Top 11 Tips: How to Relax on a Golf Course

Keeping relaxed on a golf course is essential for maintaining a positive mind frame to enjoy the game and optimize your performance. Our top 11 tips provide a wealth of options to calm the nerves and alleviate frustration through listening to music, breathing exercises, and avoiding work-related distractions.

Starting off with the most elementary tip of all, preparation. Being prepared for the golf course removes one layer of anxiety from the fray, ensuring you have sufficient supply for your round, from golf balls, tees, pitch repair markers, and the correct apparel.

When left without the correct tools for your golf game, it causes panic. Instead of focusing on the next shot, your attention is drawn to their equipment challenge, prompting frustration and stress for the remainder of the day.

Before you leave home, conduct a stock take on your golf balls and markers, and ensure you have a pitch repair tool and a bag to hold your sand. In addition, check the weather and pack the desired apparel, and remember your G-ROK Wireless Golf Speaker and Eagle 3 magnetic iPhone 14 Pro Max phone cases to keep your music playing and your GPS measuring throughout the round.

The most affordable and effortless approach to a positive outcome on the golf course is breathing exercises. The aim is to distract your attention from your next shot or current score and put your energy into counting the seconds you breathe in and out. Besides boosting your mental game, the best players use breathing exercises to reduce their heart rate and enter a quiet place.

A common tactic is the 5-2-5 formula, where you breathe in for 5 seconds, hold for 2, and breathe out for 5 more counts. However, this is not a golden rule, so use what works specifically for you. What is most important is to develop a rhythm.

Breathe in, hold, and breathe out between shots or during your pre-shot routine to calm your mind and avoid overthinking the following task. Apart from following the 5-2-5 breathing formula next time you play a round of golf, you can also use specific mobile applications to guide you through proper relaxation practices. 

Secure your phone to your cart frame using the ROKFORM iPhone 13 Pro Eagle 3 Magnetic Phone Case or iPhone 14 Pro Max case, and let your breathing app of choice take you through the motions to improve your mental state.

Listening to music is a practical approach to taking your mind off your last bad shot. In addition, it provides a handy tool to keep you focused on the task at hand and eradicate any thoughts about work or your personal life.

If playing with random individuals, you should only play music between shots. However, your playing partners may also enjoy the presence of music as they traverse the golf course. Besides improving your focus and detracting from past mistakes, music offers a superb channel for enjoying your game of golf, calming your nervous system, and distracting you from tiredness.

Gather your go-to foursome and compile a playlist of everyone’s favorites for the course, then crank it up as you drive down the fairway. 

One way to enjoy your favorite tunes is through the G-ROK Golf Bluetooth speakers. They produce a clear-crisp sound and are fitted with strong magnets to remain fastened to your golf cart frame while you traverse the rough and fairways.

Given its exposure to the elements, the G-ROK provides water and dust proofing and can play for 24 hours on a single charge. Remember to always respect the other players on the golf course, which is why we suggest keeping the volume at 30 to 50%.

The G-ROK speaker is extremely durable because its built for outdoor use, and can handle a drop from 5-feet high and sports IPX7 waterproofing protection. Plus, previous customers have reported that it holds firmly to the exterior of your motor vehicle at 90 mph.

If you’re not sporting a G-ROK golf speaker yet, you can use the power of visualization to relax. As Adam Sandler did in the 1996 film Happy Gilmore, you must go to your happy place to eradicate stress and frustration. You stand a better chance of prompting a positive effect in your golf shot when your tension level is lowered, and you're as happy as Larry walking off the first tee.

Your happy place could be the memory of getting married or the birth of a child. Alternatively, some players may reminisce over their best shot to date and attempt to replicate the feeling. When you’re happy, you’re positive, and when you’re positive, you’re confident and able to hit more attacking golf shots.

Take a deep breath, hold it for 2 seconds, and release. All the while gathering the imagery of your happy moment. Replay it over in your head until you feel a smile coming on without worries hanging over your head. At this point, you should feel relaxed and ready to focus on the job at hand.

Once you tee off the first hole, your sole mission is to get around the golf course in as few shots as possible while enjoying every moment. Live in the now, and focus only on your next strike to remain calm and worry-free.

If you prefer silence on a golf course, optimize your senses and enjoy the smell of fresh-cut grass, flowers, and trees. Then, take in the sounds of the birds and surrounding wildlife to remember that life is good even when your golf swing is off-kilter.

Focus on one shot at a time, and avoid thinking about external factors hanging over your head in your personal or professional life. When you live in the present, you are only concerned with the task ahead, which seriously helps you to relax on a golf course.

Golf offers an avenue to detox and disconnect from the stress of everyday life. Yet, many players carry that burden onto the golf course. Although you may use your phone or wearable technology for GPS and music, try to avoid emails, text messages, and phone calls.

These outside distractions cause you to turn your attention to the matter on the phone, not the golf course. You quickly lose the momentum of the round and stop taking in the beauty of the surroundings. 

Your lack of concentration prompts a few mishits and short missed putts, which onsets frustration and tension. Deal with your challenges after the round when you can dedicate the time to them. Otherwise, avoid paying attention to messages, emails, and phone calls during your golf round. 

Many casual golfers find a cold beverage of their choice helps to relax the nerves on a golf course. Try to avoid overdoing it and continue rehydrating with water throughout your round. A couple of drinks combined with your favorite tracks playing on your G-ROK speakers is the ultimate way to relax. 

While enjoying a beverage of your choice can have a calming effect on a nervous golfer, excess consumption can add much negative stress and prevent you from visualizing each shot clearly and executing it as intended.

Insufficient nourishment before your round can put players in a foul mood and elevate their anxiety levels. It is unnecessary to indulge in a heavy breakfast before your golf round but check that you have enough nutritious snacks to generate extra energy from the first to the final hole.

Easy foods to carry around the golf course include jerky, bananas, nuts, and dried fruits. These foods are packed with the necessary nutrients to maintain energy and a calm mood. Be careful not to consume excessive sugar products as that can cause a sugar high and energy loss on the way down.

A pre-shot routine promotes relaxation and focus during your round without spending a dime. It works to help players put the last shot in the rearview mirror and induce greater mental focus for the next strike.

Before you commence your swing, employ the same routine every time until it becomes second nature. Look at your desired target down the fairway or on the green, check that your clubface is aiming at the target, then take two practice swings.

Look at your target one last time before you hit the ball and start your backswing so that your target is the last picture in your mind. Overall the pre-shot routine keeps your mind focused on one job at a time, reducing anxiety and negative thoughts.

Another aspect of the golf course that produces nervous energy is the indecision over yardage readings from your golf ball to the target. Not knowing if your chosen golf clubs offer sufficient length to get you to your target often leads to a mishit, frustration, and increased blood pressure. The best solution to this conundrum is to acquire a distance-measuring device like a rangefinder or download a GPS application on your iPhone or Android device.

Before you make your club selection, consult the device for a clearer idea of the distance and potential hazards in front of you to generate a better shot that finishes closer to your target. Rokform offers a great way to conveniently secure your phone to the frame of your cart for an easy, rapid view of the length of each shot to speed up play and encourage better golf distance control.

The Eagle 3 phone case for golf is Rokform’s solution for golfers seeking to keep their phones completely secured to the cart frame during a round. Although there are multiple phone cases and phone case accessories to opt for, the new Samsung S23 Eagle 3 case highlights our support for Android and iOS-loving golfers.

We end our guide on how to relax on a golf course with a social tip that works to take your mind off the game. Talking to your playing partners between shots is a sublime approach to building lasting friendships, learning more about others, and helping you relax on the links. 

Although tour players are prohibited from sharing advice on club selection before a shot, you still see successful professional golfers conversing with one another during the round. This practice does wonders for lowering performance anxiety, increasing enjoyment, and encouraging good times.

Naturally, you'll do this when you play with your buddies, but not always when paired with strangers. Find out your playing partner's hobbies and have a chat about non-golf-related topics to make the round more enjoyable and reduce the stress of shooting a low score. 

PGA Tour golfers stay mentally strong on a golf course by employing a pre-shot routine, mastering scrambling, and forgetting the last shot. A pre-shot routine puts the last shot out of your mind and helps you focus on the next full swing. On the other hand, a solid scrambler has the confidence to get up and down from anywhere around the green to mitigate a disastrous hole.

You can stop overthinking on a golf course by listening to music, living in the present, and taking it one shot at a time. By distracting yourself from the anxiety of performing well, you relax and focus on one step at a time, reducing the load you need to think about.

You gain confidence on the golf course by putting in practice at the driving range. The harder you practice, the more confident you become in playing different shots and attacking the flagstick. In addition, a pre-shot routine helps you forget poor strikes and focus solely on the next one.

Our guide on how to relax on a golf course provides the best blueprint to help you enjoy the game of golf. Be prepared, conduct breathing exercises, and don’t forget your G-ROK Bluetooth Speaker to listen to your favorite tunes.

Are you intrigued about the G-ROK Bluetooth Speaker and how it mounts on your golf cart and can enhance your golfing experience? Contact us using our convenient online chat on www.rokform.com. Alternatively, visit us at our Irvine, California, showroom. Alternatively, call us at 855-765-3676 or email us at info@rokform.com.