Golf is 100 Percent Psychological

Bobby Jones said the most important distance on the golf course was the five inches between the ears. He was right, of course, the mental game—what we think, feel, and imagine—is critical. Since the science of psychology governs learning, movement, and perception, everything that happens in golf is psychological. 100 percent. No exceptions. This is a bold and novel claim that I I’ll be making in my forthcoming book: In Defiance of All Intentions. Everything in the service of learning is a psychological process. The most important bit of learning comes from neuropsychology—the science of the brain—and it will be a continuing theme: there is no quick fix. Great talent can offset unhelpful attitudes, great skill can offset tension, great psychology in combination with hard-earned skill and a modicum of talent is the formula for good golf.  Psychology tells golfers that they not only need patience but they need to train smartly—over long periods of time, that one is not delivered all at once, and that progress comes in waves that are not always moving in the hoped for direction. Improvement, when it happens, will fade if not nurtured in the right ways—with understanding and dedicated effort.