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?
The Swing to Flow approach holds that the golf mind has two distinct parts: the analytical mind (mechanics) and the intuitive mind (mental game). 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.
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 resists analytical breakdown, as we can’t easily translate them into concrete principles, making them more difficult to understand through logic alone.
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 knows what motion you want to make and proves as much in the practice swing phase. The intuitive mind is the key to staying in the present moment—the most powerful tool that few golfers acknowledge and almost no one practices.
Then.
You step up to the ball, and everything changes. In the seconds before and during the 1.5-second swing, a shift takes place. You hand 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?
There’s no easy answer, but there are things you can do. 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 (See 50/50). It’s effective and hard work that requires patience and commitment. 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 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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