#20 [Journey to Scratch] Golf is hard, it’s time for new clubs, and quiet confidence on the course

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (00:06.448)

What’s up, fellow golfer? Welcome back to another episode of the Scratch Golfers Mindset podcast. My name is Paul Salter. I’m the golf hypnotherapist and mindset coach, and I am thrilled you are tuning back in to catch up with me and my journey on this fine Tuesday or whenever you are listening as I bring you another update on what has

in my very own golf journey, on my journey to scratch in the last seven days. But before I dig in, I just want to say, welcome and thank you for being here to all of the new listeners. I’ve noticed a significant surge in downloads and listener count the last couple of weeks. So welcome. Again, my name is Paul Salter. I’m a hypnotherapist and mindset coach who primarily works

golfers, entrepreneurs, business owners, as well as professional poker players to help each one of these high performers overcome the mental and emotional hazards of their minds so that they can get unstuck from the proverbial bunker of poor performance and play to their potential both

and off the golf course. And I’m thrilled you’re here. Every Tuesday, I give you a personal update on my own journey to becoming a scratch golfer. And then Thursday, I have a fantastic rotation between solo episodes and outstanding golf minds and the golf psychology and the mental performance of golf world to deliver outstanding and different perspectives and insights to help

Play your best golf. And today, woof, today’s a episode to record, I’m not gonna lie. It was a humbling past seven days on the golf course. And I think the best way to summarize these past seven days is with the following three words. Golf is hard.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (02:14.366)

Yeah, I think admittedly I was feeling overly optimistic and confident coming off of a few weeks of consistent improvement where I was able to break 100 twice and not even so much focused on the score. I was feeling more and more confident in my swing. I was getting in both the physical and mental practice repetitions and was in a really good place.

And I talked about in last week’s episode how I ultimately opened my mind to unsolicited swing advice on the range. And I found the advice quite helpful and productive, quite positive, yet it also left me with a collection of different swing thoughts and cues. And I wasn’t able to really focus on one collection of cues and thoughts to help me dial in and create

my confident swing, one that I could trust and commit to effortlessly on command every swing and shot during my rounds. So admittedly, I was coming into this week feeling quite confident. And I will tell you this, I noticed in the new swing I’ve been adapting since the unsolicited swing advice. And again, I’m going to stick with this. I really liked the simplistic nature of it and the power, but one of these cues,

and you can’t see me, I know, and I’m a right -handed golfer, when I’m coming down on my downswing is really making sure that left arm is extended and I’m able to put my wrist in a position to get my club head facing directly forward so the shot goes straight. And after hammering away maybe 100 or so reps in practice and playing 18 the week before, I noticed some outer forearm strain, muscle fatigue if you will. So,

Outside of playing that round, I didn’t do any physical practice leading into this back -to -back session of 18 on, I believe it was Friday, August 2nd, Saturday, August 3rd. I did a lot of mental repetitions, a lot of visualizations, because to be frank, my forearm was so sore, it hurt to pick up a club with one hand. So I found that odd, something I really need to keep an eye on. I can say, fortunately, it didn’t plague or bother me during my rounds, but I will also tell you,

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (04:38.75)

Aside from the two challenging days on the course, which I’m to get into in a moment, I was very humbled just in how physically stiff and sore I was. I didn’t even walk 18. I drove both 18 and I got about 12 or 13 ,000 steps in each round, which maybe also shows that I was a bit all over the place. But wow, stiffness, tightness, sore in places I didn’t quite imagine. And as someone who really

prioritizes taking care of his body. I even already stretch five or six days a week. It was humbling. Got to make a couple tweaks to the fitness regimen, which I’ve alluded to in the past, and I’m getting ready to do so. But let’s tackle the rounds. Let’s just call it what it is. Friday, August 2nd, I played a private course, Fox Hollow, up in Odessa or Trinity, Florida. Beautiful course. Admittedly, probably the most challenging course I have played to date in my young career.

The rough was just thick and unforgiving. I mean, it’s one thing for it to be a fairly narrow, tight course, but the rough, even right around the green, like if you were not hitting the greens and you were six inches off the green, that rough was thick, the ball was buried. I shot a humbling 107. And it’s easy to identify why when in the front nine, you lose three balls out of bounds and one to the water.

I mean, there’s plus four strokes right there from the get go. And that’s the difference between a 54 and a 50 if I just kept the ball in bounds. So a lot to be learned. Let me focus on what went well because I’m a stickler for that. And it was very challenging for me to find what went well. But in both of these rounds of 18, I played with friends, people who are becoming more prominent good friends in my life, met through my business networking group BNI. It was so great to be able to take

you know, more formal, networky relationship when we are meeting once a week offline or off the grid to the golf course. Had a blast getting to know these gentlemen who are great golfers and even better human beings. But aside from playing with friends, what went well, I did an excellent job creating and sticking to a pre -round T -box plan. I think I was like 17 of 18 and then 16 or 15 of 18 and sticking to the club I chose ahead of time, not making it myself.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (06:55.038)

prone to emotional decisions, can’t stress the importance of that enough. I was able to maintain a positive and curious outlook throughout the 18 holes. There were plenty of moments when I was frustrated, especially when I had not one, not two, but three triple bogeys in a row on that front nine I alluded to where I was out of bounds, what felt like every hole.

I putted well, admittedly 36 putts on Friday, 35 putts on Saturday, but my pace, my distance, my speed are significantly improved. And that’s really exciting because I’ve been putting some good work in there. And the number of three putts has been greatly reduced. If you look back at some of my stats and scores from May, even from June. So really good on

Outside of those positives, I’m looking at my Saturday. It was hard to find them. I’m not going to lie. I was horrendous off the tee box. Other than hitting my three iron, which I seemed to poke out just fine, like 180 to 200 yards, which was admittedly a little shorter for me. I couldn’t hit my three wood to save my life, which if you’ve been listening to my journey,

Three what usually is my go -to my confident club I can swing in my sleep wake me up at 235 in the morning I’ll get up and smack that sucker 250 260 down the middle not this past week And I tried driver once or twice nasty hooks on it. I was just not hitting well I I don’t know how else to explain it other than maybe a little bit of just pressure

desire to fit in, prove myself, fear of judgment that may have been buried beneath unconsciously taking place as I’m playing with these gentlemen I like and respect and hope to continue building strong friendships with, I don’t know. I was horrendous. It cost me dearly. mean, if 50 % of my first shots were of my normal potential, mean, both my rounds I’m probably shooting in the 40s on at least one set of nine, if not both, so.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (08:59.006)

A lot of room for progress there, a lot of going back to the drawing board there. And really the biggest takeaways, I don’t want to bore us and get down or bog us down too much in the stats here. It was horrendous, a 107 and a 109. It was humbling, especially when I thought I was moving in the right direction, making progress. And it’s a good reminder for me to share not only with myself, but with you, progress is not always linear. I know this, you know this, we both need to be reminded of it.

Progress is not always linear and I go back to my days as a high performance dietitian working with so many individuals who wanted to lose weight. They wanted to see a new low on the scale every single weigh -in. That’s not how progress happens. We’re looking for the long -term trend and consistency and to be frank, like if you pull up all of my most recent scores logged in the grint, I think I have seven scores logged. My phone’s on airplane mode, so I can’t actually access it at the moment. But if I recall correctly, there’s like

a 105, a 104, a 102, a 99, a 104, a 99, and then a 107 and a 109. So like, to be frank, the 109, 107 isn’t too far out of the expected norm.

Like if we aggregate all of my scores and I’m just doing quick math as in a hundred percent accurate, I probably averaging like a 103 to 105. And truthfully, the number of mulligans in the beginning compared to now drastically reduced. I’ve stuck to one per round and I need to really just eliminate them to be frank. I know that it is me calling myself out. No more mulligans. I need the true honest score, the honest handicap. heard it here first. No more mulligans moving forward.

So yeah, at first it’s very normal to feel frustrated when you start to have one poor score and then you have a couple poor scores. And it’s like, how do you come out of that? And the first thing to do is just take a big step back. How can you create a 30 ,000 foot objective view always through the lens of non -judgmental curiosity? And that’s what I want to impart on you today. If you’re coming off a string of bad rounds or where you feel you underperformed, it didn’t score well, let’s take a big step

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (11:11.688)

You’ve already heard me impress upon you multiple times the importance of a well better learned post round reflection. I share them on social media with you every single round. And I always recap them briefly here on this podcast. But aside from that, look back at your last four to eight scores. Where is the trend?

What’s the anomaly? Can you pinpoint any specific factors that might have influenced you not being able to play to your potential or play your A game for that particular round? And I’m gonna give you an example. So on Saturday when I played at Rocky Point, Tampa had just gotten, and I’m not exaggerating, nearly two inches of rain in a three hour timeframe the Friday night before. So as a result,

When I showed up to Rocky Point on Saturday morning, the range had not been picked. So the range had no range ball. So we couldn’t warm up other than chipping and putting. That’s fine, whatever. There was so much water on the course. It should have been closed. 100 % should have been closed. There were so many pods. Bunkers were filled with feet of water.

geese and ducks were having a field day in the bunkers while you were putting on the green. It was a pretty cool site to be honest. But we, and I speak for my playing partners and myself, lost so many balls that literally hit in the fairway or just right or left of it because it was just a newly formed impromptu pond. So much water. And to be frank, that costs five to eight strokes right there in and of itself. I’m hitting balls that land in the fairway and sink below, like just sinks

couple inches into the ground. was wild. And as you can imagine, as I’ve alluded to, I’m playing with these outdated Ben Hogan blades, zero forgiveness. So my club head is just sinking dramatically in the ground. was mishitting like a motherfucker, frustrating to say the least. But I share this to reflect back to you how I’m able to zoom back, take that 30 ,000 foot view, which removes almost

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (13:17.222)

if not all of the emotional remnants and attachments to that round, which in the moment felt like crap. It sucked to be honest, aside from the great playing company, it was a really mentally challenging round. But I can look back and say, okay, the playing conditions were incredibly atypical and I still have a lot to work on. I focused on what went well and I use both of these rounds to really start highlighting where I’m at in my journey to take an honest look because as I’ve shared, I’m committed to achieving and I absolutely will.

Breaking 90 by November 13th of 2024. So we’re about three months and a week away. Who’s counting? Maybe I am. Literally to the day actually, as I do this math, that’s crazy. Three months in a day or in a week, excuse me, from the day this podcast episode comes out. And here’s where I’m at in my journey. I’m questioning one aspect, which I’ll circle back into a moment, but here’s where I need to go. Two clear takeaways. I need new clubs. I need more lessons. It’s that simple.

I need new clubs. have outdated Ben Hogan blades. I bought these off Facebook marketplace for 150 bucks came with a couple wedges a driver dear friend of mine Mr. Luke from episode six big driver energy was kind enough to gift me a three wood he won in a competition that’s been my bread and butter aside from this weekend. I need new clubs. I

have been told every single round I have played by my playing partners, those I’ve known and met on the spot. Wow, those are great clubs, but if you’re just starting to play, those are probably the worst clubs to begin learning on. There’s zero forgiveness, zero margin for error, and that creates a lot more frustration. It creates a necessity for more patience and results. And it’s not that I don’t have more patience for these results. It’s just the truth of there’s an ego battle at play here. Part of me wants to say, well, hey, if I can learn to hit on these, I can hit on anything.

And yeah, while that may be true, it’s going to dramatically slow down my progress. And there’s really no, nothing gained from that approach. I mean, I can wear the badge of honor like, look what clubs I have. It doesn’t really gain me anything. So I’m acknowledging this. I’m putting my ego aside. I’m admitting I need to ask for help. So on August 13th, I’ve scheduled a club fitting.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (15:36.584)

I’m gonna get a formal club fitting done because to be frank, all of the grips on my clubs are absolute shit. The putter almost feels like I’m practically gripping the metal and correct me on what the actual metal is because the grip is so worn down, it’s barely there, it’s non -existent. So I need new clubs and I’m making that happen. I’ve got one round scheduled on August 11th. That is the only round I will play this week. I am actually moving so I will be ahead.

deep into packing boxes. You can’t see if you’re watching a clip here, but already to the left of me is just a stack of boxes that is taller than my head right now. So the focus this week will be on mental repetitions and visualization. I will play on Saturday, actually with Mr. Henry Carouse, the fourth known as Bear from episode 15, the Tampa local scratch golfer who I’m excited to play with. And then it’s off to the golf fitting. And I will then use that information to purchase new clubs and talk to you all about

I will be getting lessons from it, believe it or not. I mean, kudos to this guy from the gentleman who gave me unsolicited swing advice on the range, 36 years of teaching experience, I will be getting more lessons from him. Like I said, I’m moving this week, I’m off the entire next week to golf a little bit, and actually just recharge the batteries little staycation. So come late August, I’ll start the lessons going

and I’ll be getting a lot of repetitions in at home because now I’ll actually have a house with a gigantic backyard. So there will be a swing net set up ASAP of course, and I’ll be getting a lot more quality repetitions at a much higher frequency versus the 15 to 18 minute drive I’m making to the range now. So new clubs on the horizon, another pack of lessons on the horizon, but here is the biggest takeaway I took from these last two rounds that I think is absolutely critical.

for you to begin pondering as well. I’m actually gonna dedicate all of Thursday’s episode to this topic. I’ll briefly mention it now as I’m in the process of working through it myself. But it’s simple as this. I don’t have an identity on the golf course. And what I mean by that is I know that there are multiple characteristics and attributes

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (17:56.198)

and personalities of the best of the best golfers. mean, you look at all of the top guys on the tour, big shout out to Scheffler for taking home gold USA. There’s a variety of different characteristics. know, Tiger was a silent fucking killer. know, Tiger, Kobe, MJ definitely fall in that category. You know, Rory’s got that to an extent. Scheffler is just quiet, composed, having fun. And there’s every personality in between.

I don’t, lack that, you know, part of me feels like I want to be there to have fun. Part of me wants to be like overly positive and calm and I’ve got this. I’m here to have fun. But the truth is I’m competitive as fuck. I want to destroy you on the golf course. And I have almost in some ways been repressing that because I know my skill level is not where it needs to be to compete with most people.

But truthfully, even if you’re a good eight to 10 shots better than I am, I want to put you to the test right now. And if we’re playing, you know, one hole at a time, who wins the most holes? Like I want to beat you off five and four your ass all day. And I’ve repressed some of that. You know, really, I have to really find and create my identity.

I’m not showing up on the golf course as how I show up in my coaching and how you kind of get to interact with me here on the podcast and speaking. I’m still that personable, fun guy to be around, yet I also want to really show up as quiet, confident, with quiet confidence, excuse me, as prepared, as committed, as disciplined, because I am that dude who’s bringing a cooler of all the most nutritious snacks.

very hydrated electrolytes, fluids galore. So I’m very prepared. I’m going through my mental game pre -round routine. I’m getting my warmup strokes in. So I have a plan and I’m executing the plan. But when I show up off the tee box, I’m losing that confidence, that aggressive, that trust. When I’m putting, I’m inconsistent putting confidently and calmly. With my irons, I’m inconsistent in belief, trust, creativity and confidence. I need to work on cultivating my identity. Do I wanna be this

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (20:11.774)

confident, calm, aggressive golfer. Like what’s the attitude? What’s the belief, the emotion, the fire I want to bring to the course? And I’m working on that. And the reason this is so important, and we’re gonna break it down on Thursday’s podcast, because your identity encompasses how you speak to and about yourself, your thoughts, your beliefs, and your behaviors.

So by getting crystal clear on your identity, which can differ significantly from who you are away from the course, but it’s this clarity that has a positive trickle down effect and it works in both directions, starting with how you speak to yourselves, the words, the energy, the tonality you use all the way downstream to who you show up, how you show up as.

on the golf course. So I’ll break that down in more detail Thursday, sharing the personal deep work I’m doing in my morning journaling and reflective process with you. But I don’t have an identity on the golf course. And I know where I’m trending. I want to let the fucking driver rip it with confidence and aggression off the tee box more than most people. I want to trust my game around the greens and on the green more than anybody else. And I want to bring a depth

commitment and discipline to the game that exudes a deep sense of confidence and preparation. And to be frank, I want it to intimidate you. I want to have the psychological battles with you on the golf course while still having a blast time because I still am a firm believer by a quote I heard from Ed Mylett, winning is more fun than fun is fun. And I promise

when you and I play together, which you’re local to Tampa, reach out to me, let’s make it happen. It’s been such a blast getting to play with the likes of Ryan Moore, Aaron Jones, Henry Carouse, all local Tampa guys that I’ve met either through the podcast offline or in golf related Facebook groups. I wanna play with you. I invite you out, we’ll have a wonderful time. I’ll learn so much from you. It’ll be a blast. But that’s all I’ve got for you today.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (22:18.864)

I appreciate you listening to another episode, staying so in touch with my journey. And again, this was a humbling episode to record. It was a shit weekend performance wise, two phenomenal rounds with good friends and a lot of positive takeaways. And I’m gonna work this week on fine tuning my swing and my confidence in my plan. A lot of mental repetitions, as I mentioned, I don’t think I’m gonna have time to get to the range as I’m moving and that is a priority.

But after that, we’ve got a round scheduled for this coming Sunday, the 11th, and we’re back to work, getting club fitting and new clubs on the 13th. Thank you, if you’re a new listener for being here, I sincerely appreciate it. I drop a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday and a new edition of the More Pars Than Bogies newsletter every single Friday morning. If you’re finding this podcast valuable, it would mean so much to

if you took 30 seconds to leave a genuine rating and review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening to today’s show. Thank you so much for listening. Have a fantastic rest of your day and I’ll catch you in the next episode.