Okay so today I figured I’d try something kinda weird, all because I kept hitting these ugly fat shots on the range. Seriously, chunks of turf flyin’ further than the ball. Total crap. I stood there grinding my teeth, feeling my grip death-squeezing the club. It sucked.
What Broke Me Was Wednesday’s Disaster
Hit the course Wednesday for 9 holes hoping for nice weather. Big mistake. First tee shot? Whiff. Like, embarrassingly whiffed. Second shot? Skulled low into a bush. Third shot… well, you get the picture. By hole 3, I felt about this big. My buddy Steve just shrugged and said “Rough day, eh?” Yeah, no kidding. Couldn’t shake that heavy feeling in my chest swinging the club after that.
Stumbling Onto This Quote Thing
Thursday night, feeling pretty defeated, I was just scrolling on my phone watching some golf clips. Not really paying attention. Then this older guy in a video caught my ear. Wasn’t even talking technique. He said something like, “What’re you whispering to yourself before you hit? You arguing with yourself?” Made me think. Yeah, actually. My inner voice sounded like this:
- “Don’t screw this up…”
- “You choked last time…”
- “Please just don’t hit it left…”
- “This feels awkward already…”
No wonder! It was all fear and failure talk. That video mentioned confidence golf quotes, not like magic spells, but just flipping the script inside your own head. Sounded simple, maybe stupid simple. But I was desperate enough to try anything.
My Friday Morning Practice Plan (The Quote Experiment)
Hit the range this morning determined to actually try this fluffy-sounding quote business. I grabbed the trusty old 7-iron – my “safe” club, though Wednesday proved it wasn’t so safe. Here’s how it went down:
- Forced Myself To Pick One: Standing behind the ball, I physically stopped myself. Chose a super basic one: “Smooth and easy.” That’s it. Kept repeating it softly while taking my practice swings. Felt ridiculous whispering to myself on a public range.
- Whisper While Waggle: As I addressed the ball, that old panic noise tried to start: “Don’t hit it fat, keep your head down, shift your weight…” Nope. Shut it down. Just kept whispering “Smooth and easy, smooth and easy,” over the noise.
- Said It & Swung It: Seriously committed. Took the club back, whispering “Smooth and easy,” kept whispering it halfway down, tried to sync the thought with the movement. Felt less jerky.
- Immediate Thoughts: Contact felt… cleaner. Ball flew off the face higher than my recent chunks. Didn’t go miles, but it was straight and airborne. A win! But the voice came back: “Okay, that was luck. Can you do it again?” So…
- Rinse and Repeat (Not Perfectly): Made myself do it every single ball. Pick the club, stand behind, whisper “Smooth and easy,” waggle whispering, swing whispering. Some swings still weren’t great. Hit one thin. Bladed another. Felt pissed. But instead of diving into the anger spiral (“You suck, you idiot!”), I caught myself grumbling, took a deep breath, stepped back, and started the “smooth and easy” whisper routine again for the next ball.
What Actually Happened (Not Magic, Just Less Terrible)
So, let’s be real. I didn’t suddenly stripe every shot like a pro. But here’s the shift I could feel:
- Less Freakouts: When I messed up, instead of a full-blown internal meltdown lasting five shots, I got annoyed, took the breath, and restarted the positive whisper quicker.
- Focus Feels Different: That whispering forced me to pay attention to the actual words in my head and actually direct my thoughts during the swing, not just beforehand. It occupied the space where panic usually lives.
- Tension Tamed (Slightly): Grinding my teeth less. Death grip eased off. Just saying “smooth and easy” seemed to remind my shoulders to relax.
- More Decent Shots: The truly disastrous fat shots where chunks fly? Far fewer. Mostly just normal-ish misses – thin, a bit left, a bit right. Progress!
The Takeaway From My Weird Whispering Session
Look, it’s not about finding a magic quote that fixes your swing overnight. It’s about crowding out the crap. My brain was full of noisy, negative garbage every time I swung, adding pressure, tensing muscles, guaranteeing failure. The simple act of choosing a positive phrase, even a simple one like “smooth and easy,” and forcing myself to say it at the moment of truth, pushed the destructive thoughts aside. It gave my brain something useful to do besides panic. Made the tension fade a bit. Made the swing feel a bit more… well… smooth and easy. Will I still chunk shots? Absolutely. But maybe fewer, and maybe I won’t drown in frustration afterwards. I’ll take it. Threw my headcover in the air leaving the range today. A small win. Try whispering something positive to yourself over the ball. What’ve you got to lose besides some turf?
