How to Access Your Best Golf: The Mental Game Secret Most Players Miss
Golf is more than mechanics. It’s energy.
The state you bring to a shot doesn’t just influence the outcome. It shapes what’s available to you. Most golfers spend their time trying to fix their swing, when the real breakthrough comes from something much deeper.
In this post, I’ll show you how accessing the right emotional state can completely change your performance—on the greens and throughout your game.
Watch Ben Crenshaw in The Art of Putting
The Moment That Changed How I See Putting
When I was a kid, my dad brought home a VHS tape.
Ben Crenshaw — The Art of Putting.
It didn’t start with instruction. It started with inspiration.
Crenshaw during the final round of the 1984 Masters. The opening was a highlight reel set to music. Every putt he holed. Impossible lines. Massive breaks. Taking on some of the most treacherous greens in golf.
I didn’t study it. I absorbed it.
I’d rewind that opening over and over. Even now, I can feel it. Those clips still give me chills.
At the club, putting against my friends for milkshakes, I’d pretend I was Crenshaw at Augusta.
His posture. His movement. His determination.
Under my breath, I’d hum that theme song. And I’d make everything.
Not because my stroke changed. Because I did.
Years later, I found myself at the Arizona Open qualifier.
My game wasn’t in a great place. Keeping the ball in play felt impossible. And I honestly didn’t even want to be there.
Walking down the first fairway, something resurfaced out of nowhere. I hadn’t thought about it in years, but there it was, playing in my head.
I started humming it again.
Same rhythm. Same feeling.
And just like that, everything changed.
The hole didn’t look smaller. It looked inviting.
The stroke didn’t feel technical. It felt natural.
I stopped trying to make putts and started letting them happen.
I took 21 putts that day.
After the round, one of my playing partners shook my hand and said, “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” The other just looked at me. “I’ve never even heard of anything like that before.”
It was the best putting round of my life.
That song became my anchor to a special time in my life. And it still helps me access my best on the golf course to this day.
Why Your State Determines Your Performance in Golf
Nothing mechanical changed, but everything about my state did.
Positive thoughts create positive emotion. Positive emotion elevates your state. An elevated state gives you access to your best stuff.
Simple. But most players miss it.
They tinker with the motion without ever addressing the state behind it.
But your body doesn’t perform in isolation. It responds to how you feel. When you’re tight, your game reflects it. When you’re free, your action reflects that too.
The Chemistry of Playing Your Best
Dopamine sharpens focus. Serotonin steadies you. Endorphins create that sense of ease and flow.
You don’t need to study it. You’ve felt it.
A great song. A memory. A moment that brings you back to life. That’s access.
Why Most Golfers Get Stuck
Most golfers only chase mechanics.
They search for better positions, better drills, better fixes. But they ignore the one thing that influences all of it.
Their state.
How to Access Your Best on the Course
You don’t have to force performance. You have to create the conditions for it.
Golf will always mirror your state.
If you carry frustration, the game feels heavy. If you carry fear, everything tightens.
But when you elevate your energy through music, memory, gratitude, movement, and presence, the game opens.
You see more. Feel more. Trust more.
It’s not about pretending to be positive. It’s about remembering what it feels like to be free, and bringing that with you to the shot.
Reflection
What consistently brings you back to your best state?
What can you use as an anchor before or during a round?
Are you stepping into each shot with enthusiasm and freedom?
Mantra
“Joy activates genius.”
If you’re ready to MAKE THE TURN in your own game,
I’d be happy to help guide you there.
