5 Golf Mental Game Cliches to FORGET w/ Dr Greg Cartin

There are a lot of mental game cliches we repeat without much reflection or evaluation.  Today we’re tackling a few of those with Dr Greg Cartin and giving you 3 keys to take with you to the course.


If you’ve played golf for more than a few days you’ve no doubt heard these.

Just don’t think while you play.

You have to be positive and can’t think negative

DON’T think about score.. ever

You can’t get mad on the course. 

Control your emotions while you golf.

Have you ever taken the time to examine these concepts?  Well we did on this episode of the Golf Science Lab podcast with Dr Greg Cartin and give you a better gameplan the next time you head to the golf course.

The less we resist, the more freedom we can create, the less tense we are. And I think that’s what’s most important when it comes to performance enhancement.

If you enjoy learning from Dr Greg Cartin make sure to check out our online training we put together to help you understand a complete Mindfulness for Golf approach to the mental game.

If you subscribe to the Youtube channel and have watched some of our episodes with Tony Ruggiero you’ll recognize Dr Greg Cartin.  Below is a small segment we shot looking at an important topic… SELF-COMPASSION.

About Dr Greg Cartin

Dr. Cartin has an extensive background in both youth development through sport as well sport psychology consultation. After completing his Masters in Counseling Psychology from Boston University, Dr. Cartin spent 5 years as a counselor to high school athletes at Somerville High School in Somerville, MA. It his here where he developed his passion for helping athletes not only improve in their specific performance realm, but to also navigate through the sometimes difficult adolescent years. Along with his position at Somerville High School, Dr. Cartin did some coaching as well as consulting with local youth development through sport programs.

His doctoral dissertation involved an in-school physical education intervention at Boston English High School. Upon completing his doctoral work, Dr. Cartin started GC3 Performance Consulting where he is able to continue to provide sport psychology consulting services to athletes of all levels and ages as well as continue to provide support to local youth programs.


From Dr Greg…

I approach my work with a commitment to help you perform at your absolute best. I’d like to share with you some common themes that show up with athletes and performers & how I approach the work. When anyone aspires to do their best, negative thoughts and self-doubt will sometimes emerge. In your work with me, you will learn how to best respond so such difficult (and normal) thoughts so you can perform your best even when negative thoughts and emotions are present.

Trying to eliminate negative thoughts is at best an impossible task. We as human beings all experience negativity, doubt, and anxiety. Fighting with these thoughts and attempting to force them away only adds energy to them and becomes the actual cause of the anxiety, not the thought itself.

As athletes, musicians, artists, business people, we are always striving for optimal performance. Often times, the wrestling match with our negative thoughts that occurs inside our heads becomes a barrier to achieving our goals. What if we could perform at our best in the face of this negativity? When conditions are not always optimal. What if our mood, thought process, and current mental state played no role in how we performed, and that we could achieve excellence by simply being immersed in the current moment accepting that this negativity of emotion is part of the human condition.

These are questions that will be answered in our work together. By not constantly fighting the negativity, we are able to free up our minds to focus on the task at hand. Through this process we are able to increase our chances of achieving optimal performance. This is the true benefit to the client. The ability to perform at your best while experiencing normal human thought.