How I Beat Golf Nerves: My 5-Tip Winter Plan For Mental Mastery

We’ve all felt it, those moments before walking onto the 1st tee, when you notice a gallery of golfers watching on, waiting for their turn. Or when you’re standing over a crucial putt to win a match. Your heart races, your breath shallows, your mind whirrs. And suddenly, the moves you’ve made hundreds of times feel awkward and unreliable.

The truth is, nerves are there because we care. The problem isn’t caring, it’s caring about the right things. Most of the time, when nerves take hold, it’s because we’re worried about two things: hitting a bad shot and being judged for it.

Think about it. Do you feel nervous when you’re practising on your own or playing with friends who you know won’t judge you on a bad shot? Probably not, or at least nowhere near as much as when you’re playing with strangers or with a card in your hand.

That’s the difference. When we start to worry too much about the outcome, and what that outcome might say about us, that’s when nerves take over.And when that happens, our decision-making suffers. Routines get rushed. Swings become tense rather than relaxed. It creates a cycle that’s hard to break.

I’ve been there. After cutting my handicap from 34 to 9 in a year, I found myself piling on the pressure whenever I played with strangers or had a competition card in my hand. It felt like I had to “live up” to that achievement, to only hit wonder shots, rather than wrestle with the wonky ones.

That’s why, when I noticed how much my nerves were affecting my performance and enjoyment of the game, I set about working on them. And even if it might not feel like it, winter is the perfect time to do exactly that.

When competitive rounds are on pause, you can develop the mental toolkit to manage your nerves, so when spring arrives, confidence isn’t something you hope for but something you’ve built. Here are five strategies to help.

Define And Time Your Pre-Shot Routine

Your pre-shot routine is your anchor in a sea of nerves. It’s a consistent sequence that shifts your focus from outcome to process, giving your mind something specific to do instead of spiralling into worry.

Start by defining what your routine looks like. Pick a clear trigger point, such as putting your glove on or confirming your yardage, and map out the steps from there. Keep it simple.

Here’s a crucial step: time it. When you’re practising on the range, follow your routine for every shot. Once it feels dialled in, use your phone’s stopwatch to time it.

When nerves appear, we tend to rush. And when that happens, routines are often the first thing to go, usually because we’re worried about being slow. By timing your routine in practice, you’ll have a fact to lean on. You’ll know how long it actually takes and that reassurance makes it far easier to stick with under pressure.

Choose Your Focus Word

When nerves kick in, our minds race with everything that could go wrong. A focus word or phrase acts as a pattern-break, something simple that pulls your attention back to the present moment.

Think of it like a mental finger-click that locks you back in. It might be “commit”, “let’s go” or “relax”. Choose a word or phrase that resonates with you and practice using it consistently over the winter.

When your mind wanders during practice, step back and use your focus word. When you notice you’re not fully engaged, reset and use it again. The reps you put in now will make it second nature when pressure shows up in the spring.

I’ve found it particularly effective to use my focus word at the start of my pre-shot routine. It immediately gets me into the right headspace and quietens any mental chatter that could pull me out of the moment.

Create A Reset Routine

Bad shots are inevitable. The difference between a bad shot and a bad round often comes down to what happens next.

That’s why I developed a reset routine to help me recover after a poor shot. It doesn’t need to be complicated. For me, it’s a deep breath and a reminder of my simple mantra: “When in trouble, don’t make double.”

Without making a conscious choice to reset, or adjusting our strategy when needed, one bad shot can quickly lead to another. Not because of poor technique but because of poor decision-making. We rush. We reach for the hero shot. And then wonder why we’re walking off with a double bogey or worse. A bad shot doesn’t have to define the hole or the round. But your response to it will.

The golf range is a great place to practice your reset routine. When a shot doesn’t go as planned, pause before hitting the next ball and actively reset. Turning that into a habit now will pay off no end on the course.

Train Your Brain Through Repetition

Muscles are built through repetition and the mind is no different. That’s why, even in winter, the range is the perfect place to train your mental game.

Make every practice session a training ground for your pre-shot and reset routines. Before each shot, go through your routine as if you’re on the course. When you hit a bad one, reset before moving on to the next. You could even add performance challenges to see how well your routines hold up under a sense of pressure.

Being more intentional with each shot might mean hitting fewer balls, but instead of mindlessly bashing through a bucket, you’re building something far more valuable – your mental muscles.

Each rep strengthens the pathways you’ll rely on when it matters. So when spring arrives, those habits are already ingrained and your routines are as robust as they’ve ever been.

Build Your Bandwidth For Nerves

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: if you struggle with nerves, you need to feel nervous more often. Mastering nerves isn’t about eradicating them, it’s about becoming familiar with them.

Winter golf provides the perfect low-stakes opportunity to do exactly that. Join a roll-up or a tee time with strangers. Play a match against someone new. Enter a winter competition where the outcome doesn’t really matter but you still care enough to feel a few butterflies.

The aim in these situations isn’t to eliminate nerves, it’s to practice playing with them. Each experience becomes a rep for your mental game – proof that you can commit to routines, make good decisions and swing freely even when you don’t feel completely comfortable.

Every time you put yourself in these scenarios, your bandwidth grows. You’re building a bank of experience that quietly reassures you: “I’ve felt this before, and I’ve handled it.”

By the time spring arrives, nerves won’t feel foreign or overwhelming. They’ll feel familiar because you’ve learned to perform with them, rather than waiting for them to disappear.

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