Playing Golf Under Pressure: 5 Tips to Stay Cool and Focused
Have you ever stood over a short, testing putt to win the hole, but you freeze up and miss?
Playing golf under pressure is a big challenge for amateur golfers, but if you can train yourself to remain cool under pressure, you’ll shoot lower scores and find yourself winning more matches.
Let’s get you started with five easy tips you can adapt to your game to stay calm.
Key Takeaways
Short on time? Here are the key points to help you handle pressure on the golf course.
- Stick to a consistent pre-shot routine to calm nerves and promote confidence.
- Improve your swing sequencing to resolve issues faster.
- Use the 3-4-5 breathing technique and visualization to manage stress.
- Focus on one shot at a time.
- Use HackMotion to monitor wrist angles and work on more wrist flexion in your swing.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
How to Play Golf Under Pressure
1. Develop and Trust Your Pre-Shot Routine
A pre-shot routine helps you get in the zone and stay focused on the next shot. It clears your mind and promotes confidence, especially under pressure.
There’s no one-size-fits-all. Some golfers stand behind their ball and picture the shot, while others adjust their shirt.
What matters is consistency. Your routine should become a mental trigger to reset and stay calm. The video below is a great example of a good pre-shot routine.
Dr. Mo Pickens suggests following the “four Rs before every shot”.
- Refocus before you can think about the next shot.
- Start your Routine.
- React and swing your golf club.
- Relax between shots.
2. Improve Swing Sequencing
Proper sequencing helps you recover faster from mistakes and stay calm. When you understand what went wrong, you can fix it and continue with your round.
- Turn your shoulder as close to 90 degrees as you can on the backswing, to maximize your wind up.
- Shift your hips slightly, while pulling the club down until the shaft is parallel with the ground.
- Then rotate your hips and turn your shoulders through impact for more power and accuracy.
The HackMotion library covers the alignment stick drill, which is one of the best golf swing sequencing drills to improve your consistency.
3. Master Wrist Angles
Wrist angles determine if your clubface is open or closed at impact. More wrist flexion means less loft, less spin, more compression, and distance.
Flexing your lead wrist during the downswing helps to square the clubface and promotes a straighter, more powerful ball flight
Most amateurs extend their wrists at the top, opening the clubface, increasing loft and spin, while reducing compression.
The result is more slices, weaker shots, and less distance. You can stop hitting these shots by working on proven drills that teach you how to master wrist action in golf.
One of the most well-known wrist action drills is the Motorcycle drill.
The Motorcycle drill is available in the HackMotion app, and the main goal of it is to help with flexing your wrists in the downswing to ensure you have more flexion at impact than you did at setup.
Motorcycle Drill – Master Wrist Flexion in the Downswing
Focus on continuously adding flexion until the club reaches parallel, then smoothly complete your swing.
HackMotion Motorcycle Drill – Step by Step:
- Set Up: Address the ball as usual.
- Downswing Flexion: As you begin your downswing, gradually add wrist flexion so that by the time the club is parallel to the ground (P6), you’ve achieved your desired wrist bend.
- Continue to Impact: Maintain that flexion into impact, then release naturally through the finish.
- Experiment with Speed: Start slowly, then increase speed while retaining proper angles.
- Practice while hitting golf balls but also work on this drill by completing the motion and not hitting shots.
- Find your “just right” amount of flexion—too little or too much can cause mishits.
4. Focus on One Shot at a Time
Thinking too far ahead or replaying past mistakes creates anxiety and frustration. You have to bring yourself back to the present and focus on the next, important shot.
Bring your attention back to the present!
If you’re behind a tree, focus on getting into a better position for the next shot, like punching out onto the fairway.
The only thing that matters is where your ball currently is, where you want it to go, and how you will it get there.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
5. Use Breathing Exercises
Anxiety gets to all golfers, we see it with professionals in tournaments, and we see it with amateurs just trying to shoot a personal best score.
Breathing exercises help take your mind off the pressure and allowing you to drown out distractions or negative thoughts.
Dr Rangan Chatterjee has found the 3-4-5 breathing technique is effective in helping his patients feel less anxious.
You breathe in for three counts, hold for four, and breathe out for five, repeating the process as many times as you need until you are calm and not thinking about anything.
FAQs
How to Perform Under Pressure in Golf?
You can perform under pressure in golf if you develop a pre-routine, understand swing sequencing, and use breathing exercises.
How Does Pressure Affect Golf?
Pressure causes golfers to make basic errors in the swing and inconsistent shots. Golfers under pressure miss short putts, top approach shots, or tooth a simple chip shot.
Why Can’t I Perform Under Pressure In Golf?
You can’t perform under pressure in golf because you focus too much on the overall occasion and not enough on one shot at a time.
When you break it down into one shot at a time, the game becomes less intense and easier to cope with.
Final Thoughts
Learning to play golf under pressure is a journey, but you can get by introducing a few positive habits into your game.
Breathing exercises and a pre-shot routine calm your nerves and allow you to reset and relax. Focusing on one shot at a time makes the take seem less severe and alleviates the weight off your shoulder.
Take control of pressure situations by mastering wrist angles and improving your swing sequence. Expand your knowledge on golf drills and exercises to keep you calm on the fairways.
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