If you want to play your best golf, you need to learn to master your energy. Without energy, EVERYTHING becomes more difficult. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are, you cannot tap into your skills on an empty tank. Competitive golfers at all levels are impacted by their ability to manage energy – from getting into the “zone”, to handling set-backs, as well as recovering between shots, rounds, and events.

A common example of this comes from our experience working with college golfers when playing a 36 hole day. These athletes train hard, are highly skilled and fit, and yet they struggle to get through 36 holes because so many of them don’t understand the impact of energy and how to manage it. Predictably, we often see a loss in focus, increase in negative emotions, poor decision making, and a depletion of physical control, power and endurance as the day goes on. Consequently, performance in the last 18 holes rarely comes close to their performance in the first 18 holes.

This failure to effectively manage energy is a common story and something that has affected almost every competitive golfer at one time or another. 

What Does Managing Energy Mean? 

Managing energy refers to the ability to regulate and recover your mental, emotional, and physical energy so that you are in an ideal state of readiness when it matters most.

Physical: Refers to the energy to repeatedly perform at physical peak and tap into speed, power, endurance and fine motor control over and over again. When energy fades, speed, power, and endurance diminish, control becomes difficult, and it takes increasingly greater effort to tap into these capabilities on demand.

Emotional: Refers to the energy to manage emotions without letting them take over decision making or mindset. If this energy is lacking, emotions begin to run high and low, decision making becomes erratic, and it becomes easier to drift into negativity.

Mental: Refers to the energy required to focus attention on the right things and keep it there. If this energy has faded, thinking slows down and becomes sluggish, making it increasingly difficult to pay attention to the right things and deal with distractions.

Why Mastering Your Energy Matters

Top golfers are masters at regulating and recovering their energy over and over again – from shot to shot, hole to hole, round to round, and event to event. Managing energy allows top golfers to do three things:

• Get into an Ideal Performance State so they are completely dialled in when it is time to perform,
• Manage energy from moment to moment in competition, including the highs and lows, so they can generate best performances on a consistent, repeatable basis,
• Recover after strenuous mental, emotional, and physical efforts so they are 100% ready to go again for the next round and the next event 

Think of energy management as similar to a bank account. You can either make deposits or withdrawals. The more energy you have in the account, the more withdrawals you can make. The less energy you have in the account, the less withdrawals you can make. 

As a competitive golfer you need to make sure that when you compete you are as close to 100% in each of the three types of energy as possible. Every time you are on course and have to deal with a situation that is even a little bit out of the ordinary, you are burning energy. Each time that happens you have a little less energy available to you to use going forward. It doesn’t take long to get into a deficit too hard to recover from.

Rules for Mastering Energy 

Understand Energy Deposits & Withdrawals

Activities and interactions will either deposit or withdraw energy. Know what drains and replenishes you. Strive for a positive balance, both on and off the course. 

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is essential for energy and performance. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep. Establish consistent sleep patterns. Optimize your sleep environment to keep it cool, dark and quiet. 

Fuel Your Body Well

Eat a balanced diet for sustained energy. Stay hydrated. Avoid excessive sugary foods. Plan to eat and drink on specific holes during competition to avoid dehydration and low energy.

Play Like A Goalie

Match your energy to the moment, like a goalie in hockey or soccer. Focus deeply when needed, then change focus away from your game and conserve energy between shots and during delays. Check out our recent blog: Play Golf like a Goalie! for more details.

Engage In Active Recovery

Use self-care routines and take a break from golf between rounds. Recharge mentally by taking your mind off the  game with hobbies or entertainment. Recharge emotionally by connecting with friends and loved ones. Recharge physically with stretching, massage or hot/cold therapy. 

Manage Stress Effectively.

Learn stress management techniques such as mindfulness and breathing. Take breaks from technology by unplugging and avoiding social media after competition. 

Set Clear Boundaries.

Learn to say no both on and off the course. You are not depositing energy by pleasing everyone else or re-living their greatest and worst moments of competition. Prioritize activities that align with your goals and preferences. Create time for relaxation. Find intentional ways to step away from golf to give your mind a break. 

Energy can be Fostered

Managing your energy is a skill that needs to be thought about and fostered. Here are three clear actions you can take to immediately get the most out of your energy:

• Map out your energy deposits and withdrawals, both on course and off course, so you can minimize withdrawals and be intentional about deposits,
• Understand the 3 Zones of Performance, in particular identify how you will get into Zone 3 and what you will do between shots while competing – see our post on the The 3 Zones of Performance Expanded
• Create an active recovery plan: Identify the single most important thing you can do to help recover your energy post round in each area of mental, emotional and physical energy

Final Thoughts

No matter how hard you’ve worked to develop your skills and raise your game, it won’t matter if you are running on an empty tank. Energy is one of the easiest performance skills to master, so don’t overlook it.

Master your energy and you will master the moments that matter.