6: [Inside the Mind] Luke Barton, Big Drive Energy and Course Management Strategy

Luke, dude, thank you so much for joining me on the Scratch Golfers Mindset podcast. How are you today?

Luke Barton (00:08.407) Doing great, Paul. How about yourself?

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (00:10.27)

I am wonderful, slightly selfishly wishing you were here so we could golf together and play some poker together, but nonetheless, that’ll happen shortly.

Luke Barton (00:18.679) No doubt about that, man. These, these warm temperatures have been making golf extra fun lately. so.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (00:23.262)

Well, you say that for you, but it’s like freaking Sahara Desert down here. Still a blast though.

Luke Barton (00:28.631) I know you’re down there in Florida. I’m up here in Virginia and you know, we both deal with humidity, but you get the worst end of it.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (00:34.078)

Yeah, but I will say two o ‘clock when the golf course is empty because no one wants to be there, it’s a cheap price and an easy way to get a lot of holes in quickly. Yeah, well, awesome. And I am really excited to unpack your story, of course, here at Straight From the Horse’s Mouth because you’ve got a really neat journey of golf. You’re also, and I’m going to brag for you, an incredibly skilled golfer who in, you know, all of the golfers I’ve had the privilege of speaking to.

Luke Barton (00:41.815) No doubt.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (00:59.134)

really gets the value and the importance of taking time to invest into the mental game. And clearly it has helped you tremendously. So I look forward to unpacking it because I have a feeling that might not have always been the case as you gained your golf skillset and experience over the years. So why don’t we get a great foundation going to really share with the listeners your personal golf journey, when it started, what that looks like and kind of bring us up to speed to what the golf journey and what the golf goals look like today.

Luke Barton (01:29.367) Yeah. Thanks Paul. So my golf journey started kind of like a happy accident. like an episode of, you know, junkers or something like that coming in from school one day, I think I was in seventh grade and neighbors trash was out for the, you know, the next day for pickup. I was like, is that a set of golf clubs? And sure enough, I went, I went over to the trash can and pulled out this set of golf clubs, not knowing what they were, but they were wooden woods, you know, and blade, you know, blades.

And they were in this goofy little cart, you know, where they all sat in there side by side. And, my grandpa took me to the driving range and was like, here, you know, try it out. And I hit a couple of golf balls and I’ll never forget this, this lady came over and said, here, try this big Bertha driver, which was like new technology then. And she’s like, you know, you got a good swing. You should really try to play. And so I went out and tried out for my, my golf team later in the season. I actually broke a hundred my first time playing on a golf course to make the team. I think I.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (02:22.398) Peace.

Luke Barton (02:24.471) probably shot like a 99 .9, if that’s a thing. And later in the season, the golf coach comes over and he goes, I think we should probably consider upgrading your equipment. You know, those are actually women’s clubs. And I was like, well, touche, which we’ll talk about later about like equipment challenges, but it’s kind of the theme of my golf journey, you know, and then I played through, through high school and then, you know, got into some other sports as an adult and then really kind of rediscovered my passion, you know, after college.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (02:35.39) hahahaha

Alright.

Luke Barton (02:53.271) and started playing a lot more. But, you know, that kind of, you know, sums up my golf journey, you know, just, just found it and, you know, I’m a competitive guy and it was an opportunity to be competitive and just started playing and never stopped.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (03:03.582)

That’s awesome. So where are you now? What is your commitment to this passion of yours look like on either a daily or a weekly basis?

Luke Barton (03:12.311) Yeah. So I play at least once a week. you know, I’m not a committed practicer, which I should be. but I get out there and play a lot. and then I really focused a lot of my exercise throughout the week, you know, weightlifting and weight training, you know, for, you know, being good on the golf course and being able to stay strong and committed throughout the whole round and not have those, you know, whole 13, whole 14, where you start to fall apart and fall out of your swing playing cause your body’s getting tired and the, you know, the muscle tensions aren’t there like they should be.

But that’s kind of where I’m at now. And, you know, I play in as many tournaments as I can possibly get in, really enjoy competing and, it’s just a lot of fun. You meet a lot of great people too. And it’s, it’s really good for business networking.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (03:52.734)

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m curious, share with the listeners, where’s the handicap at today?

Luke Barton (03:57.623) I think right now it’s like right around a three. it’s, it’s varied, you know, through the years. but something is telling me that it’s going to creep even lower since, you know, we started working together. There’s been some considerable improvements.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (04:02.814) course.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (04:11.422)

Yeah, absolutely and for those of you listening to you know Luke and I are recording this just days after I recorded an episode with a TPI certified physical performance coach physical therapist certified strength and conditioning coach We have a whole episode on all of the workouts the flexibility the strength and the exercises you should and Should not be doing as a golfer to improve your game So I loved hearing you mentioned like that is a priority like even if you’re not on the course your mind is thinking what can I do to ready my body to prepare because I?

Luke Barton (04:35.543) Mm -hmm.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (04:41.214)

I’m learning firsthand, like I’m a gym rat, but that does not always transfer over to ease and fluidity on the golf course. Like these rotations, this torque and the angular forces I’m forced to use. Like I remember the first day I got out there, I maybe hit a hundred balls on the range. I get home, my lower back is in knots. My shoulders are so tight. I’m like, holy shit, I thought I was in shape. dude, yeah, because my gloves hadn’t come yet. Yeah, ripped the skin off. Yeah.

Luke Barton (04:59.543) yeah. Probably some blisters. Yeah. Yep. That’s a tough learning lesson. You know, as we’ve worked together, kind of becoming more mindful and aware of the body, those little signs, those, those blisters, you know, maybe a unique pain in your right calf. And you’re like, man, you just kind of accept it, but it’s actually your body trying to say, Hey, there’s something that’s out of alignment because when you’re swinging properly, it should be relatively pain free.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (05:28.798)

so well said and I was learning too his name is Trevor which I should make a good connection. He’s right over there in like Ocean City, Delaware border so not too far from you. But he was mentioning too like it’s such you know if you’re a right -handed golfer you’re swinging to your left non -stop. There’s so much muscular imbalance and asymmetry but you have to do some overcompensation away from the course to help try to balance out what will inevitably be some type of long -term imbalance but the more you can work on that the more fluid and effortless your swing is.

Luke Barton (05:57.303) for sure.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (05:57.982)

Yep. So take us back to your early days. You’re playing on the high school team. You know, what where and when did the competitiveness come about? Was that at that early age? And how did you work relentlessly on your golf game at that time?

Luke Barton (06:12.887) So full transparency, the reason I got most engaged in golf was after that first season, I found out that when you play golf in high school and there’s a tournament day, you basically get to skip class starting at like 9 a And I’m like, this is fantastic. So I basically get to skip school, which I wasn’t super interested in at the time. So I was like, man, this is awesome. I get to go hang out with my buddies and play golf. But, you know, I think as time went on, I’ve always enjoyed like chess, poker, golf.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (06:24.158) love that.

Luke Barton (06:39.575) really spoke to me because it combines all those aspects of, you know, it’s a, it’s such a mental game, both in terms of like mental fortitude, as well as strategy. I love that there’s a physical aspect that you can compete at. And then, you know, if I get next to another guy that’s jogging, I’m just going to naturally try to jog faster. That’s just how I’m built. And so like with golf in particular, I’m, I’m six, three, about 235 pounds. I love hitting the ball far. I can hit the ball 300 plus off the tee.

And so that was another thing. It was like, you know what? I just want to be the longest ball wherever I go. I just want to hit the ball farther than everybody. So for those reasons, you know, they’re kind of self -serving, but I just got super captivated by the game and just fell in love and stayed, stayed with it. And I just found that every time I would meet new people and you start to mention golf, like, I loved golf too. And then there’s no better way than like shaking hands and saying hi for the first time. And they go, well, let’s go grab a round. Then you get four focused hours with somebody. You just get to know them on such a deep level and build some really authentic relationships.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (07:35.518)

love that. Now I have to ask this pursuit of the longest drive you possibly can crushing it off the tee box. Has that ever been a has it ever been a point in your playing career where that’s become counterproductive or detrimental to you being able to score lower because the ego is leading the way?

Luke Barton (07:52.215) whether it’s at the poker table or in life or, or, or on the tee box, man, the ego gets in the way sometimes. And that was one of the things that you and I worked on was learning to kind of tame the ego and, and focus on long -term strategy, the end of the round, you know, what I do right now with this tee box. Sure. I might feel great. I might impress the guys next to me, but that’s not going to contribute to a lower round. so it’s definitely been, you know, something where I’ve.

of almost overcompensated and relied on it too much, which then ultimately became like an Achilles heel where I wouldn’t work on other areas of my game. And some buddies I used to play with, you know, 12, 15 years ago, like my nickname was like good drive though. You know, cause I’d be 40 yards away from the green on a par four and then, you know, chunk a wedge and then bladed over the back and then barely make it on and then three putt. And it’s like, good drive though. So.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (08:47.038)

It’s so timely. So I’m actually I point out a book I’m reading right now. It’s called Golf is Not a Game of Perfect. Very popular book in the mental game of golf. It’s by Dr. Bob Rotella. But there’s literally this page I was reading today. He’s asking this player who thinks that everything is about the drive and off the tee box. That’s all he spends his time in and the coach that the

Luke Barton (08:47.447) Yeah, it’s definitely been counterproductive.

Luke Barton (08:55.703) Mm.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (09:08.83)

Doc in this case is trying to make the case like 90 % of your effort should be on 120 yards in and he’s asking this guy to review his rounds. He’s like, okay, like you shot a 73 like walk me through every single hole and he’s like, okay, out of 73 strokes and I’m reading verbatim now 64 fell into just three categories drives wedges putts throw out the 14 drives and 50 of the strokes were either wedges or putters. Like that’s where the game is one is it much.

Luke Barton (09:14.167) Yeah.

Luke Barton (09:35.319) Wow. Yep.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (09:38.686)

fun, enjoy and excitement, as much ego stoking as we get on the T -box, you gotta play the entire aspect of the round and fine tune every single skill.

Luke Barton (09:48.503) That is so true. You get in the club after round, nobody goes, Hey man, how many big drives did you have today? It’s always like, Hey man, what did you shoot? You know? And so like, you don’t get to write down, you know, BD next to your score, big drive, you know, it’s, it’s like, I shot an 84, you know, but.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (10:02.686)

Dude, they should totally make like a remake of that Big Dick Energy song, Big Drive Energy. You and I, dude, we’re going in, that’s the brand, let’s trademark it now, there’s our t -shirt company.

Luke Barton (10:12.375) That’s what my girlfriend and I’ve been talking about putting building collars for dogs that say big dog energy. and, but then like, especially sell them to small dogs. But, yeah, no, but back to what you’re saying, it’s so true. There’s a book called the spirit of St. Andrew’s where they really talk about course design and how every golf hole, the designer really is trying to basically trick you into, you know, their design, which is making it hard to score. That’s the whole idea of a golf hole. And so when I began to understand that and really understand a little bit about course management,

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (10:17.63) There dude, we… Yes!

Luke Barton (10:42.295) and look at a golf hole as like a challenge, almost like a mousetrap that’s trying to get me. It’s like, okay, statistically, what is the, the highest, you know, lowest risk, highest reward shot off this tee? You know, then I look at the green, it’s like, what do we have? We’ve got a greenside bunker on the right. We’ve got plenty of open space on the left. And, and really starting to break it down. And like the way you play chess where it’s like, whatever move you’re making now is about, you know, three moves from now. When you start to play golf that way and kind of see,

the eye of the designer in the golf hole and then build your shots against that is when you can really start to make some, some huge changes. And I’ll give you an example. I’ve talked to several golfers that shoot like, you know, high eighties, low nineties. We’ll talk about course management stuff like this. And without any change to their swing or their abilities, they’ll get right down into the low eighties. Now going from low eighties into low seventies, totally different ball game, but you can make like an eight to 10 stroke, you know, improvement.

when you’re like a high eighties, nineties golfer, just by understanding course management.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (11:43.166)

It’s so it’s fascinating you share that because first like you turned me on to that book. So you know, I put it in my Amazon cart right away. I’ve read a little bit of it. And like one thing that stood out to me was just like, how much thought goes into like these undulating deceptive patterns on the green. So like, you know, when you are 120 or you know, 100, even 250 yards out from the green, you’re thinking one thing and it’s totally different when you get there. And I’m curious, have you found it seems to me and you can correct me if I’m wrong that

Luke Barton (11:56.983) Mm -hmm.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (12:10.302)

you create like an inner game within the game, almost seeing every hole as its own unique challenge from the course architect. And that I imagine, again, correct me if I’m wrong, that serves as a way to keep your focus even sharper because you’re playing a game within the greater game. We both know maintaining focus over four hours is incredibly difficult, but when you chunk it down like that, it’s much more digestible.

Luke Barton (12:35.159) I could not agree more. It’s like staying present, staying in the moment. You know, it’s like when you go to a, a movie or you go to a live band, you know, if there’s lots of periods of kind of like mundane boring stuff, you lose focus, you know? And so by having this kind of small game within the bigger game, you know, it’s like each hole is its own exciting, you know, adventure to unpack. And even though like a lot of times I’ll play the same course over and over and over again, it doesn’t get boring.

Because it’s like, okay, the tee boxes are in a new spot today. How does this change, you know, my decision? you know, they just punched the greens. They’ve been sanded. Okay. How does that change my approach? the greens are really hard today. The balls are not sticking. Like, how’s that going to change my approach? And there’s, there’s just always something changing. It’s such a dynamic game. I’ve, I’ve told this to other folks too. It’s like, you look at any sport out there. The, the Delta between the amateur and the pro is greatest in golf of any sport.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (13:15.102) Mmm.

Luke Barton (13:29.975) So many other sports, you can train your way potentially into something golf, greatest Delta ever. I think most people would agree. And it’s just because there’s so much physical and then there’s just exponentially more mental that has to be combined in order to be successful.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (13:41.79) Hmm.

couldn’t agree more and something that stands out to me and I’m curious if you would label or describe yourself this way. This is just me listening and reflecting back to you the way you just broke down like all of the different modifications of course can make that seem granular but change the entire perspective and approach like it seems to me you approach each hole and challenge with genuine curiosity. What can I do? Is that a fair assumption?

Luke Barton (14:08.855) I think so. it’s, it’s a curiosity and then also, you know, like an internal or personal inventory of like, how am I feeling today? Where’s my body today? Am I tight from a workout? Am I fluid? You know, how’s my swing felt? And then all those factors in conjunction with, you know, what each hole is presenting that day, you know, then equates to the decision making for how to play that hole. a good example would be number nine at Virginia beach national here in Virginia beach.

You’ve got a long par 4, you know, it’s like the number 2 or 3 handicap on the course. There’s water all the way down the right -hand side. The week before, I had shot a 73, but I hit my ball on the water off the tee on that hole and on number 5 and had a 3 putt that day. So I’m on number 9 the week later and I’m sitting there going, you know, my drive has felt a little funny. And then let me just go back and look at this, you know, scorecard again. Okay, so 416 -yard par 4. I hit my 3 -iron 220.

let’s just tee off with the three iron, you know, punched it right down the middle of the fairway. And then I had like a very easy hundred and like 5 ,560 yards shot in on the green. Good look at birdie missed, made par, got away clean as opposed to a double bogey. And that again was that taking inventory of how I felt, you know, maybe a little bit of a fear in my head from the last week hitting it in the water and then making some different choices in order to like make sure I at least got a chance to score, but certainly was not in trouble off the tee.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (15:37.086)

love that you share that there’s so much to unpack and that that simple example like first and foremost like the taking inventory I think is something as a listener right now you’ve got to take away because the way Luke describes it like the mental physical and emotional inventory you know it seems to me like it’s become just so ingrained in part of what you do every shot every decision which is an invaluable skill that you’ve you know you’ve groomed over time but it’s so important and when you bring the element of curiosity into it like you know my coach says like we’re talking about like the the

What are they called shit like the trackers now that are just yeah, shot. He’s like, he’s like, yeah, they’re fun. They’re fancy, you know, obviously, they’re they’re 10s of 1000s of dollars at the best of the best but like the little golf ball is your is your little shot tracer and like when I see because I’m still in my beginning stages and I’m slicing right and I’m like, okay, like

Luke Barton (16:08.727) yeah, shot tracers. Yeah.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (16:25.022)

Curious, curiously like why did that happen? Like there’s no room to invite an anger or frustration if I lead with curiosity. So what I’m hearing from you is when you lead with curiosity, you’re able to maintain the necessary calm and composure. So no tension and tightness manifest physically in your body. And you can create that clear headed nature you need to make the best decision, which in that example you shared, you clubbed up, you went from the driver to the three iron and had a wonderful result.

Luke Barton (16:54.583) Like nail on the head. Perfect. An example I would use is like, if anyone’s ever like shot, like hunted or, or even just gone to the range, you learn a lot about like, there’s a moment of exhale. And what I would describe as like stillness right before you squeeze the trigger, right? That was a huge area I struggled and I’ve been listening to your show and obviously we’ve done some sessions and talking about that tightness in the body or just what I would call a point of unrest or lack of stillness in the body proceeding, starting your backswing.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (17:19.838) Hmm.

Luke Barton (17:23.191) That’s been huge for me lately. And I’ve started to notice that there are so many times where I’m standing over the ball, I’m about to hit a shot and I don’t love the way my left big toe feels, but I just want to hit the shot. So I hit the dang shot and then I do something stupid. And then I’m like, son of a bitch. I knew that I was not supposed to do that. You know, what the hell. So like just, you know,

You talked about like being rushed by the people behind you, whatever, like all those other stupid thoughts of getting in the way of like, wait a second. I paid money to be here. I’m working on my game. I can take 17 extra seconds to make sure my left big toe feels good. That I feel that, that moment of still, and then execute the shot and dude, like your show that was talking about that. And then last week, you know, I shot my best round ever 69, three under par, and I can only attribute it to.

Those extra moments of just quiet recalibration, getting still, feeling comfortable, feeling confident, and then taking my shot has just been an absolute game changer for me.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (18:22.398)

Dude, I love that for your spot on and as you know, I like to call that the anyway shot. Like we know something’s off mentally, emotionally, physically, that sound, the bird sound, the guy jingling his keys or his phone goes off and we hit it anyway. There’s this fear, this resistance from backing off. And I was talking with one of my buddies who’s an avid golfer, shoots low eighties. And like we were going through one of his rounds and starting to assess like.

he probably costs himself between six and 10 strokes every round because he rushes a shot or he doesn’t have the courage or the commitment to back off when something disturbs him. So we’ve had to put a lot of focus, awareness and presence practices into place and create a level of safety because it’s interesting you mentioned that because I mentioned struggling with like the people behind me. Like that’s something I’ve had to learn to like.

Luke Barton (18:49.175) Mm -hmm.

Luke Barton (19:04.055) Mm -hmm.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (19:10.43)

for lack of a better word, not give a fuck. I love your perfect example. It’s like you paid to be here 17 seconds in a four hour round means absolutely nothing. Let’s create safety, give permission to play our game. We are the only one, this is the only shot that matters.

Luke Barton (19:25.815) Yep. That’s man, it’s, it’s been really freeing too. It’s just like, you know, the, the imposter syndrome and some of those other things that you talked about that can just really cloud our judgment in those moments to prioritize ourselves enough to go. I deserve to take this time until I’m confident and then hit my shot. And golly, the difference it’s made, you know, it’s like, I’m so eager to go out and play the next time because I just feel like, holy cow, like this, like, you know, new potential has been unlocked. Where it’s like, man, I used to make all these micro mistakes throughout the rounds. What happened if I, you know,

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (19:53.854) I’m out.

Luke Barton (19:55.511) cut the micro mistakes in half. Like what could happen? So yeah, it’s been, it’s been really cool. There was something else that you just said that made me want to say something, but I can’t think of it now. So let’s just move on. I’m sure it’ll come back to me.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (20:06.878)

Yeah, it’ll come back. So I’m curious, you reflect back on your playing career over the last couple of years, walk us through, you know, hindsight being 2020. What was the difference maker for you that turned you from like a mid 80s golfer to consistently shooting in the mid 70s?

Luke Barton (20:25.495) That’s a good question.

I would say the first, it’s two parts. The first one was swing building or swing rebuilding. And then the second part is equipment. The first part, I was very fortunate to have a friend and mentor who is like you true lover of the game. He, he’s a technical director for a huge international company. He’s got an incredibly analytical mind. He can just unpack complex things. And, you know, he started inviting me to the range with him and is like, you know, let’s really, you know, slow mo this swing and figure some stuff out.

And he really identified just, you know, two small things. One of them he calls monkey butt, which is, which is kind of goofy. And then, and then the other one was basically just like my tendency to just over swing. And so like my rule of thumb is, you know, kind of like, you said I would remember it. And I did remember it. 80 % gets you a hundred percent. It’s, it’s tough in your golf swing to trust that your swing mechanics and, you know, like the cracking of a whip, like you can’t force crack a whip by like throwing it harder.

You know, you get the crack out of a whip by that little snap back at the end, which really is not a lot of effort. The same is true in a golf swing. It’s like the mechanics of a golf swing are designed to be easy and fluid and the lag that you create on the downswing and then that snap right at the bottom, as you accelerate through the ball, all that power comes through there and 80 gets you a hundred percent, meaning that only tour pros can swing 123, 124 miles an hour and hit it dead nuts in the center of the face of the club. We can’t.

So we’ve got to slow down and the more we slow down and we trust our swing mechanics, we get that center of the face more often, which then results in lower spin rate, higher launch angle, all those things that then generate a straighter further shot. So he helped me with my swing plane and understanding like how hip rotation works and coordinating that with the turn of the shoulders and everything. And then avoiding the monkey butt. And the monkey butt is that when you over swing on your backswing, you take it back too far. And now in order to,

Luke Barton (22:27.639) you know, stop all that reverse energy and get it going down again. You got to like lunge to get it going. And, and if you look at it on a camera, like you’re basically like air humping forward and he calls it like monkey buddy. so anyways, so that was part one, digesting and understanding my swing and learning where to, to pull back and where to focus in on control. and then the two would just be the equipment, like actually investing and going to see a golf pro who then puts you on a track, man.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (22:36.574) Hahaha

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (22:47.358) Hmm.

Luke Barton (22:54.807) looks at your launch angle, looks at your spin rates and goes, let’s try all these different shafts, all these different weights, all these different club heads, and then find the right set of irons that is fit for your height, you know, the shaft length, the grip size, as well as the angle of the club at address. Meaning sometimes if you’re taller, you need to, you know, tow the club up two degrees or a degree. If you’re a little shorter, you tow it down a degree or two. And you can find that out quickly in terms of feedback. If you are at the range hitting and you see your divots are always kind of toe heavy or heel heavy,

It’s a strong indication that you might not be fitted correctly. So getting fitted for equipment across, you know, driver all the way down to putter, those were really the key differentiators and going from a mid 80s golfer into a, you know, low mid 70s golfer.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (23:37.566)

fascinating. I’m so happy to you know, I’m I selfishly have wonderful, brilliant people and excellent golfers like you on the show so I can learn and you know, one of my buddies who’s a scratch golfer he said like, you know, it’s great you found a wonderful set of clubs on Facebook marketplace, but don’t be surprised if you when you’re truly on that like the precipice of shooting par for the first time, you’re going to need like to go get custom fitted clubs because it just that

point, you know, we’re scratching for 0 .1 % here, 0 .2 % there, and it makes a wildly large difference. So happy to hear you reiterate that. I’ll get both of you to go in on the funding for that, but I’ll talk to you when we get there. Fair. That’s true. Seriously, everyone pitches in a dollar. We’re great. Okay, so talk to me then your competition schedule. How often are you are you playing in tournaments? What does that look like for you this season?

Luke Barton (24:06.249) Mm -hmm.

Luke Barton (24:14.583) You can crowdfund it, man. You can crowdfund anything these days. You know, I want a new pair of shoes, crowdfunding. Mm -hmm.

Luke Barton (24:31.831) So a lot of the tournaments I play in are actually kind of like corporate events. So there’s, they’re going to be like two man or four man formats. The four man formats are typically going to be captain’s choice. The two man formats are often going to be a scramble one day or a better ball the second day. they’re always handicapped events. in the spring and fall I do, tournaments, where it’s like large groups of folks that are stable third formats, which is again, based on handicap and a point system. and then every Sunday I play with the same group of about 24 guys where, you know,

There’s some scratch money on the table. Everybody kind of bets. And again, all handicapped. So I will say this. A lot of folks love to brag about a handicap. When you start betting money on your golf game, you’re really not that proud of your handicap anymore. Cause the lower it goes, the harder it is to win. Meaning when you’re a two or a three handicap and your course adjusted to play as a zero, and then you’re playing against a guy who’s a 10 handicap, he gets 10 shots off of you. So that means the 10 hardest holes.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (25:02.782) Yeah.

Luke Barton (25:30.231) He gets a stroke. So now you have to really play your game. You have to make birdies, which is much harder than just to putting for a par, especially when you’re in a group that says, two feet from the hole. That’s good. And you’re like, but dude, he gets a stroke on me this hole. So, you know, most of the competing I do is, is really ultimately just for fun in the future. You know, I might try to get into some of the V S G A stuff, in our state, you know, just to, to try my hand. but I’m mostly a recreational golfer.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (25:59.806)

I’ll put a pin on that to nudge you to keep pursuing that goal because I think it’s awesome. But I’m curious, what have you noticed and I know you’ve done a lot of great work here from a mental aspect, but when the metaphorical and literal pressure is present because you are competing, whether it’s your ego or hard earned dollars that stake here, what previously used to, I don’t know if trip you up is maybe the right word or how did you begin to get in your own way on tournament days versus playing recreational with some of your pals?

Luke Barton (26:13.911) Mm -hmm.

Luke Barton (26:29.591) Yeah, I mean a good example of like a tournament day, you know, recently we had an invitational for one of the courses that I’m a member at and you get out there and you know, when the tournament setting is there, it just changes the atmosphere. And so you start to get into hyper competitive. You want to do your best. It’s really important to do your best and right then and there, boom, there it is pressure that you’re not used to dealing with. So.

If you don’t have a mental game plan for how you are going to approach that competition, that pressure for me in the past would always just make me that much more nervous and that much more stiff. I typically would kind of feel a tent attention across my chest and into the backs of my shoulders. And then my first couple swings of the day would always just be these nasty, you know, pulls into the left. And it would just be like, man, what am I doing? This is not me.

And it was because I wasn’t aware of how that pressure was manifesting in my body. And so, you know, being able to just, just simply like verbalize out loud to myself, like, I need to stay relaxed. I need to stay fluid, you know, breathe. Okay. You know how to swing the golf club, just go do you. And then, you know, have that plan of attack as you go into the round, it makes all the difference, you know, and then when you’re standing over something, you know, a putt you really want to make and you’re like, okay, I’m neck and neck for the lead.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (27:24.959) Mmm.

Luke Barton (27:49.655) I need to make this putt. That can again, create all this pressure and all this noise in your head. And if you don’t have a plan that you execute when you putt, like we worked on that I did not have before, all that noise is going to just take the place of any chance of your body staying calm and fluid and be able to do what it knows to do. So for me, you know, having a plan of attack, having a little bit better impulse control and a little bit more awareness of my own ego and my own counterproductive habits.

has really been making the difference in how I’ve, you know, what my results, what my end score have been in recent, recent tournaments. you know, since we’ve been working together, like all my little weekend scratch games, I’ve been winning consistently. and then like I said, shot my lowest round 69 the other day, which I, again, nothing changed in my swing. Nothing changed in my equipment. The only thing that changed was my mindset.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (28:41.214)

Yeah, I really love that. I love how much you reiterate plan, plan, plan, because the way I like to describe like planning and the preparation to those I work with is that you are essentially getting a minimal taste of that competition experience in a comfortable, safe environment, removed from the immediacy of that intensity and that emotion. So what happens is when you then step into that environment the next day, A, it’s a little bit more familiar,

B, the volume of emotions and the intensity of them are turned a little bit lower and C, you’ve done the hard work and the prep so you’re stronger in being able to actually handle, you know, it’s natural to have a little butterfly or a little tension because you care. And if you can reframe that from nervousness and anxiety and fear to care, excitement and confidence, it’s a whole different ball game. So I’m curious now, here’s an arbitrary situation. You’ve got a 9 .36 AM tea time.

Luke Barton (29:12.087) Mm -hmm.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (29:37.054)

You’re playing 18 on a Sunday. Like walk us through, like how do you approach that the morning of like from the time you wake up, what does that pre -round routine look like for you?

Luke Barton (29:46.551) Well, the most important thing to me on any golf tournament day or any golf day is just taking a massive dump. Like you just got to get all that out of your system, you know? So some coffee, some, some protein drink, you know, snacks are really important, healthy snacks, you know, that are, that are going to be good, healthy carbohydrates. That’s something I learned a long time ago from a Navy seal friend of mine. It was like, if you watch the tour, you’ll notice every two or three holes, they’re taking a bite of something.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (29:54.686)

Perfect. Couldn’t agree more.

Luke Barton (30:15.607) They’ve got to have that fresh energy to burn in order to be able to. So preparing with my snacks, my proper hydration, all that’s going to be in my bag before I ever leave the house. And then on the way there, you know, I’m probably listening to the scratch golfer’s mindset or something along those lines. Like if I’m ever going to a poker thing, I’m listening to poker. You know, I’m just immersing myself in the right mindset stuff. And then when I get to the course, you know, take a few moments to stretch, you know, especially open up those hips, do some lower back stretches, jumping, you know,

place, jumping jacks, whatever, knees to chest, you know, just get loose, get comfortable, take a couple of practice swings. And then the last thing I typically do before I actually step up to play is I think about, you know, what do I want my score to be today? And what am I going to do about that? And it’s like, okay, I’m going to right now on hole number one, commit to myself that I’m going to resist impulse. And then I’m going to stick to my plan. And that starts by like on hole number one, even though it’s the course I play all the time, it’s like, look at it. Okay. It’s 363 yards.

I don’t need anything more than a five iron. Don’t even look at your driver. Just go pick up your five iron, stripe a little baby draw down the middle of the fairway. You’re going to have a nine or a pitching wedge in your hands based on how far it rolls out. And then you’re going to at least make par and you’re off to the races. And so that’s typically how I approach it.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (31:30.686)

I love that. And it’s really cool to hear you reflect back what Trevor and last week will inevitably be last week’s episode said is like, if you’re truly serious about playing your best, you have a warm up without the club in your hand.

which you just beautifully explained. And then you have a warmup, obviously, with a club in your hand, a little range work, a little chipping, a little putting, and then you’re doing some intention setting before. I’m now just out of curiosity here. Is there any mental prep work you do or course strategy planning, especially, I know you play one course predominantly more than others, but say you were playing a new course or one you hadn’t played that often. Is there any course management and planning strategy work done the night before, like reviewing kind of whatever you can find on their website about each 18 holes?

Luke Barton (32:10.775) yeah, you want to look at a scorecard and you want to look at a course layout. You want to understand what the slope rating is because that’s going to be really key to assessing what your expected outcome is going to be. So for example, we have a number of folks that come over from what’s called Greenbrier Country Club here in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake area. They have a much higher slope rating than us. So somebody at Greenbrier Country Club maybe carries a 12 handicap. They’re actually going to kind of adjust and play as almost like an eight or a nine handicap where we play. So.

If I am going to go play a course, like I’m actually wearing a shirt today from this place called Royal New Kent. Royal New Kent is like a 137 slope rating, bunches of blind shots, crazy undulation. You know, when I was looking at that scorecard the night before, I was like, man, I might actually be grateful to shoot like a 79 here or an 80. Like I’d be probably grateful for that. And so it, you know, it was helpful to kind of preset my expectations, which if I hadn’t done that, and if I hadn’t researched the course,

I might’ve gotten to that first tee box and then like started finding all these blind shots and getting frustrated because it was like more of a surprise as opposed to being mentally prepared for what I was stepping into.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (33:16.958)

spot on, like I always say the difference between expectation and reality is the space where frustration and anger get invited in. So had you not done your pre prep work to recognize because of variables A through Z, you have to adjust and expect a little bit different of an outcome. You were able to again, maintain your cool calm collectedness to shoot a good score.

Luke Barton (33:23.895) Yeah.

Luke Barton (33:37.559) Yeah. And some little tips too, like when you look, you know, go on Google images and look at, look at it from a satellite. You can get an idea if between the holes, between the fairways is kind of wide open or lots of trees, which is going to be a good indication of whether there’s a whole lot of OB lines or if there’s a lot of grace, you know, so different courses play differently. And if you get to a course where there’s just OB everywhere, that’s where you especially have to consider this, like take a common par four, right? Dogleg.

I don’t know, most people hit a cut, I hit a draw. So for me, let’s say I get up to a dogleg right. It’s going to be a little harder for me because I hit a draw naturally. So I got to really pay attention to when that fairway starts to turn distance wise, what’s the end of that fairway? And I have to really make sure that I select the right club off the tee so that I don’t bring that out of bounds into play.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (34:10.718) Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (34:25.374)

Yeah, spot on. And that takes homework and it also takes a little bit of surrendering the ego, discipline and trusting yourself that it’s okay to choose a better club for this situation. You don’t have to blast it 300 yards. Though I want to.

Luke Barton (34:30.455) for sure.

Luke Barton (34:38.199) But you could, that’s like the devil in your shoulder, but Luke, you could pull the driver out and hit a fade that you’ve never hit before. It’s like, no, no, no, shut up, stop. Yeah.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (34:45.758)

land on the green. That’s awesome, dude. I think the last question I have for you as we wrap up this outstanding conversation is like where you are now. What is one thing from the mental game that you wish you knew five years ago that would have saved you an incalculable number of headaches and emotional outbursts?

Luke Barton (35:06.999) Man, that’s a good question, Paul. One thing from a mental game aspect that would have saved me a lot five years ago.

Luke Barton (35:17.591) If somebody would have come along and said something to the effect of like, you’re better than you think you are. You just need to tap into what’s inside of you in your brain and your heart and give yourself permission to become more self -aware and not be afraid of what you find. Meaning like I placed a lot of my own self -worth and value and I’m the guy that hits the big drive and it made me feel good. It, it, you know, satiated my ego.

but it feels so much better now to get, you know, texts from guys that are watching the game, which we play on an app and, and get a text that goes, Hey man, killer round. And I haven’t even spoken to that person in a couple of months. You know, that’s so much more validating and great to experience that then, you know, a momentary of a big drive followed by immediate disappointment of something stupid happening with like a, you know, flubbed wedge or something. But yeah, just for somebody to come along and say, Hey, you know,

you’re better than you think you are. Give yourself permission to, to get self -aware and to consider, you know, the difference of, of your choices and your impulses. And I think in that, I would have found myself a lot less angry because I used to have a lot, a lot of hot tempers when things would go poorly. and I think that I would have started scoring better so much sooner by, by diving into the course management and the, the difference in choices off the tee and you know,

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (36:32.734) Hmm.

Luke Barton (36:46.615) starting to formulate a plan. Like just the simple question, do you have a plan? You know, and, and, and then you start to learn that, like what you’ve kind of taught me. And it’s like, you learn this little thing in this game called golf, but galley, if golf and life aren’t just like running in the same direction side by side. And I’m like, you know, sitting in my office, looking at a challenging situation, wherever it’s like, well, you know, is there a plan here? Like, what, what am I doing wrong? Why are these results happening? You know, and just.

You know, it just starts to free you up so much to be able to be more relaxed and approach things in a totally different, you know, perspective that is, is just for lack of better terms, easier and better results.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (37:23.55)

and all I feel like both on the course and off that you’re leading with that curiosity because you’re composed. You’re just like, okay, like why, what do I need to do? What do I need to tap into to solve this problem? Cool, I’ve got it. Okay, if I don’t, I’ll ask for help or find it somewhere.

Luke Barton (37:36.343) Absolutely. And I think, you know, the, the final thought I would share is like in reading some of the material and the way that you approach the mindset coaching, you know, this idea of like these things in our subconscious that run on autopilot, like, goodness gracious, if something ever hit home for me, it was that is like, so many times I find myself angry at situations that happen, feeling like it just kind of like happened to me by accident, you know,

And then to unpack and understand that it’s like, no, I’m actually kind of predisposing myself to these things because I’m not being self -aware enough to realize that there are these things happening and running on autopilot that I do have control over. If I would just wake up a little bit, become a little more self -aware, be curious, ask the question, you know, and a lot of it really boils down to like getting away from the old bravado of men beating our chests and just being like, Hey,

Like, let’s just talk about it. Let’s figure it out. And like the moment you start to ask for help is almost a greater sign of strength than, you know, blasting at 350 straight into the woods.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (38:36.974)

Yeah. Dude, this spot on I mean, I always say like asking for help is the best accelerant to achieving your results. And for those of you kind of starting to really vibe with what Luke’s saying about those unconscious patterns, I believe it’s episode one of the show is all about what I call those destructive mindset programs where in an instant it goes from trigger to emotional outbursts and you’re left there wondering in a matter of milliseconds, what the fuck just happened. So for a complete breakdown, listen to that episode and Luke,

Luke Barton (39:02.583) Yeah.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (39:06.398) Tell everybody because by the time our show comes out, your show will be out. What podcasting and passion are you up to behind the scenes as well?

Luke Barton (39:14.359) Well, you know, I have two huge passions in life. One obviously is golf. The other is fishing. I love fishing for Cobia in the lower Chesapeake Bay area. It’s been a passion of mine for a long time. I’m also actually like third generation. My family’s in the wholesale seafood business. And so I really care a lot about seafood sustainability and the fun and the passion and the joy I get from going out and chasing fish and catching them. so it’s called the lower Chesapeake Bay fishing report, and it’s a weekly fishing report, whether it’s good, bad, or ugly.

just talking to local charter guides about, you know, what they’re seeing, what they’re catching and what’s happening right here in our waters with a primary focus on, you know, how can we be, you know, better stewards of our fishery here so that the next generation and the generation after that can enjoy the same fun that is getting out there and getting hooked up on a big fish.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (39:58.654)

Yeah, I love that. And I’ll be sure to drop the official link when it goes live in the show notes. So you guys should, if you have a passion for fishing, if you’re in that Delmarva Northeastern peninsula area or not peninsula, Eastern shore areas, what I was looking for, please check out that podcast because it’ll be valuable and relatable for sure. Yeah, thank you, Luke. And for those of you listening, thank you so much for tuning into another episode. If you found today valuable, share it with a fellow golfer who needs to hear all of the wisdom that Luke took.

Luke Barton (40:14.999) Awesome. Thank you, Paul.

Paul Salter | High-Performance Mindset Coach (40:27.806)

time to share and go above and beyond it would greatly benefit me I’d be forever indebted and thankful if you took 30 seconds just to leave a genuine rating review on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever it is you are listening to today’s episode. Well, thank you again. Have a wonderful round this weekend and I’ll catch you in the next episode.

Luke Barton (40:48.31) Cheers. Thanks, Paul.