The Mental Golf Show

🎓 The Perfect Pre-Shot Routine digital course - Dial in your pre-shot routine, play your best golf. ----- I used to always play golf with a ton of fear. And frankly, I still play golf with fear. But not as much as I once did, thanks to an understanding of some of the core reasons we as humans encounter fear. In this episode, you will learn what the core sources of human fear are, why we fear those things, how that relates to golf, and a solution for dealing with and extinguishing each of the core sources of human fear. I'm confident you will leave this episode with a better understanding of yourself, your tendencies, and having new tools to play better golf. ----- 📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. 🏋️‍♂️ Get the Free MVP Golf Workout from Nerd Fitness here! 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.   

In this enlightening conversation, Dr. Gio Valiante, a leading psychologist and author known for his work in golf psychology, delves into the intricate relationship between fear, flow, and performance. He discusses how fear can undermine skill and decision-making on the golf course, emphasizing its evolutionary roots linked to social judgment. Dr. Gio advocates for a mastery-oriented mindset, encouraging golfers to shift focus from ego-driven desires to genuine love for the game. With practical insights, he redefines competition, urging players to challenge the course, not each other.

In this discussion, Matt Myers, a fitness coach from Nerd Fitness, shares insights from his transformative year of training with Josh Nichols. They explore how self-compassion can replace self-criticism, making progress feel more attainable. Matt emphasizes the importance of realistic goal-setting alongside acknowledging potential obstacles. He introduces the MVP workout, designed for flexibility and consistency, and stresses that foundational habits yield the greatest results. Their conversation highlights fitness as a long-term investment in well-being.

I've done a goal-setting episode at the end of every year for the past 6 years, but I don't think I've ever done a review of the year that just ended. This episode will show you a simple, proven way to review your year (or your day or your round of golf) that you can and should use. And I of course set some golf and podcast goals for 2026, which I think can help you do the same. ----- 📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. ----- 🏋️‍♂️ Nerd Fitness: Head to nerdfitness.com, and when (not if) you go through onboarding just mention Josh at The Mental Golf Show sent you. 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.

Steve Wheatcroft, a former professional golfer with 19 years on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours, shares his journey from the greens to mental health advocacy. He candidly discusses the void after retirement and the identity struggles of no longer being 'the golfer.' Steve emphasizes the importance of quality practice, the pressures of tour life, and the weight of early success. He opens up about his battles with alcoholism and depression, ultimately finding purpose in storytelling and founding the Mulligan Foundation to support golfers' mental health.

🎓 The Perfect Pre-shot Routine digital course: Dial in your pre-shot routine here. ----- This year has been a monumental one for The Mental Golf Show. It's the most interviews I've ever done (33 up to this point) and I feel like my skill as an interviewer has drastically improved across this year, and certainly over the life of the podcast. So with guest episodes in mind, I wanted to pull out some of my favorite nuggets from interviews in 2025. I wanted to include so many more than this, but I also wanted the episode to be about an hour long so I landed on 9 guest nuggets (I said 8 in the pod intro, pardon my bad counting skills). Below are all the guests and their episode number so you can go back and listen to their full episode: Webb Simpson: What confidence is made of, how to grow it, and what hurts Webb's confidence (Episode 242) Dan Abrahams: How to get the most out of your ABCD Game (Episode 239) Jayson Nickol: Getting comfortable going low and eliminating “Anyway Shots” (Episode 238) Ross MacLeod: Is putting the most important part of the game? (Episode 244) Mike Booker: The difference between a “Tournament Golfer” and a “Golfer Who Plays Tournaments” (Episode 241) Gary Waters: The benefit of detaching yourself from your results (Episode 254) Lou Stagner: Where should players set their stat benchmarks? (Episode 236) Jim Waldron: What and how much should we be thinking about during the golf swing? (Episode 245) Dawn Grant: How do you maximize joy on the golf course? (Episode 250) ----- 🗓️ Basic and Custom Practice Plans: Get more organized with your practice at joshnicholsgolf.com/practice 🏋️‍♂️ Nerd Fitness: Head to nerdfitness.com, and when (not if) you go through onboarding just mention Josh at The Mental Golf Show sent you. 📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.

🎓 The Perfect Pre-shot Routine digital course: Dial in your pre-shot routine here. 🗓️ Basic and Custom Practice Plans: Get more organized with your practice at joshnicholsgolf.com/practice 🏋️‍♂️ Nerd Fitness: Head to nerdfitness.com, and when (not if) you go through onboarding just mention Josh at The Mental Golf Show sent you. ----- Will Knauth is a +5 handicap U.S. Mid-Amateur competitor, a PhD student in Theoretical Statistics and Time Series Analysis, and he has opinions on how to play better golf. In this episode, you'll hear those opinions. I'm confident you'll leave here knowing more about the game with real things to try and having changed your thinking on different parts of golf. Will is one of my favorite guests because he has no skin in the game--he's not pushing or selling anything, he's not trying to build a personal brand... he's just a good golfer who's incredibly smart. I think you'll enjoy it. ----- Topics discussed: Two and a Half Years of Fighting the Hooks The Physics of Pushing vs. Pulling: Finding a New Swing Feel Swing Thoughts on the Course: Why Mental Chatter Isn't the Enemy Block Practice vs. Random Practice: The Internal Dialogue The Music Analogy: Distraction and the Sequence of Thoughts Bridging the Gap: Taking Your Range Game to the Course The Bottom of the Pendulum: Knowing When to Change Swing Thoughts Peaking for the US Mid-Am: Timing Your Game The Tale of the 13: A US Mid-Am Disaster Making Golf Work with a Demanding Life: Commitment and Sacrifice Time vs. Efficiency: There's No Substitute for Hours The Choice to Stay Competitive: What Are You Willing to Give Up? ----- 📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.

🎓 The Perfect Pre-shot Routine digital course: Dial in your pre-shot routine here. 🗓️ Basic and Custom Practice Plans: Get more organized with your practice at joshnicholsgolf.com/practice 🏋️‍♂️ Nerd Fitness: Head to nerdfitness.com, and when (not if) you go through onboarding just mention Josh at The Mental Golf Show sent you. ----- David Buck is a former professional playing pro who’s competed on the Canadian Tour, mini tours, and traveled extensively across North America and internationally chasing the game. He now operates an engaged community through his brand Big Swing Kings, where he blends humor and real coaching, swing roasts, and totally unique ways of thinking about the game. And he says he does this all with the intent to help players play better and enjoy the game more. You can find David at these places: Youtube: Big Swing Kings TikTok: bigswingkings Instagram: bigswingkings Website: bigswingkings.com ----- 📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.

📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement. ----- In this FundaMENTALS episode, we look at how expectations add tension and narrow your options, and why shifting to clear standards helps you swing with freedom. I cover the basic brain mechanics, a simple process to use before each shot, and a few practical course examples. The goal is steadier decision-making and more durable confidence. ----- 🗓️ Basic and Custom Practice Plans: Get more organized with your practice at joshnicholsgolf.com/practice 🎓 The Perfect Pre-shot Routine digital course: Dial in your pre-shot routine here. 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. 👨🏻‍🏫 Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. 🏌️‍♂️ Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. ⛳️ PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- 🔥 Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.

📊 FREE Mental Game Assessment: joshnicholsgolf.com/assessment - identify your mental strengths and areas for mental game improvement 🗓️ Basic and Custom Practice Plans: Get more organized with your practice at joshnicholsgolf.com/practice 🎓 The Perfect Pre-shot Routine digital course: Dial in your pre-shot routine here. ----- What if your pain wasn’t just a body problem, but a brain and golf problem? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Carly Hunt—Mid-Am Golfer/Pain Psychologist and author of Train Your Brain to Beat Chronic Pain—to talk about how golf can both ease and amplify pain, why “it’s all in your head” is a terrible (and wrong) message, and how the brain’s alarm system actually works. We get into practical tools for playing with ongoing pain, navigating fear of re-injury, dealing with the identity grief of not being the golfer you used to be, and how to shift from fighting your body to working with it so you can keep playing the game you love. ----- Carly Hunt's links: Carly Hunt's Book: Train Your Brain to Beat Chronic Pain: How to Harness the Power of the Mind-Body Connection - https://www.amazon.com/Train-Your-Brain-Beat-Chronic/dp/1462558526 Pain Reprocessing Therapy - https://www.painreprocessingtherapy.com The Pain Psychology Center - https://painpsychologycenter.com/therapy-techniques Carly on LinkedIn Carly on Instagram Email Carly ----- 📧 The Mental Re-Grip Newsletter: Sign up for weekly mental game tips at joshnicholsgolf.com/newsletter. Josh Nichols Golf (1-on-1 Mental Coaching): Email josh@joshnicholsgolf.com or visit joshnicholsgolf.com for sessions. Divot Board: Get 10% off at divotboard.com/mentalgolfshow using code 'MentalGolf10'. PutterCup: Get 15% off your PutterCup order by going to puttercupgolf.com/mentalgolfshow and signing up for the PutterCup newsletter. ----- Special thanks to Titleist for their support of The Mental Golf Show. Join Team Titleist here.