#26 [Journey to Scratch] A New Low, New Clubs, and No (new?) Excuses…

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (00:02.23)

Hey fellow golfer, welcome back to another episode of the Scratch Golfers Mindset podcast. I’m your host, Paul Salter, the golf hypnotherapist. And in today’s episode, we’re diving into a new low, finally getting new clubs. And as a result, no excuses? Or maybe we’ll learn new excuses with these new clubs. But all joking aside, welcome back. Remember every Tuesday,

I recap the past seven days in my journey toward becoming a scratch golfer. I give you a real vulnerable and honest look into what’s going on into my technical game, my mental state and my emotional state as I first and foremost work toward achieving my goal of shooting sub 90 on or before November 13th. And today is let me see Tuesday, August 27th. And I’ll tell you what, after

this past Sunday’s round, there’s a big uptick in confidence. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling as if I have plenty of time. And I’ll be honest, I recognize that that feeling may be fleeting. It may change every day. There may be some recency bias in play, which we will unpack. But truth be told, I feel good about the direction my game is heading because not only can I see

but I can feel tangible progress being made in multiple aspects of my game, which in some parts is part of the joy and fun of being a beginner. There are so many areas for improvement and there is so much improvement to be made. So long as I am paying attention and monitoring tracking progress in multiple areas, it becomes easy to see them. And I think that’s really important that you have an awareness as to where

and how you are tracking progress because progress or at least the perception of progress is essential to helping you maintain high levels of motivation which reinforces your commitment and ability to weather the collection of expected and unexpected challenges on your way to achieving your goal. So again,

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (02:17.154)

My goal right now, my short term sprint is to break 90 by November 13th or sooner before the little guy gets here and I might have to take a couple weeks off from golfing. So today, I wanna really walk you through the last seven days, because to be frank, as always and as to be expected and as relatable to you, I imagine there were some highs and some lows. So last week, we got a ton of rain here down in Tampa and.

I had a round of 18 on the schedule for Thursday. It was a very rainy, shitty day. The last couple of days leading up to that and especially that day, my playing partner and I ultimately decided it’d be best to reschedule. I went ahead and made the decision to still go to the course. I was gonna squeeze nine in around a six o ‘clock tee time. When I got there, however, unbeknownst to me, well, there was league play.

and two separate high school tournaments taking place all at this specific course. So I have an imagination that my round of nine holes might have taken me four hours. So instead, I spent about 40, 35, 40 minutes on the range and another solid 30 to 40 minutes on the putting green, doing some chipping and putting. And I’ll circle back to that in a moment because here’s where I’m at. I mentioned on Instagram, I bought that

golf net to put up in my backyard or on my lanai. And unfortunately it came missing a piece and broken. However, thank you to one of my dear fellow Instagram followers. He mentioned I should buy a much bigger hitting mat so that I’m not standing on the ground with a half inch elevated surface mat and learning to hit off of that. So I already did have this big, I think three or four foot by five foot hitting mat come and I put it in my lanai and I’ve been hitting

plastic golf balls, wiffle ball style balls in my lanai. I have full range of motion. The ceiling is high enough and I’ve been doing a lot of, know, hip to hip swings, slow, methodical controlled swing, working on contact, working on my takeaway, my swing path, really following through. Again, for me, it’s all about getting my wrists and knuckles down to completely close the club face.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (04:32.834)

Otherwise, I’m spraying a lot of shots right. And when I did my club fitting a couple of weeks ago, know, that spray could be as much as 30 yards to the right. So not ideal to say the least, though I will say, and we’ll come back to this, that spray of 30 yards or so on average was with my old set of clubs, those Ben Hogan blades. So I’ve been doing a lot of practice in the backyard, really intentional focus, 20 minute sessions, or I would make it.

So I had to hit at least 30 balls, very slow controlled, resetting my grip every time and just focusing on hip to hip, full swing and then chip style shots as well at a particular target, a trash can, a bucket or an area of my lanai, which is quite big. So it’s just a nice little perk to have. I’m feeling good. And then I get to the driving range on Thursday.

And again, it’s as if I have never hit a golf ball in my life. And what’s really unique is I am so grateful. I had the awareness that as I was making contact with the ball and it was spraying way right or just tripling, not trickling, you could just tell I was topping it. The face of my club was in all types of erratic directions.

And I felt a unique sensation at impact. And upon further exploration, I was able to see that the grip of these clubs, again, I don’t even know how old these clubs are, was so non -existent. And, you know, it was rainy that day, it’s muggy, incredibly humid down here. I’m sure there’s moisture on my gloves, on the club itself.

By the time I took my backswing and began coming down on the ball, I was losing grip. The club face was spinning and I was hitting it with the shaft, the hosel over and over. And it took me about 20 to 25 minutes to really actually identify what the problem was. You should have seen me, I was a mess. I was changing gloves, I was trying bare hand and none of it was working. It was incredibly frustrating.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (06:48.896)

I bring that up again because there’s so many moments in this journey, which I’m sure you can relate to where it seems like you’re doing everything right, but it’s not coming together. And at some point, I don’t know what I don’t know. And I think there’s value in having a swing coach, particularly at distinct phases in your journey early on. And then as you’re fine tuning and optimizing to get to that next level where you can send your video out to a coach and get feedback from a trusted source.

Because to be frank, everything looked good on my end. Even when I videoed myself, things looked good, they felt smooth in my backyard or on my lanai. I’m a scratch golfer already. I’m making clean contact, putting the ball exactly where I want it to go most of the time, of course. And on that range, I looked like I had never golfed before. something, there was a breakdown in grip, something was happening there. We’ll circle back to that. Over on the Chipping Green, I finally have found an approach.

technique probably have finally been taught the right technique and have committed to it feeling a lot more confident in my chipping and the same applies for putting slowing down implementing the tactics that my coaches shared with me are working really well at some really good putts again this round which I’ll break down further here and chipping just feeling consistent in control I’m very rarely compared to even a month ago.

chunking or sculling it. mean, just consistent, clean contact. And now it’s up to me to really slow down, choose that target so I know how and where that ball is gonna roll upon landing. And the same goes for my putting routine, slowing down. And you’ll notice that’s the theme of my challenge in every area of my life. In elementary school, the consistent feedback my teachers gave my parents

was he does great work, he’s a good student, but he just rushes through things. And if he slowed down, he could see a couple of his mistakes and errors that are silly, simple mistakes and do even better. And admittedly, I’ve carried this false sense of urgency with me for as long as I can remember. I mean, dating back to elementary school. I have not quite gotten to the core of when and how it has come to be.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (09:14.644)

I am far better at slowing down, cultivating patience, cultivating safety and slowing down. I notice on the golf course, particularly when there’s a little pressure from the foursome behind us, or I know if I’m having a bad hole, I’ve made a couple poor shots and my playing partners are trying to put out or have already put it out. I’m skipping important elements of my pre -shot routine just to get done.

So that’s my focus as I move forward is really slowing down and remembering the only person that matters is me and my goals. And I need to take necessary actions to achieve them. And I’ll be candid. I have a pretty, I would say above average speed of play when I’m hitting well, of course. So I’m not slow playing or anything like that. I do notice that I get away from my pre -shot routine fundamentals in both putting and shipping.

because I create this false sense of urgency, especially after a bad shot or a bad hole or two. And that’s where my focus lies. It’s really slowing down. So my reminder to you is do you notice a similar pattern after a poor shot, after a poor hole or three? Are you rushing, rushing, giving up, just trying to either get to the back nine or get done for the day?

How can you use your breath work to slow down? Another cue, another trigger to slow down. The moment you put your club back in the bag, can the audible noise of that be a wake up call to take a couple deep breaths? And that’s what it is for me. And when I’m writing my score, to take a couple deep breaths before putting my foot to the gas and moving on to the next hole. So, feeling frustrated with iron, forgot to mention feeling.

consistent with both my three wooden driver off the tee, hitting some great shots there on the range and on the course, feeling more and more confident with each passing week in both putting and shipping. And that brings us to Sunday afternoon, where I’m scheduled to play with a buddy I met playing randomly on a previous round last month. He’s sick, he’s unable to go. I’m perfectly equipped to play this round solo. Fortunately, the guy above me’s playing partner doesn’t show.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (11:26.402)

until the 12th hole, more on that later. So him and I, you know, hit it off, we play around together. He’s a great golfer. believe he shot around probably between 80, 83, if I had to guess. I know he was plus six on the front nine. Really great guy though, great golfer, learned a lot, had a lot of fun. And it was so interesting on the first hole, you know, great drives for both of us. I topped my second shot, but then my third shot was a beautiful approach shot.

I’m about 25 -ish feet away, right on a foot off the green on the fringe. And he sinks probably a 12 -foot putt for par. I drop my par putt within six inches of the hole. And we both look up. And behind us, I kid you not, this first hole is a little downhill. We look up back to the tee box.

There’s at least 12, if not 15, carts of golfers all around us watching. We noticed when we were taking our second shots, a ball came flying over us that bounced right up next to the cart. It’s an obstructed view from the tee box, so they couldn’t see us down there. They just wailed the ball, easily hit the ball at least 300 yards. And we come to find out the junior tournament that had been playing that morning is in a playoff.

So fortunately we both hit two putts with so many eyeballs on us and inevitably we make the decision on the second hole. We allowed them to play through. We’re talking with some of the tournament people and whatnot watching these 16 year old kids play some outstanding golf. Really neat experience just to have a little bit of a crowd behind us for a couple of shots and then to watch them play some really great golf. I believe it was a three hole playoff and really, really neat experience for those kids and for us to have a little.

Micro moment or taste of that experience as well. And as we press forward, you know, I’ve got my scorecard up in front of me on the front nine To be frank, I thought I played really well. I think I scored More poorly than how well I think I played a couple, you know It seems like five or six of the holes I just had a miss hit and that’s just where I’m at in this stage Maybe a little club induced maybe a little bit of rushness

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (13:37.25)

and maybe just a little bit of, you know, new lies, new scenarios and just learning on the fly. But I carded a 50 on the front nine. I carded 18 putts, had a par. And where things really started to take an interesting turn is on the seventh hole, I had a putt for birdie, hit the green, hit the fairway and the green, had a 30, 35 foot putt for birdie. And I got excited.

I knew I was playing well. wasn’t scoring well, but I was playing well. And I fucking three -putted it. And looking back, I rushed my process a little bit. was thinking too much. I don’t even think I rushed my process. I take that back. I was just thinking a lot. Like, man, I’m finally here. Like, this is what I’m capable of doing. This is my potential. I had strung together some strong holes. I was hitting well. And then…

There was a little tension, a little overthinking, and I got in my own way and three putt to a bogey. Bogey on eight, triple on nine, we’re carding a 50, onward we go. And here, my friend, is where things get interesting. On the back nine, I bogey 10, par 11, par 12, bogey 13, bogey 14. And one of those bogeys, I hit OB.

I’m playing some fucking great golf and it’s finally clicking. And what’s interesting, as I mentioned, my playing partner’s buddy, he might’ve come on 11 actually, not 12. And when he got here, again, bogey, par, par, bogey, bogey to start the back nine, I’m like, dude, where were you before? I’m playing great. But here’s what’s interesting. I started to notice my mind drifting. I kid you not, I had thoughts about breaking 40. I had thoughts that finally, it was just like a relief like,

I know I’m capable of playing great golf. There’s a solid swing within a few fundamentals that need continued repetition and strengthening, but here I am. have arrived. Holy shit. Like I might flirt with breaking 90 today. I’m playing great golf. And I started to be Frank battling with that voice that was already two hours in the future, trying to card a sub 90 when there were still four or five holes to play and

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (15:57.122)

It was an interesting experience, especially last week, I published the edition of the More Pars Than Bogey newsletter entitled, Have an Upper Limit Problem, how fear of success is sabotaging your scores. And it was so divine, unique in timing that I believe I was a victim of my own fear of success. My mind was wondering, like, what does this mean? What if you break 90 today?

What does that mean for your golfing career, your opportunities, even the respect I get from these gentlemen I was playing with who were shooting around 80 or so? It was a unique sensation and I got to experience firsthand and that’s when.

the out of bounds and water challenge that have plagued me in the past, both reared their ugly head. In the front nine, I only had one OB shot. On the back nine, I had six penalty shots. So I mentioned I opened bogey, par, par, bogey, bogey. I then went on to go double, triple, bogey, double to card a 47 on the back.

And I’ll be honest, I had some strong feelings of frustration and disappointment, but I’m gonna tell you what I did that I want to really make clear and hope that you’ll take this approach with you. You know I have a strong habit of recording my well -better -learned after round report, and what I did this time, I knew I had shot in the 40s before I totaled up my score.

Before I totaled up my back nine and my total score, I did my well better learned first. I focused primarily on what went well. I did a deep brained up of all the things that went well, reimagining, reliving all those wonderful shots. There was one I’m sitting like 230 yards away, just outside the fairway and about 150 yards down, there’s a big thick gully and most people, my playing partner included layup.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (18:07.798)

This is their second shot on a par five. I took my five wood and I just reminded myself of my golf identity. I play confident, aggressive golf and I hit that sucker right to the fringe. It was phenomenal. I did so many good things today or on that day. And rather than letting myself wallow in disappointment and frustration because I allowed myself to set the expectation higher and higher than it should have been before I’d finished the round. I focused on my wins, my positives.

And I want you to take this away too, because I know you have or will have those rounds where things are really clicking and one thing leads to another and you underperform based on the expectation you have, but you still did so many things well. Don’t skip acknowledging those. Don’t allow yourself to quickly gravitate and latch onto the frustration and disappointment you may be feeling. Focus on what you did well and really hammer that home.

So I had a long list of wins. have some key areas to continue improving upon and lots to learn and take away from this round. So again, I carded in 97 and I’m just looking at the scorecard here. You one, two, three pars. That’s probably a new number for me in a single round. That was outstanding. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight bogeys. Like we’re trending in the right direction. And again,

97 as a whole was not reflective of how I played. But if we go to that last four hole stretch, double, triple, bogey, double, on 16, boom, out of bounds, boom, top. It was almost like my swing began to regress to my old bad swing habits. And I can attribute some of that to fatigue.

I can attribute some of that to the off and on downpours we played in and just wet clubs, wet gloves, not having enough towels. But it further instilled in me just how important it is to continue ingraining the basics, working on that even 20 minute increments every single day. And that is a part of my training routine as I work towards achieving my goal of breaking 90. So that’s.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (20:24.31)

The recap of my round, a couple other things that stand out. My putting was so good and so bad. But if I take a more objective, non -judgmental view at my putting, it’s interesting. My three putts, I think I had, I’m just pulling up my score card again. One, two, three, four, I believe I had four three putts.

Three of them.

I was had an opportunity for birdie. So I’ve got to work on that. I’ve got to settle in. I’ve got to really slow down and perhaps revisit audit and optimize my breath work in the middle of around to get myself to a slightly deeper level of calm, clarity and focus so that I can really slow down and putt to my ability. I can putt well. And I didn’t.

do the best I didn’t do what I was capable of in some key situations, some key scoring opportunities during that round. And with that said, finally, my new clubs have arrived. I’ve got the Mizuno 9X something, something, something’s club fitting went well. I have not swung them yet. Like I literally had a 30 minute gap yesterday. The place is 12 minutes away. I drove there, picked him up, got back in the car and jumped on another couple hours of calls.

I swung for a total of maybe two minutes outside last night was a long working day, but I’ll get a couple sessions in throughout the week. And then I’ve got two rounds of 18 on the horizon one at the home course on Labor Day, another round of 18 and one at a new course temple terrorist country club with a guy from the four dudes one cart podcast I was fortunate enough to be a guest on all things hypnosis and the mental and emotional game of golf definitely check out that episode.

Paul Salter | The Golf Hypnotherapist (22:15.658)

Again, it’s called a four dudes F O R E one cart podcast for great guys funny banter phenomenal conversation. And if you do watch or you connect with those guys, make sure you remind them that you are team Scheffler as the one dude in particular is very hard team Rory and anti team Shuffler. So real fun experience, you’re gonna love the conversation to check that out. And hey, thank you so much for following me my journey listening into another conversation every time I

get ready to sit down to record a Tuesday episode. I’m excited to just share the open, vulnerable look into the frustration, the joys, the confidence, what ultimately boils down to slightly a bit of an emotional roller coaster away from the course related to my journey to achieving a scratch, but specifically to breaking 90.

by November 13th. I hope you find relatability. I hope you find a smidge or two of entertainment and most importantly, a key takeaway to help apply to your game, whether on or off the course, to help you play to your potential. So thank you for listening. Have a fantastic rest of your day. Hit them straight this week. Share this episode with a fellow golfer and I will catch you in the next episode.