Don’t Just Be A Stick
Because the golf brain needs a message
Golf can feel like a fitness class with sticks and hazards—especially when your scorecard looks like it was pummeled with doubles, triples, and emotionally unnecessary quads. You walk, bend, turn, shift, swing a stick, mutter at grass, and pay extra to visit sand.
That’s not golf. That’s just exercising with a stick.
To play real golf, you need to give your golf brain a message. A healthy one. Not a desperate plea like, “Please do not embarrass me!”
One message is enough.
Two maybe.
Five is just a hostage manifesto.
Golf Experts With Highfalutin Titles call this locus of attention. Fancy stuff. It simply means telling your brain what to pay attention to before you swing. Without it, your golf brain will rummage through old swing tips, chew on the last bad shot, steal snacks from your confidence, and somehow find the pond before you do.
Four types of messages—
| Message Type | What Your Brain Pays Attention To | Example Message |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | Body feel Body movement |
“Spaghetti arms.” “Shirt stripes vertical.” |
| External Process | Club Ball Turf Sand Impact |
“Nip the grass.” “Chip a coin.” |
| External Result | Target Ball flight Landing spot Speed |
“Start it at the right edge.” “Fly ball under the table.” |
| Self-Regulatory | Breath Rhythm Tempo Calm |
“Wuuuuunnn-tew.” |
None is universally best. Some golfers need a target. Some need a feel. Some need a task for the club to do. Still others, especially good ones, might simply need something like a slow “1” and a slow “2"—the Wuuuuunnn-tew swing rhythm.
Whatever the message is, Highfalutin Experts generally agree on two things.
Telling the ball what to do usually works better, especially under pressure, than wondering if your elbow is in the right position.
One message is enough. Two, maybe. Five is just a hostage manifesto.
The goal is to find what works best for you. It depends on what you are working on. It depends on the type of player you are—a visual player, a feel player, a task player, a rhythm player, or somebody who refuses to fit neatly into any of these little golf cubbies.
Find that message.
Commit to it.
Otherwise, congratulations. You’re back to exercising with a stick.