#13. Accelerate Improvement in Your Golf Game: The Conscious Competence Model of Learning

Paul Salter (00:01.618)

Hey fellow golfer, welcome back to another episode of the Scratch Golfers Mindset podcast. My name is Paul Salter. I’m your host. I’m a mindset coach and hypnotherapist for golfers. And I am thrilled to dive into today’s episode and to be able to share this time with you. The first note that I want to jump into is the fact that if you’ve been following along and paying attention the last couple of weeks to the PGA Tour, hypnosis,

and hypnotherapy are getting some rumblings of discussions and mentions thanks to Cam Davis, who won the Rocket Mortgage open a couple of weeks ago from the time this podcast episode goes live and Cam credits hypnotherapy for his turnaround thus far this year. You know, and in his own words, more or less, he had an abysmal start that was well below expectations in 2024. And he saw

working with a hypnotherapist in his own words to get himself right, to get his mind right, to help him better cultivate a sense of confidence, calm and focus while on the golf course that inevitably allowed him to shine his brightest and play his best golf. And it just so happens that the coach and hypnotherapist he works with, Grace Smith, was actually my mentor.

and who I obtained my official credential as a hypnotherapist with. Really, really neat to see Grace making such a big impact. And if you’re curious to learn more about hypnosis, hypnotherapy, what it is, what it’s not, how it works, the science, the research behind it, and perhaps most important to you, how it can help you play better golf, well, check out episode seven.

of the Scratch Golfers Mindset podcast or head on over to the More Pars Than Bogies newsletter. It is edition number four, how hypnosis can help you improve your golf game and shoot more pars than bogies. And even better, if you head to one of those respective resources, you’ll have the opportunity to download a free guided hypnosis recording to help you play your best round. Okay, with that said,

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You know, it’s taken me two and a half minutes so far to hold back what I’m most excited to share. But in the past 72 hours, I played for the first time in more than 15 years, not one, but two full rounds, 18 holes of golf on July 5th and July 7th. And believe it or not, I fucking broke a hundred. I shot a 99 and a 105 respectively, and I am.

over the moon excited because I was starting to tell some of my friends about five days prior that something clicked during my last range session. It all came together, you know, all of the hours spent frustratingly on the round or on the range, all of the hours spent with my coach, working on my swing, learning how to swing. It’s as if the stars aligned, it came together and I had my first most

Positive productive practice session on the range by myself in the absence of my coach and I was feeling really good heading into that round on July 5th and Started by shanking my drive right on it was my three would actually on the first tee Settle down after that triple bogey went on to shoot a 48 and then a 51 and then a couple days later played 18 by myself shot a 55 on the front nine and a 50 on the back

nine and I want to use my journey in golf to help articulate what I think is such a valuable concept for you to understand as you progress in your golf journey to reaching your full potential and the concept and focus of today’s episode is on what’s known as the conscious competence learning model or also known as the adult learning model that really describes

the progression that you go through when acquiring both new skills and new knowledge. And there’s a lot of intricacies and I’m gonna do my best to make this as simple and relatable as possible. And my takeaway or my goal here is for you to really understand not only where you are in one of these four stages related to your golf game as a whole,

Paul Salter (04:41.074)

but also where you are in some of the micro aspects of your game, whether it comes to your short game, your driving, your swing in general, or perhaps in your mental game and emotional resilience. And I’m going to use bits and pieces of my journey every step of the way to help make this incredibly relatable because chances are you’re much further in your golf journey than me. But I can.

All but guarantee you, I am gonna move through these four stages at an accelerated rate because of the mental and emotional work I do often on the course to help remove some of the common obstacles, barriers, and pain points that anybody experiences going through this Conscious Competence Learning Model when acquiring new skills and new information.

So with that said, thank you so much for being here. Let’s go ahead and dive in and begin with the description. Again, we’re talking about the adult learning model, also known as the conscious competence learning model. And this describes four distinct stages that every individual moves through when acquiring a new skill or new knowledge. And another way to think about this is what is the stepwise journey that someone takes

when going from complete noob or beginner all the way through proficient to mastery and expertise level status in any domain of knowledge or skill. Of course, we’re going to filter this through the lens of A, the golf swing and B, the golf game in its entirety. And the four stages of the conscious competence learning model are as follows. Unconscious incompetence,

Conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. Let’s break down each in further detail so that you have a working knowledge base of each of these individual stages. And let me just kind of plant a seed now. Everything we talk about in this episode is applicable to every domain of life. So whatever skill you’re learning in a different aspect of life, you’re going to go through the same

Paul Salter (07:01.074)

four stages of learning. And I think this is valuable because when you have this awareness as to where you are in your learning journey, you can better set expectations and better prioritize time, energy, effort, emotion, and finances to help prioritize what matters most to get you to the next stage in that journey. So let’s begin. Every new beginner’s journey starts with

unconscious incompetence. And it’s in this stage where you lack total awareness of the knowledge, the skills, the technical aspects of said skill. You really don’t know what you don’t know. And you may be just completely oblivious or unaware of all that goes in to mastering a skill. And to be frank, many of us who are in this stage,

may never move beyond it if there’s no motivation or desire to continue learning and acquiring said skill or piece of knowledge. But it’s important to recognize that when you begin, you don’t know what you don’t know. And there’s so much to learn, but you’re unaware of all that you need to learn to move forward in strengthening this newly acquired skill set. From here, you move into conscious incompetence.

Now you’re becoming aware of all that goes into becoming a master at said skill and pieces of information. Now you’re aware of the long list of what you do not know. And this can be a humbling and frustrating point to be. It’s often uncomfortable and the most critical step in your learning process. So many people, when they first start to develop a skill through repetition and exposure,

They hit this point where they become aware that there is a vast amount they don’t know or a vast amount they need to learn. They become so overwhelmed with frustration. The goal seems so far out of reach that they stop trying and ultimately quit altogether. But this is one of the most critical junctures in your journey. If you can keep your head down, remain emotionally resilient and focused,

on the process, not the outcome or the results, you can make leaps and bounds of progress above and beyond your peers in record time, simply because you’ve remained committed, open -minded, and mentally tough to weather the expected and unexpected challenges that come with trying to tackle this long list of what you do not yet know. And once you hang there long enough, you eventually ascend and graduate to a level of conscious competence. Here,

You are able to begin applying information that was once foreign or tough to grasp. The only caveat here is now you’re aware of what you don’t know. You’ve acquired some of the skills to begin implementing this new technique or new knowledge consistently, yet the one hurdle you still have to conquer is it takes a lot of energy and effort. You need to cultivate the utmost presence to…

actively apply this newly acquired skill. So you can think about it, you know, you’re at your first handful of golf lessons, you’re a beginner, you’re learning all of the intricacies of the swing, and now every time you line up and engage in your pre -shot routine, you have to meticulously think about your grip, your alignment, your aim, your stance, your breath, your footwork, the ball, your focus.

on and on along the list goes. This in and of itself is incredibly draining because your mind is only equipped to handle so many bits of information on the conscious level at one time. So it’s very draining. It can be incredibly frustrating, but through repetition, through emotional resiliency work, through mental game training, inevitably you reach a point of

unconscious competence. You’ve done this skill so many times that it happens effortlessly, automatically in your subconscious mind, which can handle a bajillion more bits of information at once compared to your conscious mind. Inevitably, you’ve done this routine. We’ll use the pre -shot routine and getting the right swing technique down. You’ve done it so many times that it essentially has transcended from desired behavior

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to consistent behavior to have it, which means your brain is essentially stuffed this long to -do list down into your subconscious, allowing it to happen automatically on autopilot as a way to conserve energy. This expands your available bandwidth in the present moment to focus on the few key parameters that matter most to help you swing as optimally and effectively as possible. So again, the four stages of the conscious

competence model of learning are unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. So allow me now to walk you through an example of each of these stages specific to using the golf swing. So let’s imagine when you were perhaps a young lad, you’re starting to watch golf. Maybe your dad, your sibling, your friend is getting you into the game of golf.

You’re growing up, you’re watching all these great golfers on TV and you see them swing with such ease, such effortlessness, such effectiveness and you think, wow, easy game, I can swing a club. You think it’s incredibly simple and easy to replicate that swing, to show up on the driving range and to strike a drive 250 yards right down the middle. Well, the only problem is you are just blissfully unaware right now.

of all of the complexities and technical aspects that go into the golf swing, the grip, the stance, the alignment, the mechanics. And at this point, you might see no need for instruction. This is the state of unconscious incompetence. Now there’s a little bit of a blurry line here that I’m going to add in as a wrinkle, something I want you to consider here. I am, you know, jumpstarting my golf career again, if you will. And I’ve had one swing coach.

And he has taught me one specific pattern of doing things. And I intend to prioritize only absorbing, implementing, and practicing to implement everything that he has taught me. Where many beginners and even many intermediates and pros make a mistake is it’s so easy to open YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter, and to immediately experience information overload

Paul Salter (14:07.794)

15 million different techniques about how to have the perfect backswing. 101 ,000 different ways to hit down on or through the ball to get the ideal trajectory, apex, and distance for each individual club. There is no shortage of information, yet I think it’s actually at an advantage when you can intentionally choose to remain blissfully unaware.

of the five million other ways to execute a single technique or aspect of a technique and to focus on one. A simple framework and a simple reminder I share with all of my clients is to put on blinders for at least the next 90 days when we work together on a specific mental game aspect. Because the truth is there’s a million ways

I shouldn’t say a million, there’s many ways to accomplish the goal of being a mentally tough, emotionally resilient, confident, present, focused golfer. But you need to purely exhaust one approach, be a sponge to absorb every aspect, really learn by consistent repetition and integration before exposing yourself to the 15 ,000 other different ways you can do this.

Because if you continue to overwhelm your mind with all those different varieties of strategies to do the same simple task, you get confused. You never allow yourself time to fully integrate, learn, and embody the one way you have been taught to do something. And you rob yourself of a precious opportunity to master one little nuance of the game in record time. So in some situations, creating this intentional

Ignorance is bliss state of mind can be incredibly advantageous. Moving along in the journey, conscious incompetence. Remember at this stage, you’re aware there’s a long list of what you don’t know. So we’ll go back with that golfer who’s beginning to learn the game and we see that this golfer takes their first couple of swings on the driving range after watching Tiger Woods all these years hit so effortlessly on the course and holy shit.

Paul Salter (16:19.794)

they realize there’s a massive incongruency. It’s not nearly as easy as it looks. They become vastly aware of the lack of skills and how difficult executing a consistent golf swing is. So it’s here they begin to hopefully cultivate a sense of appreciation, a sense of necessity and practicing and learning and being coachable and putting in the repetitions.

to begin cultivating a consistent, effortless, and effective golf swing. And in time, through this repetition, they’re able to move to the third phase, which is conscious competence. After they receive instruction, hands -on training, they’re not only binging YouTube videos and Instagram tutorials, but they’re putting in the work on the range, they start to understand and develop a basic foundation of golf skills.

They’re more aware on the appropriate grip, stance, posture, et cetera, for them to hit the best golf swing possible. And it’s here that they begin to make progress. Yet the one hurdle that they still encounter is it’s incredibly energetically and emotionally demanding to actually think of all of the boxes they must check to align themselves, set themselves up, and ultimately to

follow through and execute a so -called perfect or their best version of a perfect golf swing. Remember, your conscious mind can only handle so many bits of information at one time. So a lot of times I see golfers and I’m still in this stage very much so, we get frustrated because if we have a list of 10 items, we need to check off our list before we execute every swing on the range.

We might go think we’ve checked all of them and we go to swing and the feedback we get from where the ball goes makes it incredibly clear, fuck, I forgot to check two boxes. I didn’t roll my hand over enough on my grip. I didn’t align my feet appropriately. And then we feel like that rep was almost wasted in a sense. Well, here’s a quick reframe for you. No, it’s not. Every single shot you hit on the range, that ball.

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just serves as feedback. If you can remain both neutral and come from a place of curiosity and analyzing why the ball went where it did, you can accelerate that learning curve and ultimately help ingrain checking those boxes automatically as you move forward rep after rep. And finally, as you accumulate, let me be frank, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of repetitions, swinging that golf club, inevitably you will move to a stage of

unconscious competence. All of those 10 items on that checklist I referenced gets so far pushed down into your unconscious mind. They just happen. It’s automatic. It’s habitual. You don’t think about it. You know it’s time to hit. So you align the ball. You take your practice swing. You fix your stance.

Place the club length so you’re at the appropriate distance from the ball and whatever your pre -shot routine cue and the remainder of your routine looks like, bada boom, bada bing, it’s off to swinging and striking that ball exactly where you had aimed and aligned and hoped to. And this is where things become instinctual. This is the state that we all strive to be, not only on just the sound technique off the tee box, but on our short game with our long irons, with our pitching, our.

are putting and then of course all of the aspects of the emotional and mental game to help us play our best golf. They become instinctual. They become part of the game and ultimately we have more and more energy to respond to said events in the game because golf is not a game of perfect. You will encounter plenty of expected and unexpected challenges, but it’s through having this available bandwidth of energy that you’re able to consciously respond rather

then unconsciously react. And if you are someone right now who is struggling with unconsciously reacting to emotional and mental challenges during a round, you feel like you have these destructive mindset programs and terrible reactions to hitting a poor shot or watching your playing partner birdie a hole to take the lead, head on over to the More Pars Than Bogies newsletter. I have an in -depth masterclass on emotional control.

Paul Salter (20:46.674)

Golf is a mental game and how to dismantle the destructive mindset programs that are preventing you from shooting more pars than bogeys. You can find all of those in the show notes below. And with that said, let me start throwing out some prompts, some reflective questions for you to download and keep top of mind as you move forward and we wrap up this episode. And let’s start with your overall.

I should say where you are in your overall golf journey. You know, if you’re a beginner, you’re likely aware of the long list of items you still need to learn. The beautiful reminders I’ll share with you on this topic is there will always be a handful and like a large handful of technical aspects of the game with every individual club from every single distance.

that you will have to work on and to gain greater proficiency in. You will never master every aspect of the game because golf is not a game of perfect and we are not robots. We are human beings, emotional beings. But that’s the beauty of it. That’s what makes it so exciting and exhilarating as there’s always something to work on and to improve on. And one of the biggest shifts you can make

to become the best version of a golfer you possibly can be, to play to your potential, is to shift to becoming process oriented, not results oriented, focusing on and accepting there’s always room for growth, there’s always something to work on and approve upon. So keep that in mind and recognize you’re always gonna have a place where you will have no shortage of things to learn and to improve upon in your game.

If you’re further along in your journey, maybe you’re shooting in the 90s, 80s, maybe you are flirting with her already at scratch, there’s likely so much that you feel incredibly confident about. And the biggest hurdle you now face is turning off the thinking mind and allowing yourself to fall into that state of intuition, allowing your unconscious mind to take over.

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accessing that flow state on demand so you don’t have to think. You can be playing by feel, in flow, on autopilot, conserving that conscious mind bandwidth to put forth towards playing your most confident, disciplined, focused, and present golf absolutely possible and inevitably shooting low scores, shooting more pars than bogeys.

And as you continue to play more and more golf, you’re going to find that more aspects of your game, from hitting your driver to hitting your three wood to hitting out of long range bunkers to hitting around or out of bunkers around the green, slowly but surely aspects of these individual skills will ascend to that level of unconscious competence. Your best friends to help that happen is repetition.

I will, however, argue and mention that the biggest obstacle so many of us face, myself and you included, when it comes to transcending from conscious incompetence to conscious competence and eventually unconscious competence is we hit a wall of emotional and mental roadblocks. Most often it is a level of frustration, a level of

Anger a level of why is this so hard? Why have I not mastered this? Why am I not further along? Mindset coaching and hypnotherapy is a fast effective way to diffuse the toxic emotions and dismantle the destructive mindset programs that Stifle your learning or at least slow it down to a snail’s pace

And one of the reasons, and this is a bold statement I stand behind, that I will have an accelerated path to breaking 100, 90, 80, and ultimately shooting scratch is because of the daily work I’m doing to better strengthen my emotional resiliency and to better strengthen my mental toughness and resiliency so I can get out of my own way.

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so I can navigate the emotional, physical, and mental triggers that every round of golf throws at me with calm, collected confidence, with poise, presence, focus, and flow that allow me to shoot to my potential, and I want the same for you, which is why every week I share free insights, strategies, and mindset shifts, both here on the podcast and in my weekly newsletter, More Pars Than Bogies, to help you get out of the proverbial

bunker of poor performance to play to your potential. And both of these are free. Every Thursday is the podcast. Every Friday is the newsletter. But if you’re ready to take your game to the next level and you’re seriously considering one -on -one mindset coaching and hypnotherapy, feel free to reach out to me. We’ll get on the call together. We’ll have a free mental game assessment and strategy call so I can help you understand.

where your mental and emotional roadblocks are and help you see, feel, and experience how I can help you overcome them, get unstuck, and play your best golf. Link to that is in the show notes and we’ll wrap this episode up with a big thank you. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for making it this far. Episode 13 of the Scratch Golfers Mindset Podcast.

I am continued, I continue rather to be excited and overwhelmed with joy every time I hear from one of you and you share with me how impactful a nugget or strategy you picked up from the podcast has been. So please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at ScratchGolferMindset or on Twitter, ParsOverBogies. I’d love to hear what it is you’re learning and what else you’d like to learn more about the mental game of golf. Thank you so much for listening. If you haven’t done so,

Please a genuine rating and review means the world to me. It helps put the show in front of more golfers. It helps all of us collectively raise our game. So take 30 seconds to leave a genuine rating or review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening to today’s episode. Have a phenomenal rest of your day and I’ll catch you in the next episode.