{"id":5789,"date":"2026-05-27T01:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/5789\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T01:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:37:54","slug":"masters-2026-some-of-justin-roses-most-important-work-is-happening-between-shots-how-to-play-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/5789\/","title":{"rendered":"Masters 2026: Some of Justin Rose\u2019s most important work is happening between shots | How To Play Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 Listen closely to Justin Rose discuss his play through two days of the 2026 Masters, and there are clues to his success.<\/p>\n

Rose, competing for the 21st time at Augusta National, touched on his process and routine. He referenced “flow,” and also how he prefers to tackle the shot in front of him. \u201cI need to see it,\u201d Rose said when describing his tee shot on the fifth hole. \u201cI need to drive the vision of what we want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in cursory descriptions, Rose was offering a window into a mental approach that has contributed to his sustained success at age 45, with another shot at a first green jacket this weekend. The obvious elements were on display Friday: elite ball-striking (he gained nearly five strokes on approach for the round) and timely putting, with the fitness of a player a decade younger. But Rose\u2019s work with performance coach Jason Goldsmith<\/a> has been an essential ingredient as well.<\/p>\n

With the Masters in the balance, both men are reluctant to dive deeply into the specifics of their work together. Broadly, Goldsmith says most of his work with his clients focuses on shifting a golfer into an athletic mode and not fixating on technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to be able to connect to your target without relying on words,\u201d Goldsmith said. \u201cThinking about playing is not playing. Playing is playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

An important Goldsmith concept is called \u201cthe awareness loop,\u201d which a longtime student Jay Kirchdorfer said was instrumental throughout his college and amateur career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to want my technique to be perfect,\u201d said Kirchdorfer, a Louisville native who played at the University of Kentucky and then Rice University. \u201cBut Jason was really helpful in having me focus on the external.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the awareness loop, Kirchdorfer said, Goldsmith sought for his players to identify a point when they\u2019d walk into a shot and no longer concern themselves with specific swing positions. Instead, he wanted them to ponder an open-ended question like, \u201cWhat would a good shot look like?\u201d Some players emphasized feel, and others preferred an image, but both are meant to emphasize the behavior of a shot instead of the granular movements of a swing.<\/p>\n

“You’ve created a picture in your mind of what you want the ball to do and a sensation of how to create it,” Goldsmith said. “So it’s about aligning that sensation to the image you’ve created.”<\/p>\n

Some of this is apparent even when watching Rose between shots. While playing partners are over the ball, Rose can be seen without a club rehearsing the sensation he\u2019s trying to access.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve got a very robust pre-shot routine, and I’m always trying to iron it out,\u201d Rose said after his second-round 69. \u201cI’m always trying to get the flow of that. I’m always trying to slightly speed it up rather than getting stuck over the ball for too long, all that type of stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 Listen closely to Justin Rose discuss his play through two days of the 2026 Masters,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1657,1146,2066,3485,1282,3484,82],"class_list":["post-5789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-justin-rose","tag-augusta-national","tag-justin-rose","tag-masters-2026","tag-masters-2026-justin-rose-mental-game","tag-masters2026","tag-mental-game","tag-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}