Weekly Quiz!

To see correct answer, click “CONTINUE” button at the bottom of the next page.

Good luck! 😀 

Should You Listen to Music on the Course?

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.

Let's dig in.

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.

My Thoughts

So what do we take from all of this?

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, I'd encourage you to experiment. Try a round with music, try one without. Track your scores. Find out what works best FOR YOU.

See you next week!

 Finally...

• Advertise your business to 38,000+ readers of this newsletter.

• Shop Arccos Golf here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

• Join Team Titleist here.

• Shop StrackaLine Green Books here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

• Listen to the “Hack it Out Golf” podcast on Apple or Spotify.

• Submit ideas or feedback here.
  
  Have a great week!