What's Going On in There - Your Brain and Golf
From The Brain Swings Every Club (Dr. Izzy Justice)

 

Research shows that when players describe their best rounds, they use words like: focused, calm, slow, effortless, free—and almost no thinking.

 

So why is that so hard to achieve?

 

Simply put—we overload our brains.

 

Between TikTok, Snapchat, X, texting, and everything else competing for your attention, your brain is constantly overstimulated. You’re exposed to far more input than your brain was ever designed to handle—and it rarely gets a chance to truly settle down.

 

That creates a competition in your brain:

• What’s already floating around in your head

vs.

• The sensory input you actually need to play—what you see, feel, and hear

Here’s the key idea for the rest of this material:

Golf lives in a low-frequency, calm state.

  • Golf performance → around 10 Hz
  • Daily life + social media → 20–30+ Hz

When you step onto the course, your brain does not automatically reset.

 

That gap is the problem.

 

Oh, and there's a problem. It gets worse during the round

 

Add:

  • A tough hole
  • A bad shot
  • A missed putt
  • Thinking about your score

Now your brain spikes even higher.

 

At that point, it becomes extremely difficult to:

  • See your target clearly
  • Feel the club
  • Stay committed

Your brain is essentially drowning out the sensory input you need to perform.

 

Why you struggle to recover

 

Our mind already wanders about 65% throughout our day.

 

That’s fine when your walking down the fairway.

But it is a major problem when you are:

  • In your pre-shot routine
  • Standing over a putt
  • Trying to execute a shot

At that moment, you don’t need outside distractions—your brain is already distracting itself.

 

Range vs Course (this is HUGE)

You just had a great range session… then played poorly.

 

What changed in 15 minutes? Not your swing.

Your brain state changed.

 

On the range:

  • Low pressure
  • Lower frequency
  • Clear sensory input

On the course:

  • Score awareness
  • Consequences
  • Emotional spikes

Now your brain is overloaded, and your ability to process what you see and feel is compromised.

 

The truth

If there were golf clubs that guaranteed great shots all the time – would you buy them?

 

I would.

 

So here’s the real question:

If you could get your brain to operate the right way — would you do it?

 

Because:

Most of your shots are not a reflection of your skill…
they are a reflection of the noise in your brain at that moment.

 

Neuroscience (Simplified for You)

 

Your brain operates on electrical activity:

  • Theta (4–8 Hz) → deep calm
  • Alpha (8–12 Hz) → optimal performance
  • Beta (15–30 Hz) → thinking, stress
  • Gamma (30+ Hz) → overload

We are chasing ~10 Hz (Alpha)

 

Traffic Light Model:

  • Green (10 Hz) → you play your best golf
  • Yellow (15–30 Hz) → you’re thinking, tension is increasing
  • Red (30+ Hz) → you’re getting emotional, reactive, and making poor decisions

Everything in golf requires “Green”

  • Club selection
  • Shot shape
  • Course management
  • Green reading
  • Risk vs reward
  • Wind, Lie, Emotions
  • Pre-shot routine

When you spike into Yellow or Red:

  • Sensory input gets worse
  • Emotions take over
  • Decision-making declines

You’ll start to see:

  • Faster walking
  • Faster swings
  • Negative self-talk
  • Head down
  • Rushed decisions

Table 1

Frequency (Hz)

Thoughts

Feelings

Behavior

30+ Hz

1. “Not my day today”

2. “I can’t stand this”

3. “What?”

4. “I suck”

5. “I’m done with this”

1. Angry

2. Confused

3. Helpless

1. Complaining

2. Blaming others

3. Looking down

4. Yelling

5. Cussing

6. Walking/thinking fast

 

 

 

 

15-30 Hz

1. “I’m not sure but I think this is right”

2. Think about something away from the match

3. “I can’t seem to hit my shots I normally hit”

4. Recalling bad shots

1. Indifferent

2. Blend of highs and lows

3. Not really caring

A mix of above and below

 

 

 

 

10 Hz

1. “I have a good target”

2. “I know what to do”

3. “I am committed to this shot”

4. “I can feel my grip”

5. “I can see the dimples on the ball”

1. Happy

2. Peaceful

3. Relaxed.

4. Calm

5. Free

1. Slow

2. Not rushed

3. Good rhythm and tempo

4. Not overreacting

5. Good decisions

6. Calm verbal dialogue with self

 

Check out Table 1

Does any of that look familiar?

When you find yourself in yellow (or red), one thing determines your score:

 

How quickly can you get back to Green?

That is your mental game.

 

The players who improve are not the ones with the best swings.

They are the ones who can control their brain long enough for their swing to show up.

 

This is the battle you are playing every day on the course — whether you realize it or not.

 

Your ability to handle it will determine whether the skills you are developing actually show up in your score.

 

To be as good as you can be, you must learn how to:

  • Respond instead of react
  • Reset instead of carry it forward
  • Stay in control instead of letting your brain take over

The good news - You can control this.

Not perfectly… Not every time.
But consistently enough to make a real difference in your scores.

 

What that control will actually look like

  • After a bad shot → you reset quickly
  • After a good shot → you don’t spike adrenaline and swing harder
  • During pressure → you slow down instead of speed up
  • In your routine → your focus stays on target, not mechanics

 

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