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Tom's Featured Tip: Music or No Music While You Play?
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Music or No Music While You Play?
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The Divot Board
This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
Music or No Music While You Play?
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
Should You Listen to Music While You Play?
Here are the results of several studies that I found in Lou Stagner's Newsletter.
More and more golfers are listening to music on the course these days. But does listening to music actually help your game, or is it just a distraction? A few research studies have looked at this question, and the findings might surprise you.
Study 1: Does Distraction Help or Hurt?
Sian Beilock and Thomas Carr at Michigan State University studied how distraction affects skilled versus novice performers. They had golfers putt under different conditions: normal focus, skill-focused (thinking about their stroke mechanics), and dual-task (distracted by a secondary task while putting).
The results were fascinating. Novice golfers putted worse when distracted. No surprise there. But experienced golfers actually putted BETTER when distracted. When the skilled players focused too much on their stroke mechanics, their performance dropped. Their putting was best when their attention was pulled elsewhere.
Why? Because skilled movements become automatic. When you consciously think about each part of your stroke, you disrupt the process. A little distraction can actually protect you from overthinking.
Study 2: What Genre Should You Play?
Timothy Baghurst and colleagues at Florida State University took it a step further. They wanted to know if musical genre mattered. They had 22 Division I collegiate golfers (8 men, 14 women, average 8+ years of experience) attempt 20 putts while listening to one of five genres: classical, country, rock, jazz, and hip-hop/rap. They also putted with no music at all.
The results? Jazz produced the best putting accuracy across the board (p = .036). Men scored almost two putts better out of 20 listening to jazz (17.25) versus no music (15.38). Their worst scores came while listening to hip-hop/rap (14.63). Women performed best with jazz too (15.86) and worst with rock and silence (14.21).
Every genre of music outperformed putting with no music.
Study 3: Music Lowers Anxiety, But Does It Lower Scores?
A 2020 crossover study by researchers in Thailand tested 20 collegiate golfers (average 7.5 years experience) under three conditions: no music, self-selected music before playing, and self-selected music during play.
The anxiety results were clear. Listening to preferred music before playing significantly reduced state anxiety scores (p = 0.047). Heart rate variability also improved, indicating a calmer nervous system.
But here's the catch: despite feeling calmer, there was no significant difference in actual performance across the three conditions (p > 0.05). The music made them feel better. It didn't make them play better.
Takeaways
If you're an experienced golfer, a little background music might actually help by keeping you from getting too much in your own head between shots. The Beilock research is pretty clear that overthinking hurts skilled players more than distraction does.
If you're going to listen to music, the Baghurst study suggests something smooth and low-intensity like jazz might give you a slight edge. High-energy genres like rock and hip-hop didn't perform as well.
But… while music can absolutely help you feel more relaxed on the course, don't expect it to be a magic fix for your scores. The Thailand study showed that calmer nerves didn't automatically translate to better performance.
Like everything else in golf, experiment. Try a round with music, try one without. Track your scores. Find out what works best FOR YOU.
Personally, I haven't been a fan of music blaring in the background when I'm getting ready to play a shot, but this year I will try listening to some smooth jazz to see how it works!
To that end, I downloaded a playlist to my phone for Smooth Jazz Essentials from my Apple Music app. Can't wait to try it out.
Try it, you might like it!
Email Comments: to TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, The Stack and Tilt Swing
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, and remember that golf is a game of discovery. Don't be afraid to experiment when you practice, it's good for your golfing brain.
Tom
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
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"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection1"
~ Ben Hogan