I wanted to put some ideas from a recent video TO THE TEST.

So I dove into the research and found some interesting results. 👀

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I'm headed to Bandon next week so our newsletter will be delayed! Can't wait... Has to be one of my favorite places to play golf in the world and very grateful to be going!
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What's the research say on visualization?

In a recent video with Coach Will Robbins, we talked about a pre-shot routine. One of the steps he talked about a lot was visualization.

I was curious what research was out there.

And I found a couple cool things. One useful study was a review of all the other research so that got us a long way 😂

[Weinberg, Robert. (2008). Does Imagery Work? Effects on Performance and Mental Skills.]

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1. Visualization only works if it’s vivid.

Your brain needs a detailed “movie,” not a blurry idea. Having some kind of visualization that uses sight, sound, feel, and even the sensation of impact has better effects.

Imagine as much as possible...
• The ball rolling
• The sound of impact
• The feel of the putter
• The entry line
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2. Positive imagery helps. Negative imagery hurts.

Seems obvious but worth stating for anyone out there that might imagine or talk about slicing their ball into a pond before hitting 😂
• Imagining a make improves performance
• Imagining a miss decreases performance
• Even “don’t miss” creates worse outcomes

3. Imagery works best for golfers who already have some skill.

A beginner doesn’t have a strong enough motor pattern to rehearse.
An experienced golfer does.
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Study: “Don’t Miss!” (Beilock et al., 2001)​

Researchers split 176 golfers into four groups:
• positive imagery
• negative imagery
• suppression (“don’t miss”)
• replacement (swap the bad image for a good one)

Then they tracked accuracy and dispersion across putting trials.

Here’s what happened:

• Negative imagery and suppression produced the worst putting.​
Trying not to picture the miss actually didn't help. The brain kept returning to the image golfers were trying to avoid.

• Positive imagery produced the best patterns.​
Golfers who pictured the ball rolling in showed tighter dispersion and better distance control.

• Replacement beat suppression.​
Swapping the bad picture for a clear, positive image worked far better than trying to supress it.

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The takeaway is simple:​
​Your mind follows the picture you give it.

Instead of fighting the negative thought, redirect it.
Give your brain the image you want to have happen.

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​Study: Outcome Imagery in Putting (Taylor & Shaw, 2002)​
​ What they tested:​
Three groups of golfers putted using:
• positive outcome imagery
• negative outcome imagery
• no imagery

What happened:​
Positive imagery led to better putting.
Negative imagery reliably hurt performance.
The control group sat between the two.

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So the research backs up visualization.

Build it into your routine and make sure it's clear and vivid.

Have a bad thought? Go back to your visualization.
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🎥 Check out the video​
✅ Check out the PDF cheat sheet we created. ​

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MYTH OF THE WEEK Myth #6: Always go through your full routine when practicing. Truth: Faster, varied practice improves learning. Dr Luke Benoit compares it to table tennis - you won’t get good hitting one ball a minute. You learn by reacting, adjusting, and getting more reps. Try “rapid-fire” range sessions - switch targets every 8 seconds. Add variation: high, low, left, right, short, long. If you already flush it and just struggle transferring to the course, then add more deliberate, slow practice. ​ If you want to get better fast, increase reps and mix it up. WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE (every week we're going to share an interesting myth and truth from Dr Luke Benoit from Ryp Golf. Fascinating ideas that will make you think.)

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Tiger on putting.

Saw this reel taking off this week. Tiger talking about the ball slowing down the putter.

Honestly not sure what we're learning here but thought I'd transcribe it and share it here.

What's your takeaway from this?

Tiger: The putter head moves first. Just like in the golf swing—the body doesn't move first. The putter head moves first.

And I believe the weight of the golf ball is what slows the putter down. So I accelerate all the way through, but the weight of the ball actually slows it down. It looks like I'm punching it, but I'm just putting all the energy into the ball, and the ball ends up slowing the putter head down.

You see some players have a follow-through like this [demonstrates long follow-through]. I don't understand that.

Think about it like a punch shot versus a full swing. A guy hitting a punch shot has a shorter follow-through. A guy picking it and hitting up on it has a longer follow-through. Same concept.

If you have the weight of the ball stopping the putter head, the momentum is going to be slower on the front side. So it looks like I'm punching it, but the weight of the golf ball is just slowing this thing down. That's all.

Why this matters more for Tiger's putter:

My putter is from an older generation - smaller grip, lighter overall mass. So it gets affected by the weight of the golf ball much more than these newer putters with bigger grips, bigger heads, more mass. Those go through more. Mine doesn't.

That's why it looks like I'm doing that short follow-through, but I'm really not trying to. The ball is doing it.

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Justin Thomas has some really interesting things to say.

Great podcast I immediately hit play on this week.

Few quotes you'll enjoy below.

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What it's like playing with Scottie.

"Everything everything that he does I feel like a lot of guys I know us two [Jordan and JT] like it's completely attainable and like it's not something that like oh I can't like Rory hitting a drive like I can't do that like DJ some of the drives like he hits like I can't do that like Tiger with his long irons throwing it up so high, like I can't do that... but like you go play with Scotty and everything he does you're like I can do everything that he is doing and it's just I have to get better."
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Trying to make swing changes and what he works on.

The one time I feel like I really I really tried to do something like very very different was in 23 and it was the worst season of my career. Like I just I've always had really really high hands, but I I just felt like they were getting higher and higher just like they kind of had been also this past year as well. But I just I really tried to to fix that and and or change that."

"Um, and it it obviously did not did not go well. It was not it just I didn't I shouldn't have. I mean, it's it's my in my DNA and something that I'd been very successful doing. So, I it didn't just didn't need to there there were other things that were causing, you know, the issues that um was maybe blindsided by, but it was a learning experience and um I know that going forward kind of thing."

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One of the most interesting quotes about the Ryder Cup I've heard.

"I watched them argue with us that they were 13s and it's like guys we play golf every week like look on TV how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting you can't have a putt roll three feet four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow. like speed them up and it was it was just bizarre because that's not something you would expect at a home rider cup... it was just so frustrating that we were being fought with and argued with on the speed of the greens that we asked for."

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What I've been up to this week

I spent a couple days earlier this week in Dallas with Jon Sinclair talking about a new TPT putter shaft that's coming out!

He came up with some new ideas I honestly have never seen before.

Going to change the way you think about putter fitting.

We'll have more to this story in January 😁

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-Cordie

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✍️ Written by Cordie Walker​​
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