Think Above Par | Your Mental Caddy for Golf Mindset & Performance

Most golfers worry about being judged about their shots, their score, their swing...you name it. Fear of judgement holds us back from showing up as our true selves on and off the golf course. I want to help you reduce your fear of judgement. In this episode, I share three points about golf judgement; who judges, what the judgements mean about you, and how to minimize worrying about judgement. If y...

Golf is an emotional game. We can have 10 different emotions just on one hole.  What makes golf challenging is the small amount of time we have to deal with them.  We have minutes or seconds before the next shot for us to deal with thoughts or emotions. It is a skill that I encourage people to practice on and off the golf course. The more you practice it - the better you get at it and the easier i...

Where we place our golf attention greatly influences our results on the golf course. This includes what we pay attention to how much information we process during a round. We  remind ourselves of what we don't want to do on the golf course. And this seems like a logical tactic. However it rarely serves us in a useful way. In addition,  we can be influenced by other people's thoughts and...

If you ever wondered, why golf feels so mental, I talk about it on this podcast. In Episode 1, I talk about what your brain is doing on the golf course.  But, in this podcast I take it a bit deeper. I talk about the two parts of your mindset on the golf course. One part deals with what you do over a shot and after a shot. The other portion deals with what is waiting for you on 18 when you are fini...

Have your ever said "My head was going to explode" or "I can't take it anymore"? How about "This course is impossible" or "There is no way I can score here." These are subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways we create golf drama for ourselves on the course. If you have a tendency to use colorful language and lots of adjectives to describe your golf, the...

How do you really know if you are playing to your potential?  For that matter, how do you even know what your potential is? By definition, potential is "showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future." And while I think that serves as a great goal - striving for something you are capable of in the future. Is it possible to play to your potential right now...with w...

Success in your career or other sports can play a role in how you show up at the golf course. It plays a role in what you expect of yourself and what you think others expect of you. In this episode, I name 4 ways we identify ourselves relative to golf and how it can affect your game and golf experience. Learn more at KathyHartWood.com Want help managing your golf brain on and off the course? Learn...

If you know you get in your own way on the golf course, this episode will help you pinpoint where to start the work on unleashing your game. I have categorized it to 6 main golf personality traits.   And because how we do one thing, we do everything, these traits will likely be found in areas of your life off the course. You may discover that you relate to several traits...this is common. But as w...

Do you feel as if other people perform better under pressure than you? When there is a clutch putt or shot to be made, it can seem like certain players handle those moments with a sense of determination and focus while others struggle or "choke". If you feel like you choke under pressure on the golf course, this podcast is for you. I put my spin on choking and what differentiates a playe...

Do you think that being hard on yourself is a useful tactic to create results? Maybe you punish yourself with extra practice sessions or you berate yourself with a strong verbal kick in the a@@. In this podcast, I help you discover if being tough on yourself is giving you the best results possible. Then I share a new way of looking at being hard on yourself and how you can shift it slightly to cre...

This is an interview by Jesse Perryman from the Flaghuntersgolfpod. He invited me to his podcast and we talked about so much valuable content about what thinking above par is all about that I wanted to repost it here. Jesse is an enthusiastic lover of the game of golf and asked powerful questions relative to the what it takes to manage your brain around the game. It is an awesome summation of what...

If you have ever tried to not have negative thoughts or tried to be more positive but struggled to gain any traction, I explain why in this podcast. Negative thinking leads to negative results but sometimes we can't seem to prevent those thoughts from surfacing and affecting our performance. I clear up three points about negative thoughts and offer a plan of action that will help you quiet th...

if you tell yourself that you want to shoot a certain score...or NOT shoot a certain score, this episode is for you. I share with you how to shift your mindset to something more useful. One of the hardest things you can do is try to NOT shoot a number. For example, you might want to NOT shoot higher than 80. In this episode, I share some insight on why you want to shift this thinking and what the...

Most of our fears on the golf course are not about being eaten by a tiger or bitten by a spider or mugged by a scary dude.  ( and yes being bitten by an alligator can definitely be a thing in parts of the US). What we usually have fear of is: fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, fear of disappointment. These aren't going to cause us physical harm. They cause us emotional...

I often talk that playing golf calm, certain and confident allows your best swings to show up. You are able to think clearly and swing freely. I do not suggest that you SHOULDN'T experience any negative emotions. That isn't a realistic goal. They are going to happen. So what do you do when they occur? I explain that to you in this podcast. I share my golf house analogy and offer some ide...

Let's talk golf emotions.  Often golfers think that they shouldn't experience certain emotions on the golf course.  There is a thought that golf should even be emotionless. We can define certain emotions as good or bad or even deny they exist. When we do this we make managing them more challenging. In this episode I talk about which emotions are preferred on the golf course and what happ...

Playing in a scramble, best ball, alternate shots, or one of the seemingly endless options of team golf can mess with your golf brain.  We run into different pressure and fears in team golf more than we do in individual play. In this episode, I talk about the different thoughts you have to manage, the emotions you encounter and the way it ALL affects your ability to make your best swings. This is...

Playing by the rules is an integral part of the game. The USGA talks about it in Rule 1. It includes playing within the spirit of the game. One of those is calling out the rules on yourself. Many golfers, however, use the rules against themselves and their playing partners and it interferes with your game and your mindset on the course. In this episode, I share my opinion in a way to think about t...

Setting and taking care of your personal boundaries on the golf course is critical for your success and ability to stay focused. It is about what you are willing to tolerate and where you speak up for yourself. It could be golf etiquette, rules, values, or personal nuances like chewing gum, talking, playing music. In this podcast, I define what a boundary is and the two main reason we avoid making...

If you have a big tournament coming up this season, and you are already feeling the anxiety and the pressure to play well, then this podcast is going to help. I show you how to play with more calm and certainty in those tournaments that really matter. I share two simple steps that will make a huge impact on your performance on tournament day. If you want to learn more about how to Master Your Golf...

If you want to change and  grow, your success is directly related to how coachable and self-coachable you are.  Being not-coachable means you are unwilling to look at your results from a curious and open mindset. It might mean you think you are right and any other way is wrong.  In this episode, I share three traits of a coachable person along with powerful questions to ask yourself along the way....

Golf is one of the few sports where drinking alcohol is acceptable and even encouraged. This is not a problem unless you are using alcohol for the wrong reasons. If you are looking to level up your game, play more consistently, or improve your mental game,  it is worth looking at why you are drinking. In this episode, I share with you 3 reasons why you may be drinking on the course to help shed so...

If you have a bad day on the golf course and then run to the range to fix your swing. you might be wasting valuable time. It is key to know and be aware of when you have a mechanical issue and when you don't. In this episode, I discuss  the 4 different circumstances where we incorrectly assume that we have swing issues that need be fixed. So before you run to the range or sign up for a lesson...

Playing your best comes down to your ability to manage your thoughts and emotions on the golf course. Some emotions are harder to deal with than others and shame is one of them. Shame is a heavy emotion that shows up in your golf game in sneaky and seemingly innocent ways. It is challenging to process in a round of golf therefore it is best practices to minimize or avoid it all together. In this p...

A golf goal for the season helps motivate you to practice and go to the course and play but there are good golf goals and there are better golf goals. In this episode, I share with you how to decide if your goal is going to set you up for a successful season. I discuss the three types of goals you could pick from and then explain why some are better than others. If you have a goal for the 2022 sea...