How J.P. Learned to Trust His Own Golf Instincts

J.P. has been working with me for about two years now, and he's become one of those students who knows the "right" answer to almost every golf situation. Ask him about course management, and he'll give you textbook responses. Show him a yardage, and he'll calculate wind, elevation, and pin position like a tour caddie. But there's been something nagging at me about his play—a disconnect between what he knows and how he actually performs on the course.

Last Thursday's round finally brought that disconnect into sharp focus.

When Knowledge Becomes a Prison

J.P. stepped up to the 4th tee, a challenging par 4 with a narrow fairway flanked by trees. The yardage book suggested a 3-wood to leave a comfortable approach distance, and that's exactly what J.P. pulled from his bag.

"You sure about that club?" I asked, noticing his hesitation.

"Yeah, the book says 3-wood here. Smart play." But his body language told a different story. He looked uncomfortable over the ball, took an extra practice swing, and his tempo seemed forced.

The shot found the trees on the right.

"Bad swing," he muttered, but I knew it wasn’t about his swing at all.

As we walked toward his ball, I asked, "J.P., what club did you want to hit back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, before you checked the yardage book, before you thought about what the 'smart' play was—what club felt right?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Honestly? Driver. I've been hitting it really well lately, and I felt confident I could thread it through there."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because that's not what you're supposed to do on a tight hole like that. Everyone knows you play conservatively when there's trouble."

The Pattern Reveals Itself

Over the next several holes, I started paying closer attention to J.P.'s decision-making process. On the 7th, a short par 3, he spent nearly two minutes calculating yardage, wind, and pin position before settling on a 7-iron. The shot was technically solid but landed twenty feet short of the hole.

"Good swing," I said as we walked to the green.

"Yeah, but I don't know why it came up short. All the numbers said 7-iron."

"What did your eyes tell you when you first looked at this shot?"

"6-iron, maybe even a smooth 5. But that seemed like too much club based on the yardage."

This was becoming a pattern. J.P. was consistently overriding his instincts in favor of what he thought he should do, and it was creating a tension that was affecting his entire game.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

At the turn, I decided we needed to address this head-on. We sat down at a table overlooking the 10th tee, and I asked J.P. a simple question.

"Have you ever made a decision that looked right on paper but felt wrong in your gut?"

"All the time," he replied without hesitation.

"And how does that usually work out for you?"

"Not great, honestly. But isn't that what good golf is about? Making the smart, calculated decisions instead of just going with feel?"

"J.P., let me ask you something else. Have you ever found yourself following rules simply because that's what you were taught, not because they align with who you are as a golfer?"

He was quiet for a long moment, clearly thinking about this. "You know what? Yeah. I feel like I'm constantly second-guessing myself out here. I'll look at a shot and immediately know what I want to do, but then I start thinking about what I should do instead."

"And how's that working for your confidence?"

"It's not. I feel like I'm playing someone else's game, not my own."

This was the breakthrough moment I'd been waiting for.

Learning to Trust Internal Authority

"J.P., I want to tell you about something I call 'trusting your own authority.' You've spent two years learning all the fundamentals, understanding course management, and developing solid technique. But now you need to learn when to trust your instincts over the textbook."

"But what if my instincts are wrong?"

"What if they're right? Look, you've been playing golf for fifteen years. Your subconscious is processing information—lie, wind, your current swing feel, your confidence level—faster than your conscious mind can calculate. Sometimes that gut feeling is telling you something important."

I pointed to the 10th hole ahead of us. "Tell me, what's your first instinct when you look at this tee shot?"

J.P. studied the hole. "Driver, aimed at the left side of the fairway to give myself the best angle into the green."

"And what does the yardage book suggest?"

He flipped through the pages. "3-wood, center of the fairway."

"Which feels right to you?"

"Driver feels right. I'm hitting it well today, and I like that angle from the left side."

"Then hit driver."

The Liberation Begins

J.P. teed up his ball and, for the first time all day, looked completely comfortable over the shot. His swing was smooth, confident, and natural. The ball split the left side of the fairway perfectly.

"Wow, that felt amazing," he said, genuinely surprised.

"That's what happens when your conscious mind and your instincts are aligned. You swing with conviction instead of doubt."

Over the next few holes, I encouraged J.P. to trust his first instincts while still using his knowledge as a backup. On the 12th, a tricky approach over water, his gut said 8-iron while the numbers suggested 9-iron. He went with the 8-iron and stuck it twelve feet from the pin.

"I can't believe how different this feels," he said as we walked to the green. "It's like I'm actually playing golf instead of just executing a game plan."

When External Expectations Meet Internal Wisdom

By the 15th hole, J.P. was playing some of the most confident golf I'd seen from him. But then we came to a situation that would really test this new approach.

The 16th was a short par 4 where conventional wisdom suggested laying up with an iron. But J.P. looked at his driver and then looked at the green, which was reachable if he could carry a small pond.

"What's your gut telling you?" I asked.

"That I can get there with driver. The carry isn't that far, and I'm striping it today."

"And what does your head tell you?"

"That it's risky. That the smart play is to lay up."

"This is where it gets interesting," I said. "You have to learn to distinguish between smart caution and fear-based decision making. Is your head telling you to lay up because it's genuinely the better strategic choice, or because it's what you think you're supposed to do?"

J.P. thought about this carefully. "You know what? I think it's because it's what I'm supposed to do. But I really believe I can make this shot."

"Then trust yourself."

He pulled driver, took his time setting up, and launched a beautiful shot that carried the water and rolled onto the front of the green.

The Art of Self-Trust

As we finished the round—J.P. shot his best score in months—I shared something important with him.

"J.P., what you experienced today is the art of trusting your own authority. You've built up enough knowledge and experience that your instincts are actually quite sophisticated. The key is learning when to listen to them."

"But how do you know when to trust your gut versus when to stick with the textbook?"

"That's the art part. Generally, I've found that your gut is pretty good at reading the current situation—how you're swinging, what you're seeing, what feels right today. The textbook is good for general principles, but it doesn't know how confident you're feeling or what shot gives you the most conviction."

The Balance Between Knowledge and Instinct

Here's what I've learned in my years of coaching: the best golfers aren't the ones who always make the 'correct' decision according to some external standard. They're the ones who can integrate their knowledge with their instincts to make decisions they can fully commit to.

Too many golfers become prisoners of conventional wisdom. They know all the rules about course management, all the percentages about risk and reward, but they lose touch with their own internal compass. The result is tentative, doubt-filled golf.

The art is learning to use your knowledge as a foundation while still trusting your instincts about what feels right in the moment.

Your Internal Authority

The next time you're on the course, try this experiment: Before you start calculating yardages and checking wind direction, take a moment to notice your first instinct about the shot. What club feels right? What target draws your eye? What approach gives you the most confidence?

Don't ignore your knowledge—use it to inform your decision. But don't automatically override your instincts just because they don't match the textbook answer.

Remember, you've been developing your golf instincts for years. That subconscious processing of information—the way a lie feels under your feet, how the wind affects your particular ball flight, what distance makes you feel confident—is valuable data.

The Freedom to Play Your Game

What J.P. discovered that day was liberating: he didn't have to play golf according to someone else's rulebook. He could use his knowledge and experience to make decisions that felt authentic to him.

The tension between external expectations and your internal compass doesn't just exist in golf—it exists in life. But on the golf course, you have the perfect laboratory to practice trusting your own authority while still respecting the wisdom you've accumulated.

The best golf isn't played from a manual—it's played from a place of informed intuition and confident decision-making.

Think About This

What if the difference between playing tentative golf and confident golf isn't about having more knowledge, but about trusting the knowledge you already have? When was the last time you made a golf decision that felt completely right, regardless of what the "book" might have said?

Until next time, less swing thoughts, more great shots!

Owen.