U.S. Amateur contender was in ‘swing prison.’ This pre-shot mental strategy unlocked his game

Jackson Herrington plays his tee shot on the third hole during the round of 64 of the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club.

Eakin Howard

SAN FRANCISCO — What is your last thought before you hit the ball? “Nothing,” said Tennessee rising sophomore Jackson Herrington after his Round of 64 victory in the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club. A simple answer to a simple question, but don’t be mistaken—Herrington’s pre-shot quietness is the conscious result of a larger mental strategy that has transformed his game.

A few years ago, as the Dickson, Tenn., native was beginning to be recruited by universities, Herrington was in a slump. The issue was not so much his swing technique as it was a busy mind over the ball. He struggled to turn off technical or negative thoughts over the ball. Don’t hit it left. You can’t miss long. There is trouble on the right. “I was in a swing prison,” he recalls.

That’s when Herrington began working with mental coach Steven Yellin, who has worked with players on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour. “We worked really hard on quieting my mind down,” Herrington says. But as any golfer knows, it’s far less easy than it sounds.

To turn the mind off over the ball, Yellin taught Herrington to divide up his pre-shot routine.

“Behind the ball, I’m thinking about the shot. What am I going to do to make the ball cut or draw in there?” Herrington says. On the course, he imagines a line a few feet behind the ball. In practice, he will place an alignment stick on the ground in that same spot. Once he crosses that line and steps into the shot, Herrington repeats the word “nine” several times. The number has no meaning in and of itself, but it rather serves as a mechanism to block out extraneous thoughts.

“I’m just saying it a couple times, and then I quiet my mind right before I hit the ball,” he says. Right before I’m about to take it back, I think about nothing. My mind is quiet.”

The last step in Herrington’s new pre-shot mental routine is to once again repeat “nine” to himself as he starts his swing. “I say the number nine in my head really slowly, which keeps my rhythm smooth and my mind clear.”

It’s a mental approach that Herrington credits with transforming his game. In the spring of 2024, no longer in “swing prison,” Herrington teamed up with teen phenom Blades Brown to reach the finals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. A few months later, he won the Tennessee State Open and reached the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur.

Of course, progress isn’t always linear, and Herrington cooled a bit during his freshman season for the Vols, recording just one top-10 and four top-20s. It was a couple more recent tips, however, that Herrington says have been crucial to his success so far at the Lake Course.

The first was a putting key from Yellin, who told Herrington, “Don’t let your mind get to the hole before the ball.” Prior to this week, Herrington says over a breaking putt, he would often look at the target, see a lot of break, and push or pull putts accordingly, missing them on the high side. This week, just like over full shots, Herrington has a quieter mind.

Also helping Herrington’s mental approach this week is some advice he received from a Navy SEAL last week while Herrington was at a four-day camp hosted by Callaway. “The most important thing he taught us was to let the bad thoughts come,” Herrington says. “If you try and fight them, they’re going to become even stronger. Let them come and eventually they are going to go away.”

The advice fits perfectly with the journey that Herrington has been on over the last few years to master the game by mastering his mind. “No thoughts. Just execute the shot,” he says.

Related articles

Nanorobots: The future of medicine: Scientists are developing Nanorobot can swim through blood vessels to aim and destroy cancer cells. Can this be the future of cancer treatment?

Elon Musk’s Growing Family: A Look into the Life of the Tech Mogul’s 14 Children” Discover the story behind Elon Musk’s large family, including his children with Shivon Zilis, Grimes, and other partners.

“NO GOWNS. NO CAMERAS. NO WARNING” — Secret Beach Wedding of Elon Musk LEAKS… and the Mysterious Figure in the Background Has the Internet LOSING IT

Rachel Maddow, Stephen Colbert, and Joy Reid Just Launched a Secret Newsroom — And It Could Change Journalism Forever

Elon Musk’s incredible pace of technological breakthroughs no longer surprises us. This time, Tesla has launched a second generation model with new battery technology. It looks like a supercar but costs only $ 3,777.

Ryder Cup Europe Stock Watch: Luke Donald’s 12th Man conundrum