Change Your Beliefs to Change Your Golf Game

by Josh Nichols

The Struggle
We all have bad golf habits. Most of us think of our bad swing habits, or how we always leave birdie putts short, or how we always play bad after a good range warmup.

Yes, those could be considered habits. But come on, this is The Mental Re-Grip. Let’s talk about mental habits.

On some level, all of our bad physical habits are caused by mental habits. Bad swing habits come from the movement pattern being grooved over hundreds or thousands of not so great swings over time. Always leaving birdie putts short probably isn’t because you can’t get the speed of the greens or your putter isn’t heavy enough. It’s probably because you have a fear of 3 putting. Playing bad after a good range warmup isn’t because you lose your swing on the 2 minute walk from the range to the first tee. It’s probably because the round of golf has higher perceived consequences than the driving range.

Everything we do originates in our brain (other than, say, a muscle reflex like that knee thing doctors do to test your reflexes. Why do they do that again?)

And because every behavior we do originates in our brain, those behaviors come from somewhere even deeper. And that is our beliefs.

In our 2025 Book Club we’re coming to the end of Golf Beneath the Surface by Raymond Prior. The last section of the book is titled Framework. It’s all about the basis for the behaviors we habitually do.

On p. 127 Prior says,

“Our habits are born from reward-based learning, but they are raised by our beliefs.”¹ (emphasis mine)

You don’t just fear 3 putting. You probably have an even deeper belief that how you putt reflects a desire to validate your practice, or even a reflection of who you are. You don’t just perceive higher consequences on the course, you probably have an even deeper belief that says you need to play well, or else. That “or else” is your deeper belief that fuels your behaviors.

The Solution
So how can we have beliefs that will lead to helpful behaviors? How can we get birdie putts to the hole? How can we play well after a good warmup? How can we access our skill instead of falling into old habits?

A primary way of doing this is called decoupling.

Prior on p. 207,

“Decoupling ourselves from our craft involves defining our performance as something that we are personally invested in but not personally defined by.”²

This means that you now see a birdie putt as something you want to do well, not need to do well. You want to make good swings, but you don’t have to. The pre-round warmup going well is nice, but has no real bearing on how you play.

With this perspective shift, results are things you experience, rather than definitive moments in your life. You are invested in getting good at golf, but you’re not defined by how good you are.

One thing for you to work on this week:
So how can this be something you do? How can you work on this? Prior has an exercise in the book we’ll call the ABCDE’s ³. A stands for Activating Event. B stands for Belief. C stands for Consequences (what does this belief actually get me?). D stands for Discredit. E stands for Effectively Reshape (into a more rational belief).

Let’s work through an example he gives:

Activating Event: Missing short putts.

Belief: “Missing short putts means I suck at putting.”

Consequences (what does this belief actually get me?): Fear of failure, defensive putting strokes, unstable confidence, anxiety about putting and failing, muscle tension, discouragement, and self-loathing.

Discredit:

Is this true? No. There’s no rule that says missing a putt means you suck at putting. Even the best players in the world miss short putts. Each putt is it’s own event, and the only way for my confidence to be linked to a current putt is if I do that myself.

What happens if you miss a short putt? It just means that I missed a short putt that I would have preferred to make. Counts the same as missing a long putt.

Effectively Reshape (into a more rational belief): “Missing that putt means I have work to do on my putting and I know where and how to do it. Now on to the next.”

To-do: Next time you play, monitor the beliefs that you’ve been holding onto, and work that belief through the ABCDE’s.