The game doesn’t start on the first tee. By the time you get to hit that first shot, you should already be in your best competitive mindset and ready to play. You don’t want to wait until you’re several holes into your round to find it.
This is what a pre round mental game warm up can help you with. It’s about using mental game triggers to:
- activate your “optimal performance state”
- get you feeling confident and believing in your abilities
- increasing (or decreasing) intensity/arousal level
- feel (and be) prepared for any challenges that might arise.
Here are my suggestions for a mental game warm-up that can be done in less than 20 minutes.
1. Breathe and Relax
- Start with 8-10 minutes of focused, deep belly breathing using the breathing exercises that we discussed in Module 4. This will help you focus, give you time to scan your body for any tension and calm your body and mind.
- If your mind wanders and you find yourself no longer focusing on your breathing, gently bring it back to it.
- After a minute or so of deep breathing, return your breath to normal.
- Scan your body to notice any tension. Start with your face, noticing any tension in your facial muscles and jaw. If you notice tension, breath into it and soften it. Move slowly to your neck and shoulders, all the way down your arms, to the wrists and fingers. Bring awareness to the sensations in each individual part of your body. Feel the chest and diaphragm moving with your breath. Move down each leg, into the ankles, feet and toes. Be aware of exactly how you feel and use your breathing to release any stress and tension.
2. Be Grateful
As we discussed in the last module, gratitude is the opposite of fear. If you are feeling grateful, you are not feeling anxious. Let’s put it in perspective. Whatever round you are about to play, you are still going to play the game golf. You’re not going to have surgery, do a final exam or anything worse than that. Think of 3 things that you are grateful for about the upcoming round, that doesn’t have anything to do with your final score – this could be playing a good golf course, hitting some good shots, being outside in beautiful surroundings, being healthy enough to play, the people you are going to play with or the opportunity to learn about your game. By doing choosing to be grateful, and staying mindful of these things throughout the round, you take the pressure away from having to play well to make it a success. You will have a better attitude and be able to deal with the ups and downs in the round.
3. Visualize Your Performance
“Mental rehearsal is every bit as important as physical rehearsal.” – Phil Mickelson
Imagining yourself being successful on the course is not the same as expecting it to happen. It’s about creating a feeling of confidence and feeling prepared for the challenges. Jack Nicklaus said that he attributes at least 50% of his success to having seen it in his mind before it actually happened. Muhammad Ali said he would mentally rehearse all his fights and saw himself being victorious, before the real event.
When you mentally rehearse it, your subconscious mind will believe that it has already happened and that there is nothing to fear. When you are there for real, you will feel more confident, comfortable and increase your chances of success.
Let’s make success more possible by visualizing it before your rounds using this process:
- Start by visualizing success that that you have already achieved. Think of your 3 best memories in golf. Experiment with the first-person and third-person perspective (seeing everything as if you are playing the shots vs. as if you are on TV). What did the course look like? What was the weather like? What were you wearing? Who was there? What shots did you play? What club did you use and how did the shot feel? How did it feel afterwards? Re-live those moments as vividly as possible.
- Next, using the same process, create a sensory visualization of your success in the upcoming round. Go through your shot routine for tee shots, approaches, short game shots, long and short putts and visualize great swings and successful outcomes. See some of the shots you will face for real. E.g., see yourself on the first tee, being confident, calmly going through your pre shot routine and hitting a solid shot down the center of the fairway.
Not only do you want to see yourself playing the shots but imagine the player that you want to be. You can decide which player will show up. What will your attitude, demeanor, body language and self-talk be like? Visualize you being your “best performing self”.
- Next, prepare for adversity. Every round has adversity in it. Whether it’s overcoming the feeling of nerves on the first tee, being out of position, a double bogey or a bad bounce or lie, you’ll will encounter it. Tiger says that not only does he visualize himself being successful, but he also sees himself miss-hitting shots and then successfully dealing with the trouble that could leave him in. What will you do in those situations? Mentally rehearse some of these situations and your response to it. See yourself successfully dealing with it (mentally and physically) and bouncing back like a champion.
Prepare to have to focus fully on every shot, recover from mistakes, manage your emotions, and keep motivating yourself throughout. This is not an easy task and will require 100% effort!
4. Remind yourself of your Personal Philosophy or “motto”
“A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing” – Payne Stewart
What are the values that you decided you would uphold during your round as part of your personal philosophy? Remind yourself of what those are and the importance of having a winner’s attitude. Set intentions for your values and follow through on that promise to yourself. Your motto or mantra can help remind you to do so.
For example:
- “Never give up”
- “I am a mentally tough competitor”
- “I have the game to compete today”
- “Act and behave like a champion”
- “Nothing can affect my confidence today”
Activation with Music
Music can make you feel different mental, emotional, and physical states. The type of music, the beats, the tempo, the lyrics, the emotional significance of it, all mean that it can be used to:
- motivate you
- raise intensity
- increase focus
- inspire confidence and positivity
- relax
- make you feel energized
- get you in the mindset to perform
Experiment with different songs and how they make you feel. Create different playlists that can activate these different mental and emotional states, depending on what you feel is needed. If you need to calm yourself down and lower pre round anxiety, you might listen to classical. If you want to raise intensity and get yourself pumped up, you might listen to rap. Jon Rahm says he listens to rap music such as Eminem, as the lyrics get him ready for the fight ahead. Find songs that have lyrics that align with your performance values and optimal performance state. The songs should be ones that you are familiar with and you already have a connection with.
Test them out before your practice sessions.
Having music playing while you are doing your pre-round visualizations, can connect those experiences with that music, so it becomes a trigger of that same performance state when you listen to it again.
A pre round routine is an integral part of performing well in your rounds. Like a daily morning routine to start any day off well, your pre round routine will help you establish your goals, get you focused on the good things that are possible for the day and have you feeling like you are prepared for anything that comes your way.
Suggestions For Your Physical Warm-up
Putting Warm-up (15 mins)
The first thing to warm up is your putting. The subtle movement in the roll of the ball will get your visualization and feel working and warm up your senses.
- Get your “geometry” right. Do some exercises to ensure your eye position, alignment, ball position, start lines are all in good shape.
- Putt to the fringe. Hit 5 putts – place them various distances 10-15-20-25-30ft from the fringe and putt to it, trying to get it as close as possible. The idea behind this drill is to warm up your distance control without a hole. Hit one ball only from each spot.
- Putt to a tee in the 10-20ft range. Hit 6 putts going through your full pre putt routine and vary the distance and break with each putt. The idea here is that aiming at a tee means that you are not judging whether you are making them or not, anything around the tee has a chance to go in. But it also narrows your focus onto a really small target which will help you perceive the hole as a much bigger target on the course.
- Increase your focus and get into “playing mode” by doing some performance drills where you go through your full pre putt routine. I have plenty of them in the practice drills eBook.
Short Game Warm-up (15 mins)
- Pick 4-5 spots round the green and play no more than 3 balls from each spot. Pick various types of lies (tight, fluffy and rough). Get a feel for the grasses and get your visualization and feel working.
- Play 3 long bunker shots and 3 short ones.
- Select some performance drills from the Practice drills eBook and go through your full shot routine, focusing on your landing spot/zone, the feel of the shot and visualize the ball rolling out to the hole.
Driving Range Warm-up (15 mins)
There’s no one way to warm up on the driving range. The goal is to:
- Get your muscles warmed up and ready to play
- Get the feel for the different shots you’ll hit on the course
- Find your Tempo
- Feel Balanced
- Notice any Tension
- Practice your shot routine and getting into game mode
Limit the number of balls
Avoid making it a practice session. To do this, limit the number of balls you hit. Colin Montgomerie used to hit no more than 3 balls with each club, so a 39-ball warm-up. You could even limit it to 2 balls with each club (26 ball warm-up). By doing this you get into “one-shot mentality” that you will have to have on the course, instead of the normal driving range mentality of there always being the next ball and trying to fix things.
What shots are you feeling today?
Instead of turning your warm-up into a practice session and trying to replicate shots you were feeling a few days prior, find out what feels good today. We are continually changing from day to day in several ways, so if that draw that was there a few days ago has disappeared and now you are hitting a fade, don’t fight it – just play with it. Too many players notice something different in their shots before a round, start panicking and go into “fixing mode” which is a bad place to be before starting a round.
Play the shots you’ll need on the course
What shots will the course require you to play? With each ball, put it into context with the shots you’ll need on the course. Hit a different shot and club with each new ball, just like you’ll have to do on the course.
Finish by imagining the 1st tee shot and don’t leave till you hit it exactly how you want to. Make sure you have plenty of time to get to the first tee from the driving range, so you don’t feel rushed.
Exercises
What is the purpose of the pre round mental and physical warm ups?
Divide a sheet of paper into 2 columns. In the first column write down all the uncertainties in the round that you could be faced with and how you are going to deal with them if they arise.