Golf - Business - Life

Many golfers don,t know where to turn when the video mind is activated and its playing all the wrong pictures.  Don,t concentrate on the problem, you need tools to use. These are the same tools used by the best golfers and other sportsmen in the world. If you are Tiger Woods or a novice it doesn,t matter. Your mind works in the same way.  How many times have you been told " trust your swing and stay in the present " or "think positive" and you have been dissappointed. In my experience "positive thinking" can open you up to many vunerable situations both on and off the golf course. The present is "The Zone" or "The Ideal Performance State" and these tools will put you there on YOUR command.  

I am sure that you enjoyed The Open and were amazed how the winner Louis Oosterhuizen stayed so calm right to the end. On his left hand glove was a red dot and before every shot he used that dot to control his state therefore giving him his ideal performance state on his command before every shot.

Similarly Stuart Appleby could have used the same technique on his way to his recent 59 only he had a logo on his golf ball.

I hear at least 15 times a week " I,m hitting it great on the range but when I get to the first tee I can,t hit it anymore. OR  " I lost my swing on the back 9 ". You will be please to know that you haven,t  lost your swing but  instead you have changed state. Tiger Woods once said " those who control their state control their world. "   

If you are not getting the results that you desire on or off the golf course contact me.  The current economic climate is placing added pressure and demands  on us rather like a sportsman in a pressure situation. If you need help, don,t stab in the dark.  Learn the tools that work in any arena, sport , business or life as proven by both Appleby and Oosterhuizen.

Comparing a golfer and a gambler.

A professional gambler must learn the game and a large part of winning the game is strategy and mental discipline. He must know what he can afford to lose, when too sto-p and walk away. If he thinks positive, hopes the next hand or spin will turn things round, plays aggressively or just believes he is going to win there is only one result- bankruptcy !

The slot machine :- hope and belief that the next 5 minutes will be life changing because it is due to pay out soon or if I put enough in it will payout. In losing, losses become greater and decisions become braver.

Firstly a plan must be in place:-

- What is my skill factor?

- What can I afford to lose?

- What size of win will I be satisfied with?

Secondly play to the plan:-

- Realise your skill factor

- Learn when to walk away.

A good golfer must have a skill factor, know it and play within it.  Many golfers do not learn the game! Many golfers do not have a game plan relative to their own skill factor!  Proof is on the first tee. All day long echoes a chorus of “fore, fore, fore, fore “. What does this suggest? ( Could this be a reason why a round of golf takes over 4½ hours.) A good golfer will realise when to walk away i.e. play safe, take your medicine and move on. The most common reaction is the start of the negetive thought chain. Poor strategy and discipline leads to bankruptcy on your scorecard.- A good golfer has a game plan relative to his/her ability and sticks to it for 18 holes, completing the round using the least amount of effort. Golfers are conditioned to blame the backswing and return to the driving range. Now we open up a great deal of new problems and guess what ? Bankrupt again !

The ball machine is similar to the slot machine. 20 balls, not satisfied, another 20, disappointment, another 20, going through a whole range of emotions and leaving the driving worse than when you arrived – bankrupt!  

Shall we play golf or go to Vegas? Or both?

Absorb the above and be aware of your actions and thoughts on the course and driving range over the next weeks, make the appropriate changes and improve your golf.

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Start thinking out side of the box, now. 

What are the possible answers to the following questions

1. Why are 99% of golf lessons taken on the Driving Range ?

2. Why is a traditional golf lesson 20, 30 or 60 mins. ?

3. Why do we hit 30, 40 or 50 balls  

4. Why stand in the same place ?  

5. Why take a practice swing by the side of the ball ?

possible answers : because we have always done it, its easy, we hit what the machine gives us or the size of the bucket, we are creatures of habit or because everybody else does the same.

Generalization of the above = CULTURAL CONDITIONING  

DO YOU EVER ASK YOURSELF - WHY ? or  IS THER A BETTER WAY ?

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THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF GOLFER  : - 

WHICH TYPE OF GOLFER ARE YOU ?

Untrained Swing - Untrained Brain

Trained Swing - Untrained brain

Untrained Swing - Trained Brain

Trained Swing - Trained Brain

When playing Matchplay which is the most frustrating opponent ?

How many times have you heard?  How did he shoot 67. he can,t hit it ?  

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What is your handicap ?

What would be your ideal handicap in twelve months ?  ( be realistic, given your age, imput, ability etc )

To reach this handicap how much would you have to improve your technical side and how much your mental side ? ( percentage)

Now list 3 things you are working on in your swing

Now list 3 things you are working on in your mental game.

What have you learnt ? Is your training balanced to your needs ?

IF YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS GOT.

When the above questions are put to golfers the average percentages are 40% technique and 60% mental. Some are much higher on the mental side and are very rarely lower than the swing. What is amazing is, although many golfers admit that training the mental game will contribute significantly to their improvement  and help to accomplish thier goals, but they are doing absolutely nothing about it. 

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How many times have you been asked to concentrate with out being told how ?

How many times have you been told to relax with out being told how ?

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A very large percentage of golfers when asked about the level of their game are greatly dissappointed but are doing absolutely nothing about it. Many claim to be under-achieving and are losing interest but cannot change. This is where self discipline and a almost definitely a second person as a trainer/ motivator/coach is needed to break the old patterns and habits and introduce new. Remember, a good swing is important to play the game well, but is totally useless if the attitude and mind-set is wrong.  I have seen many good swings hit bad shots and many good putters miss putts. How many people when asked about the mental game or mind performance reply " Oh that. Its not for me. I,m not that good. " or " It s always my swing thats the problem. I must get that right first." Its these same people that I see on the course every day or week training, practising and playing hoping that one day it will be OK. Year after year I see the same people doing the same thing again and again only treading in the wheel of mediocrity. As stated earlier. " If this is where you want to be then don,t change. Simularities can be recognized off the course in life in general as well. A run of good form is not improvement its only a matter of chance and percentages in most cases and cannot be repeated.  My goal is to show people how they can move away from dissappointment and failure towards enjoyment and success by choice and not chance by identifying the good patterns and habits and repeating them by thinking differently.  

Find success and model it !   Harvey Penick once said to Ben Crenshaw " never go to dinner with bad putters ". What will they talk about ? Bad Putting !!!! Who do you asscociate with. Be carefull. Just like your computer, you are downloading information all the time. You need to download the positive info. and not the destructive. Even if the television is on in the background your are still downloading everything.

In tough economic times the media focus on the lack of money and people are talking about the hard times just like many members at the club focus on the bad shots, lost balls and missed putts. What videos does that encourage on your TV ?

TRY THE FOLLOWING !

Think of a recent event that made you laugh hysterically. Once you have the situation in your mind control the picture as you would control your TV. Make the picture clearer and brighter. Make the sounds clearer and turn the volume up. Notice how your emotions start to change. What would happen if you started playing videos of the saddest day of your life ?

Playing or feeling bad ?  What videos should you be playing ?

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" The definition of insanity is to keep on doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. "                  Albert Einstein.

     Fact : Goal setting is very important, but after setting a goal action must be taken within 21 hours. Research shows that most people that do not take action within 21 hours of setting a goal don,t achieve the goal. Are your goals actual and appropriate ? This can be learnt.

Why are we so resistant to change ?  - Kevin Hogan.     

Overcoming Resistance to Change.  - Kevin Hogan    ________________________________________________

Peripheral Vision  or Foveal Vision ( tunnel vision )

research proves this technique has been proven to be incredibly succesfull with players of all levels ( not only golf ). Peripheral vision activates our para-sympathetic nervous system . This will help calm our mind and eliminate the internal dialogue. Foveal vision is the opposite and this creates tunnel vision linked to stress. This condition is not healthy for golf and our ideal performance state. When in peripheral vision our body language is great, our mind is clear and we are ready to execute the next shot with out mental complications.

" He,s got eyes in the back of his head " or  " I sensed somebody was behind me ".  You can  learn to perform better by improving your senses.

If you can train the above on a regular basis it will give you a tool to be able to control your " state " in pressure situations. After training you can acheive peripheral vision on command. This will have an immediate effect on your physiology.

Imagery  ( during )

" setting up is 90% of good shot making, I think it is the single, most important manoeuve in golf..... precise shot making is 50% mental picture, 40% set up and 10% swing.                                                             GOLF MY WAY  Jack Nicklaus  1974

What pictures do you run ? What is your FRAME of mind ?  Are you running the un-wanted videos . You can become the editor or director and command which videos/movies that you want to play which will then give you the results you desire.

The Mental Game can be taught in 4 quadrants.

Before                                     - training

During                                     - executing a shot

In- between                            - walking beween shots

After                                        - debreif

( these 4 quadrants can, of course be applied to other sports or skills )

Fascinating here is that the average golf shot takes 40 seconds and the average golfer plays about 90 shots in 18 holes. How many minutes is he in the "during" whilst playing 18 holes ? A round of golf lasts 4- 5 hours so how long is the "in-between".  What do most golfers do in the in-between. Worry, think over bad past experiences or think over what might happen in the future. You start playing the unwanted movies again. 

How often do you train the during ?

How often do you train the in between ?

By how many % could you improve by only training the in between ?

How can you learn to let go of the bad shots and experiences and hold on to the good instead of the other way round ?

How much of your training time on the range is non productive or even counter productive ?

• The before is to train and prepare for a round
• The during is when you empty the mind or get out of the way of yourself and play the shot.
• The in - between is to "smell the flowers" as Walter Hagen said.
• The after is where you store your good experiences and after learning from the bad discard them.

                              The Mental Scorecard  ( The After )

A typical thought pattern after a days golf  is to re play your round. " My score was 69 but it should have been better because ........... " . You will  proceed to run through the bad events over and over again calculating by how much it could have been better. All you are doing is rehersing the same mistakes again driving them deeper into the memory bank. The same way as you warm up you should also warm down.

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The dog does not chase the cat. What was the brief picture in your mind. Yes, a picture of a dog chasing a cat.

Don,t hit it in the water. What videos will you start playing ? Our mind does not understand a negative ( not ). To have a thought such as " don,t hit it in the water " is OK but problems start when we react to the thought and start the thought chain.

Here is an example of the thought chain  : -

Not in the water - I did it last time - I then 3 putted and made 6 - then I dropped 5 in the next 6 - if I do the same again I,m 5 over handicap after only 7 holes - I could have stayed at home and done the gardening - stupid game - etc.

5 holes later and now 9 over handicap

- this is embarassing, I bought a new driver and told everybody how good it was ( wwtotom - what will the others think of me ! ) - now I have hit my second out of bounds - why did you bother today - why do you bother at all - idiot.

now 17 over handicap and 3 hole to play.

The damage is done my frustrations are met and finish with 3 fantastic par,s.  Sound familiar !!

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If you are an individual, a club, a team, a group, a business, a school, or are just curious and want to learn more, we can tailor make a presentation for you, individual or group at your club or business.

Also offerred - The Route to Peak Performance : applied to teenagers including skills valuble to become more succesfull in Sports, Business and Life.