#33. How the Improv Comedy Framework “Yes, And” Can Help You Play Better Golf

episode-33-how-the-improve-comedy

Episode Introduction and Summary

Welcome back, fellow golfer, to another episode of The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast. I’m Paul Salter, The Golf Hypnotherapist, and today’s episode is all about taking a lesson from the world of comedy—specifically, improv comedy—and applying it to the golf course to help you get out of your own way and play better golf.

In this episode, we dive into the powerful framework of “Yes, and” from the improv world, where accepting the present moment and building off of it with creativity and positivity is key to creating flow and momentum. You’ll learn how this approach can be used to foster acceptance, stay present, and ultimately maintain composure and confidence on the golf course. From dealing with bad shots to tricky lies, this framework will help you respond to every situation with the right mindset.

I also share how I’m gearing up for an exciting weekend of back-to-back rounds, building off some frustrating but insightful practice sessions and lessons with my coach. My intention: trust my process, stay present, and have fun while aiming to break 90.

This episode will help you infuse mental and emotional resilience into your golf game, so if you’re looking for a new way to improve your mindset and performance, this one’s for you.

As always, if you enjoy the episode, please share it with a fellow golfer and leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps me grow the show and continue sharing valuable content to help you play to your potential.

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about how mindset coaching and hypnotherapy can help you get unstuck from the proverbial bunker of poor performance on the course and in your business, click here to schedule a coaching discovery call with me. 

Key Points:

  • The ‘Yes, And’ framework fosters creativity and acceptance.
  • Acceptance is crucial in both comedy and golf.
  • Building off mistakes can lead to better outcomes.
  • Collaboration with the course enhances performance.
  • Staying present allows for better focus and execution.
  • Every shot is an opportunity to reset and refocus.
  • Mistakes are learning opportunities, not failures.
  • A positive mindset can change the course of a game.
  • Emotional resilience is key to playing well.
  • Enjoying the game is as important as performance.

Key Quotes:

  • “I want to discuss how yes and the framework that allows creativity, novelty, excitement and damn good humor to flourish in the comedic realm. The same framework can allow you to infuse a sense of passionate acceptance and presence in the moment after hitting a poor shot or making a mistake to ultimately help prepare yourself.”
  • “There’s a deep, strong element of acceptance. This means agreeing with whatever premise or scenario is presented. And again, this might be by another comedian, an audience member, or just the situation you and that comedian are building off of. The idea here is to embrace whatever comes up instead of rejecting or blocking it.”
  • “You are going to hit so many great shots in your life that still don’t land or go where you intended. It might be a bad bounce. It might lead to an unfortunate lie. You have to remain present, accepting, and adaptable.”

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Time Stamps:

  • 00:00: Introduction to Comedy and Golf Mindset
  • 07:00: The ‘Yes, And’ Framework in Golf
  • 11:21: Applying Acceptance and Presence on the Course
  • 17:55: Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript:

The Golf Hypnotherapist (00:02.272)

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 bringing comedy, standup comedy, improv comedy, front and center and taking a very valuable transferable teaching point from standup and improv comedy to the golf course to help you get out of your own way.

and play better golf. Thank you again for tuning in to another episode. And today this episode’s going live. It’s Thursday, September 19th. And if you listen to the previous episode where I recapped the week prior of training and playing, coming in with a new low of 95, I informed you, I feel really good about the upcoming weekend. So it’s Thursday right now. If you’re listening to this, the day the episode goes live.

I’ve got back to back rounds of 18 at the home golf course, the home golf course being the one I’m gaining familiarity, repetition, frequency, practice, and a deeper knowing and understanding of the course. This is the course I will break 90 on and then I’ll go do it on multiple courses. But right now this is where I have zeroed in as the target. And I don’t quite remember where I left off on Tuesday’s episode, but I mentioned strong round.

Tough lesson, went to the range myself on Monday. It was incredibly frustrated. Like, holy shit frustrated. I felt like I took three steps back. Well, after some back and forths of video conversation with my coach, I fixed the tweak. It was one little tweak I needed to make, feeling a lot better here at my house, hitting some balls off the practice mat, feeling good during my range work since Monday. And again, just.

Planting that seed this weekend is exciting. look forward to sharing what transpires and the intention being trust, commit to my process one shot at a time, bringing in a level of passionate acceptance, a level of non -judgmental curiosity, putting myself in position to have the most fun possible.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (02:22.678)

while playing to my potential. So I look forward to recapping that with you. But the reason I bring that up is to harp on this notion of acceptance. This notion of acceptance is something I dove deep into in a prior podcast episode, as well as a prior edition of the More Pars Than Bogies newsletter. And the more research and deep dive and reflection I did around this topic of acceptance, it’s like my snot like, it’s

It was a byproduct of this chewing, this reflecting that my subconscious took this thought even further, was connecting dots elsewhere in my life where acceptance is so prominent. And it just so happens that as I was either watching a reel on Facebook, I am a big comedy reel sucker, I get sucked into those big, big fan of Matt Reif, love his comedy, love his crowd work.

And to be honest with you, after I achieve my goal of becoming a scratch golfer in winning multiple tournaments, there’s a little part of me that wants to give it a shot at standup comedy. We are years away from that, but I’ve always had a fascination around standup comedy, around improv. It fascinates me. consider myself an incredibly funny guy. mean,

You being a dear listener of the show, you probably already know that. And I have an imagination that my girlfriend can hear me in the other room and she’s rolling her eyes as she hears me say that, but I digress. What stood out to me as my brain was in the background chewing on comedy, the aspects of what make some comedians great versus some comedians not so great to say the least, specifically in improv, is the framework of yes and.

And I want to discuss how yes and the framework that allows creativity, novelty, excitement and damn good humor to flourish in the comedic realm. The same framework can allow you to infuse a sense of passionate acceptance and presence in the moment after hitting a poor shot or making a mistake to ultimately help prepare yourself.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (04:41.772)

to focus on the next shot at hand. So let’s talk about the basic principles of yes and. What does that mean in a comedic improv setting? Well, there are a handful of basic principles of yes and, but essentially, if you and I are on stage together delivering an improv comedy scene, you might suggest something completely outlandish, outrageous. And if I were to just shut it down or say,

That’s fucking wild. That would never happened. Well, the sequence, the story stops right there. However, if I choose to take an approach of yes, there is a pink elephant eating banana chocolate chip pancakes lying on your couch and that yes and framework is an example of accepting the truth, the reality, the present moment and creates an opportunity.

to elaborate, to add to it, to implement some creative endeavor for either humor or whatever other goal may be at hand. So yes and encompasses multiple principles. The ones that I want to focus on today are first and foremost, acceptance. Saying yes means agreeing to whatever premise or scenario is presented by the audience, another comedian, or the situation you’re building. Yes and creates an opportunity to build on the idea.

Hence the word and, it creates an opportunity. It’s like we open a gate, a blank canvas of opportunity. Yes and encourages collaboration and flow. Again, it doesn’t kill the story. It keeps the story, the sequence, the humor going. And yes and ultimately in and of itself embodies a sense of staying both open and present.

in the moment. It forces comedians to stay open to new possibilities, trusting themselves that they can make humor out of any situation. So again, there’s elements of acceptance, building off an idea, collaboration and flow, as well as staying open and present in the moment. Now I want to take this framework and I want to help you

The Golf Hypnotherapist (07:00.682)

Begin to use it as a lens to view your golf game, golf round, and your most recent shot to help you bring passion and acceptance, focus and flow to the course to enable you, empower you to play to your potential. So I want to now revisit those four elements of the YesSan principle and framework I just shared with you. But I want to start adding a little relatability and connection to your golf game and playing a round of golf. So again, number one.

There’s a deep, strong element of acceptance. This means agreeing with whatever premise or scenario is presented. And again, this might be by another comedian, an audience member, or just the situation you and that comedian are building off of. The idea here is to embrace whatever comes up instead of rejecting or blocking it. On the golf course, this may look like

accepting that even though you hit a great shot, you got a bad kick, a bad bounce, and you now find yourself with either an unfortunate lie or a lie in the deep rough or a bunker. Just like the comedians can’t go back in time and say, wait, excuse me, I’d like a redo, you too can’t go back and hit that shot again. You need to accept it, embrace that whatever comes up is here and now. This is the situation. We accept it and we go along with it.

The second element, building off of the idea. Well, here again, we’ve accepted this idea. This whole has started with one shot, whether it’s an errant shot, a mistake, an OB or an unfortunate lie. We accept this and now we’re going to build off of it. Yes, I have hit the ball into the rough or yes, I have found myself in a fairway bunker and I’m going to focus on my next shot and making the best

Possible shot I am capable of so this and allows an opportunity to build off of it The hole is not done after one poor shot and so many individuals make the mistake of checking out after one bad shot How many times have you shanked a shot and still got up and down? How many times have you found yourself in a bunker and still par baby even birdied a hole? Is it possible? Yes absolutely As long as you have the right mindset

The Golf Hypnotherapist (09:24.78)

So we get to build off of this. Yes, found my, I find myself in the rough and I’m going to really focus on hitting the next best shot possible. Element number three, collaboration and flow. In our case here, maybe we’re collaborating with the golf course. Okay, we need to flow with the golf course here. The golf course is offering you no shortage of hazards and challenges. It’s trying to trick you. It’s trying to mislead you.

We’re going to flow with that. Okay. My ball landed 30 yards shorter than I thought. I misread something. The undulation got me the trickery of the slope of the fairway. Yes, I accept that. And I’m going to play along. I’m going to slow down, really understand the shot, really get clear on my line, my point of aim, see that ball, that trajectory, that flight path, regroup, reset, and focus on showing up with a next shot mentality. And then of course, number four,

staying open and present. These are foundational elements that will serve you well in any realm of life, whether it’s in the comedic realm or on the golf course. When you’re open, open -minded to seeing a different perspective to hit a shot or to score a particular score on a hole. When you’re present at the moment, you allow yourself to bring all of your potential energy, concentration to that moment, which gives you the best opportunity

to play to your potential, this openness, this presence, it serves us well, it serves us well in every aspect of life. Now that we have a good understanding, I’m hopeful, of the connection between this yes and framework, how it serves comedians and improv comedians in particular in that moment, how it can then serve you and empower you to practice more acceptance.

more presence on the golf course, I wanna now go an additional step or two further. I wanna go through the four golf specific benefits, but I wanna add a new addition, a couple more benefits of just showing up with this yes and framework. And when I’m talking about beginning to shift your perspective, your attitude towards a yes and framework, it’s really about yes.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (11:49.61)

This happened. I hit that shot there. I missed that putt. I three putt that last hole. and that and again, fosters creativity and harnesses an opportunity. You get a re a chance to reset and refocus its acceptance. It’s resetting, refocusing and remaining present in the moment to hit the next best possible shot. So here’s how some of these principles further apply to you on the golf course. And number one,

acceptance of the present situation. This is what you gain by saying yes. So the way to think about this, we’re getting a bit more tactical and relatable here is on the course, you’re going to encounter numerous situations that were unexpected and did not go as planned. Bad shot, bad lie, difficult line, poor weather. The first step is simply this, accept the reality of the situation.

rather than trying to resist, avoid, or fight the situation at hand. Remember, what you resist persists. So again, if you slice your drive into the rough, you have two options. You come to so many forks in the road during a round of golf. You can either dwell on that mistake, ruminate, remain frustrated, or you can accept it. Yes, I find myself in the rough and I’m gonna hit a beautiful shot, get on the green.

And that’s where I’m going to bring my focus next. Number two, the and portion. It also creates an opportunity for you to respond positively because now you’ve accepted the situation. You can’t go back in time. You can, instead of unconsciously reacting, choose consciously respond, choose how to respond. And you can choose to make your response both present and positive. So when you find yourself in an unfortunate lie,

or in the process of recovering from a poor shot, how can you think to yourself, okay, this is where I am, how can I make the most of this opportunity and hit the next or the best shot possible in this given moment? Number three, again, yes and offers an opportunity to be present, to remain in the moment, to also remain adaptable, again.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (14:08.276)

You were going to hit so many great shots in your life that still don’t land or go where you intended. It might be a bad bounce. It might lead to an unfortunate lie. You have to remain present, accepting, and adaptable. So you might find yourself in this position and one way to begin applying this yes and framework is yes. This is a challenging lie and I’m going to focus on my technique to get out cleanly.

and I’m going to add another and I’m going to be damn proud of how well I just got up and down from this unfortunate lie. And that’s a beautiful mindset perspective skill to develop. And just like yes, and creates an opportunity to continue building upon the story, to continue building on the sequence of humorous events taking place in the performance on the golf course.

Yes, and allows you to create and maintain positive momentum. Say you four putt a par three after hitting the green in regulation, may or may not be speaking from recent personal experience. You know, you can sit there and you can ruminate. You can bring that frustration and tension to the next hole, or you can be a goldfish. You can quickly forget it. And instead of ruminating, you can choose to forget.

move forward and ultimately allow yourself to reset, adapting some verbiage similar to, yeah, that hole didn’t go as planned. And I have an opportunity ahead of me to get right back on track because here’s the beautiful thing about golf. You are one shot away from feeling great, being on track, being where you need to be to play to your potential. You’re one shot away. Relish that. Take solace in that.

You are one shot your next shot away from being right back on track. Additionally, this yes and framework on the golf course. Again, it allows you to collaborate with the course. Again, maybe the course is really flat. Maybe the course is full of elevation. Maybe it’s a rainy day. It’s a windy day. So you have an opportunity to collaborate. Okay. For example, it is a windy day. It’s drizzling on and off. I’m going to work with this.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (16:30.09)

I’m going to be extra diligent and intentional in my club selection, double -checking my distances, double -checking my point of aim, and you’re going to allow yourself an opportunity to work with the course, to work with the course conditions, fostering collaboration, fostering positivity, fostering opportunity to focus on one great shot at a time. And ultimately,

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the obvious. This yes and framework, it encourages growth. Every mistake or challenge you encounter on the course, it’s simply an opportunity to learn and grow. And this yes and mindset reduces pressure, reduces expectation and allows you to show up from a place of non -judgmental acceptance, curiosity and presence.

to take what you need from each individual round to help you become a better golfer at your next or during your next round and beyond this yes. And framework, it offers so much opportunity to infuse acceptance, neutrality, curiosity, and presence, all important ingredients in the recipe of playing your best round, playing your to your potential.

and enjoying the hell out of yourself on the golf course. This YesAn framework fosters mental and emotional resiliency, optimism, confidence, patience, presence, and acceptance. A handful of traits that you must foster, curate, develop, and fine tune over a lifetime to play to your potential, to show up to your potential on and away from the golf course. And that, my friend.

is today’s pod. I hope you found immense value in today’s episode. And if you did share this episode with a fellow golfer, and if you did find value, if you continue to find value in these 30 something episodes to date, and you haven’t yet left a review, a rating on Apple podcasts or Spotify, I would sincerely appreciate it if you did. This helps me grow the show, get my contact.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (18:53.1)

content out there in front of more avid golfers like you who are aspiring to get out of their own way, get unstuck from the proverbial bunker of poor performance and play better golf. Have a fantastic weekend out on the course and I’ll catch you in next Tuesday’s episode.

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PAUL SALTER

Paul Salter - known as The Golf Hypnotherapist - is a High-Performance Mindset Coach who leverages hypnosis and powerful subconscious reprogramming techniques to help golfers of all ages and skill levels overcome the mental hazards of their minds so they shoot lower scores and play to their potential.