It’s a common affliction. You make a practice swing just before addressing the ball. Maybe you take a couple. More often than not, they’re smooth—sometimes even perfect. This is followed by a thought: I just need to make that swing. You step into your address and swing, but the swing that counts doesn’t resemble the one you just made.
Some golfers think they can trick the system by eliminating the practice swing entirely. Maybe they believe they can somehow save that smooth motion for the shot that matters. I’ve yet to meet a golfer who tried that and suddenly started flushing every shot.
Why?
Our mind has two distinct parts: the analytical mind (mechanics) and the intuitive mind (mental game). In golf, the analytical mind translates to precise calculations: pin location, distance to target, wind direction. It also controls our mechanics: grip, posture, ball position, takeaway, shoulder turn. This is shot planning and swing mechanics.
But golf requires more than sound math and solid mechanics. It needs artistry: touch and feel, educated hands and tempo. This part of our brain, the intuitive part, resists analytical breakdown. We can’t easily translate them into concrete principles, making them more difficult to understand through logic alone. Our intuitive mind should run the actual swing. To get there we need to have heightened present-moment awareness, a key component of the Swing to Flow process.
When you make a practice swing, nothing is riding on it. There’s no pressure. You’re unconcerned with outcome, because there isn’t one. That’s exactly when you should pay close attention to your intuitive mind. Observe it. Feel it. Decode it. It just produced the motion (swing) you want to make and proved as much with the practice swing. Strong present-moment awareness increases your chances of switching on your intuitive mind at just the right time, right before you swing. When these two conditions are working together they become a force multiplier for game improvement and enjoyment. It might be the most powerful tool that many golfers acknowledge but almost no one practices.
When paired you step up to the ball, and everything changes. In the seconds before and during your 1.5-second swing, a shift takes place. You have handed control of the swing to your analytical mind, silencing the intuitive mind exactly when you need it most.
Reliance on the Analytical Mind
The biggest reason we lean so hard on the analytical mind is that it’s tangible. We can feel a golf club. We can see a fat shot, a slice—the evidence is right there on display. We can’t see our intuitive mind. It’s invisible. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there, or that it lacks value. It just means it loses every argument against something you can see and feel.
What Can You Do About It?
Start by defining the mental game in your own words. Write it down, then look closely and honestly at your game. Do you recognize anything you defined? If so, write that down too. There is a helpful exercise in my post 50/50. It’s hard work that requires patience and commitment, but many have found it effective. Over time you can sharpen your intuitive mind and access it on demand more often.
Your Practice Swing Isn’t Practice
The next time you make a practice swing, don’t rush past it. It’s not practice it’s a learning moment. It’s the swing you need. It’s proof—the only evidence you get that the swing you want already exists in your intuitive mind. Your job on the shot that counts isn’t to create that swing. It’s to replay it. To get out of its way.
Get the full process: Swing to Flow: A Mindful Approach to Better Golf – Revised and Expanded Edition.
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