Podcast Transcript
Hello everybody welcome back to The Mental Golf Show. As always I’m your host Josh Nichols.
And today I want to talk about something that every golfer deals with on the course, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned tournament player, and whether you realize it or not: pressure.
It’s that feeling in your chest, that slight tremor in your hands, that racing thought pattern that can suddenly appear when the stakes feel higher.
Let’s go ahead and get right into it.
So. Think ahead to your next round of golf. What’s your specific game plan for handling pressure on those particularly challenging holes? When you find yourself on that intimidating tee shot with water left and out of bounds right, what’s your detailed mental approach? Have you actually thought about it beforehand? Or are you just hoping you’ll figure it out in the moment?
Because if you expect yourself to just magically handle pressure without any preparation—or even worse, if you’re hoping to somehow not feel any pressure at all during important moments—you’re setting yourself up for a rude awakening and potentially some very disappointing scores.
The Myth of Pressure
A lot of golfers have this fundamental misconception that pressure is something to avoid at all costs. They believe that if they were truly “mentally tough,” they simply wouldn’t feel nervous or anxious during crucial moments. But that’s not at all how the human brain works in competitive situations.
Pressure isn’t inherently bad or something to eliminate from your golfing experience. In fact, pressure is completely inevitable in this game. It’s going to show up precisely because golf matters to you, because you’ve invested time and energy into improving, and because you care about performing well.
Pressure is simply your brain’s natural response to something that it recognizes as important or meaningful. It’s a physiological reaction to situations where outcomes matter. And if you care about your score in any way—whether it’s breaking 100 for the first time or trying to win your club championship or you’re trying to win a Ryder Cup while fans are yelling obscenities at you—then of course you’re going to feel pressure. That’s completely normal and actually it’s a healthy sign of engagement.
Redefining Pressure
So instead of seeing pressure as a problem to overcome or eliminate, what if we fundamentally reframed it as positive evidence that you genuinely care about your performance? What if pressure could actually be viewed as a valuable resource rather than an obstacle?
Think about it carefully: if you felt absolutely no nerves at all during an important shot or round, that would probably indicate you don’t actually care about the outcome. It would suggest a concerning level of detachment from your performance. And if you’re investing time listening to this show and working on your mental game, I’m fairly confidentthat you do care deeply about how you play.
So that unmistakable surge of energy you feel standing on the first tee with people watching, or when you’re standing over a must-make putt to break your personal best score—it’s not your enemy at all. It’s actually an important signal. A powerful internal signal that this particular moment genuinely matters to you and deserves your complete attention and focus.
The Game Plan
So how exactly do you handle pressure when it inevitably appears during your round? Here’s the specific, actionable game plan I recommend implementing the next time you feel those familiar sensations.
Step one is complete acceptance. Don’t fight against the feeling of pressure. Don’t waste mental energy wishing it away or being frustrated by its presence. Just calmly notice and acknowledge it: “Yep, this is pressure. I can feel it in my body right now. Cool, that’s exactly what should be happening.”
Step two is to deliberately reframe how you interpret these sensations. Instead of defaulting to the negative narrative, “Oh no, I’m feeling nervous, this is terrible,” you consciously tell yourself, “This familiar feeling means I genuinely care about this shot. This response is completely normal. This is an essential part of competitive golf that every single player experiences.”
And step three is to strategically use pressure as a positive trigger. Let that pressure sensation remind you to lock in with laser-like focus on the one thing that truly matters right now—your pre-shot routine, your specific target selection, and your unwavering commitment to the shot at hand. The pressure becomes your cue to engage more deeply, not a warning to get distracted and eject.
Let me give you a practical example to illustrate this process. Let’s say you’re standing on a challenging par 3 with a forced carry over water. There’s a bunker right and trouble long. You’re coming down the stretch of an important round. As soon as you step on the tee you immediately notice your heart rate picking up and your thoughts starting to race. Instead of panicking or trying to suppress these feelings, you recognize them: “Okay, I can feel the pressure here.” Then you deliberately reframe: “This is actually good. These feelings mean I care about executing this shot well. This means I’m where I want to be.” And then you use it as a trigger for deeper focus: you take a slow deep breath, carefully pick your precise target, methodically go through each step of your pre-shot routine, and then let it rip.
Practical Takeaway
So here’s the big takeaway I want you to experiment with the next time you play. The next time you feel pressure arising—whether it’s standing on the first tee with playing partners watching, approaching the final hole with a personal best score on the line, or facing a particularly intimidating shot in the middle of your round—don’t fight against it or wish it wasn’t happening. Instead, consciously label it with these exact words: “I love this pressure, because it means I truly care about my performance.”
Then deliberately use that pressure sensation as your green light to focus even more intently on your process and routine, not as a red light signaling you to get defensive and guidey. Transform that energy into heightened awareness and commitment to executing your shot with freedom.
Wrap-Up
Remember, pressure isn’t inherently bad or something to eliminate. It’s an inevitable part of playing a game you care about. But with this specific three-step plan—accept it fully, reframe it positively, and use it deliberately as a trigger for focus—you can actually harness pressure and make it work for your game instead of against it. The best players in the world don’t play without pressure; they’ve simply learned to work with it productively.
