepare for an upcoming round. If it’s a course you know well, then you should be able to see the course in your mind. If you don’t know the course, you can use a scorecard, a yardage book, or look it up online. You can visualize the entire round or just pick a few holes that may cause you trouble. 

In this case, you’ll want to be sitting down with your eyes closed, using the Diaphragmatic Breathing technique. Being able to visualize each shot, in a calm focused state, can help you work through some of the more challenging shots and yield some positive results when you get on the course. 

The Importance Of Consistency

Just like every other aspect of training for golf, if you want to improve, consistency is key. Start with whichever of these exercises speaks to you the most, or try them all. Once you find something that works for you, make it a part of your training and integrate it into your game, both on and off the golf course. 

Patrick Sebastien is a performance coach who uses a body-mind approach to help golfers of all levels unlock their full potential.