The short answer: trying hard usually means thinking about your body: the left arm, the hips, the wrists. Research on attention shows that focusing on your own movements tends to make a learned skill worse, while focusing on something outside your body makes it better. So the fix isn't less effort; it's moving your attention to the club, the ball's flight or the target.
My story
The best I've ever played was a two-ball Ambrose at Jack's Point in Queenstown, New Zealand. Amazing course, amazing weather, and the two of us up against a three-ball. We beat them on the 18th.
What I remember isn't one particular shot. It's how free it felt. All the pressure was off, and I was hitting amazing shots.
Now compare that with the four years I spent grinding to break 90 for the first time (that saga gets its own post). Same golfer, same swing. The only real difference was what was going on in my head.
Where your attention goes
Once you've learned a swing, much of it runs without conscious control, the way walking down stairs does. Trying hard often means grabbing the controls: keep the left arm straight, shift the weight, hit down. Think hard about each step on the stairs and you'll stumble.
Golf research backs this up. In a 2007 study, Gabriele Wulf and Jiang Su had golfers hit pitch shots with different instructions. Those told to focus on the swing of the club were more accurate than those told to focus on their arms. It held for beginners and for experienced golfers. Wulf calls this the constrained action hypothesis: thinking about your body interferes with movements your body already knows how to make.
Pressure isn't the enemy either
When a shot matters, your heart races and your grip tightens. Most of us read that as nerves and try to calm down. A 2014 Harvard study by Alison Wood Brooks found a better option: people who said "I am excited" before singing, public speaking or a maths test performed better than people who tried to stay calm. Anxiety and excitement are both high-arousal states, so it's easier to relabel the feeling than to switch it off.
Three ways to try softer
- Pick an outside target. Not "rotate the hips," but a spot on the horizon, a single leaf, the ball's flight. Your body organises itself around a target far better than around instructions.
- One swing thought, and make it about the club. If you need a thought, make it "swish the clubhead through" rather than "keep the elbow tucked."
- Breathe out and soften your grip. This one comes from common coaching practice rather than a study: one slow exhale before you step in, and a grip firm enough to control the club but no tighter.
Drill: inside versus outside
On the range, hit ten balls with a body thought ("turn the shoulders"), then ten with an outside thought ("send it at that tree"). Note how many finish near the target in each set. Your own result will teach you more than any article can.
Prefer to watch?
Golf Simplified on YouTube covers one mental-game idea per video. Watch the channel.
See you on the first tee.
Sources
- Wulf G, Su J (2007). An external focus of attention enhances golf shot accuracy in beginners and experts. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 78(4): 384–389.
- Brooks AW (2014). Get excited: reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 143(3): 1144–1158.