Mike is a fanatical weekend golfer.  He plays year round and whenever he can get enough time for 9 holes or just an hour to hit a few balls on his way home from work mid-week.  He loves reading golf magazines and email newsletter tips and really enjoys following the professional tours.

When the weekend comes around and he gets to play with his buddies in a friendly match with some money on it, he is so excited driving to the course that he just can’t stop smiling and his body has this light tingling feeling of anticipation. He loves the camaraderie and the competition.

He pulls into the lot visualizing his best shots and talking himself up that he’s a great putter.  After checking in and getting a small bucket, he proceeds to work his way from pitching wedge to driver on the range…and he’s feeling good!

He moves over to the practice putting green and calmly sinks 4-5 foot putts one after the other.  He takes a few lag putts and is satisfied with how he is reading the greens in leaving the ball within 2 feet.

He’s ready..and he feels it! His confidence is sky high.

After a few light verbal jabs shared with his buddy, his group is called to the tee and his first shot is a good one which increases his excitement to be out on the course this very fine day!

His approach shot is a bit short so he pulls out the lob wedge to float it over the bunker for a soft landing.  It’s a tricky shot but he’s done it successfully many times.

Unfortunately, he blades it a bit and the ball runs past the hole and he ends up 2 putting for a bogey.

Still beating himself up over the chip shot, he goes to the next tee and hits a wild duck hook.   Bewildered where that came from, he still manages to pull out another bogey on the hole.

Mike starts figuring out what he has to do for the next few holes in order to “get those 2 shots back” in order to wipe the memory of them from his mind. In some twisted way, he’s connected future birdies in his mind with past mistakes much like an amateur gambler does when thinking “I need to get even” after being down and then starts doubling the bets from this faulty thinking.

Mike starts pressing for a birdie to make up for those bogeys.  He’s now lost the great feelings he had when he showed up to the course. His mind is making all sorts of “calculations” about the rest of the round.  He’s forgotten about having a great time with his buddies.  He’s forgotten why he plays golf in the first place. He’s totally centered his entire experience on his score….

…and that’s why he’s not scoring well.

And now he’s added frustration to anger and disappointment. Not the best state to be in to have a great round.

It is often repeated by sports psychologists to play one shot at a time. This is where Mike went wrong.  But how do you do that?  How do you play one shot at a time when your mind isn’t cooperating?

My problem with a lot of golf mental game advice is that you hear such simplistic terms without the tool to make it happen.   Here’s my tool to play one shot at a time:

During the round, your goal is to be in the present moment. You do this by putting your focus on what your 5 senses are taking in.  You get out of your head and into your senses by noticing what you see, hear, feel and touch and yes, even your sense of smell and taste.  That’s what will put you in the present moment.

You see, all of Mike’s problems came from thinking about the past or the future.  When you think about what your senses are experiencing right now, you are directing your mind in a very easy, natural way that works wonders for your golf score.

The funny thing is, you probably do this on the practice range and green. The really great thing about this, is that you can practice being in the present away from golf.
You can do it anywhere.

See how long you can put all your focus, awareness and attention on what your senses are doing before going into some kind of analytical thinking.  The more you do this off the course, the better you will do it on the course…and your best game will show up without even trying.

Greens and fairways,

Craig

p.s. I’d love to see your comments below

His playing approach is contrary to every golf strategy book ever written…as he says it like this: I always ATTACK.” He goes for the pin no matter the situation.

Bubba Watson isn’t a big student of the game either. Here’s what he said about that:

“I don’t play the sport for fame. I don’t try to win tournaments for fame,” Watson said. “I don’t do any of that. It’s just me. I’m just Bubba. I goof around. I joke around. I just want to be me and play golf.”

About his swing he said:  “I just swing funny and somehow it works.”

This guy is my new hero.

In an age where parents are moving their families to Florida so they can play year round and to work with Golf Digest top instructors, is Bubba just a rare exception or does he know something most golfers don’t?

It’s my contention that every golfer can adopt his secret and improve your game with it. It’s not hard. In fact, I think it’s hard to hold on to those old beliefs that your swing isn’t good enough….IT IS.

I read an article that said that Tiger would try to pair with Bubba on practice rounds in the majors because he was intrigued at how someone could make the ball move the way Bubba does without ever having had a swing coach. Tiger probably studied Bubba’s swing in great detail to try to find the mechanical key that makes it work. When all the while, the secret was probably in a few simple words and sentences that Bubba plainly and simply gives away for free.

What can us mere mortals learn from Bubba?

Does Bubba have talent? Of course.  More than Tiger or Phil? I doubt it. But he knows how to win.

What does he have a tremendous amount of?

TRUST in his swing and his game.

There is no perfect swing, there is no perfect golfer. As Bagger Vance said: “You’ve got to find your authentic swing”

You can spend your life trying to tweak your swing or your putting stroke or you can get on to the business of scoring well. The two don’t always jive together. Just ask David Duvall if you don’t believe me.

Here’s another gift Bubba has given us. Will you accept it?  From Bubba himself in a post-win interview:

“I don’t even know what happened on the back nine. … Nervous on every shot, every putt. Went into a playoff. I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head, and somehow I’m here talking to you with a green jacket on.”

Nervous on every shot, every putt

You can play well AND feel nervous.

The mental game is everything, just ask Tiger who is in the midst of re-learning that.

And by the way, remember when I said last year that Tiger Woods isn’t mentally tough.  Well, maybe now he is even though he didn’t win the Masters.  He did win last week and that says a lot…AND it doesn’t prove I was wrong a year ago when he couldn’t win anything after faltering from his personal problems.

Nobody is stuck at where they are at today. Everybody can change and does change. That’s the only constant! 

All golfers can adopt a new way of thinking or a new focus in order to break through what’s been holding them back on the course and life. What can you take away from this for your game that can open some new doors that had previously been closed?

And here’s another rambling that will mean something different to everyone with regards to golf…and life that may or may not have anything to do with Bubba Watson and the 2012 Masters…you decide:

Happiness = Growth (or improvement)

Here’s why – We get used to everything!  No matter how great your game is. No matter how big your house is. No matter how good looking your partner is….you get used to it and the great feelings you once had when you first got that, will always fade.

Therefore, the only thing that brings us sustained high enjoyment is the chase for the better game, not a score for any single round.

Let me hear your opinions on any of this below….

Greens and fairways,

Craig

p.s. that last thing just popped into my head as I was writing this.  It meant something to me, I hope it does for you.

ADDING   UP  THE   SCORE
you to recite “1-2-3-4″ to yourself. All I asked is that
you swing the clubhead back, pause, and swing it
down.
I have not stuffed a handkerchief under your right
armpit nor hung a plumb bob from your chin. What
I have done is divide the golf swing into its basic
maneuvers, the golf game into common sense.
The secret of consistency in the golf swing is to
hit every shot, from the putt through the drive, with
the same basic action.
Hold the club no tighter than you would as your
caddie hands it to you. Some good golfers hold the
club incorrectly, but no bad golfers hold it correctly.
So, as near as you can, hold it the right way. After
all, the hands are the only parts of the body attached
to the club.
In addressing the ball, stand erect enough to speak
when spoken to without looking up to answer. This
prevents you from pulling up as you swing, and per-
mits you to look up as much as your concentration
will allow you.
Play all irons midway between the feet. The woods
are played more toward the front of your stance to
allow for the projected face, particularly the driver,
which meets the ball on the upswing because the ball
is already in the air.
Use the square stance whenever distance is a prime
factor, opening it when distance is not.
Swing the putter with the hands, arms, and shoul-
ders as a unit. Start the backswing with every club
the same way. Ignore the follow-through and so-
called “wrist action.” Both are superfluous.
A chip is struck down upon. Any other way simply
is not a chip. This is the action which gets any ball
—117—

THE   NATURAL   WAY   TO   BETTER   GOLF
off the ground with an iron, and in turn causes the so-
called “follow-through.”
Pause between the backswing and the downswing.
This causes the slow backswing, which causes the
head to remain still.
Hit all your irons in the same tempo.
Proper footwork is as important as a proper hold
of the club. After all, the feet are the only parts of
the body attached to the golf course. They are the
motor of the swing.
Proper footwork finds the left knee pointing behind
the ball on the backswing and the right knee pointing
in front of it on the downswing.
With the driver, tee the ball as high in the air as
the tee will allow. Always tee the ball on par-three
holes.
Hit all shots with less than your full strength.
Three-quarters strength is about what is needed to
get all the distance of which you are physically capa-
ble. A long ball is composed of fast feet as well as fast
hands.
Learn the shots you can’t play, and fit the shots
you can into your own par.
Think before you address the ball. After you have
addressed it, concentrate only on hitting the ball.
With the putt, distance is more important than
direction in the long run.
Percentage golf is hitting the ball squarely at all
costs; a wild shot is not nearly so damaging as a mis-
hit ball. Percentage golf means hitting the fairways,
hitting the greens, and missing the hazards. Nothing
can be more important in your strategy than giving
all hazards a wide berth.
Approach each game with a tactical plan. For ex-
—118—

ADDING   UP   THE   SCORE
ample, make up your mind to stick to the percentages
of medal play.
Prepare your muscles for each game by hitting
balls on the practice tee or at least by swinging sev-
eral irons at once.
Don’t use your driver off the tee simply because
the caddie handed it to you. Start with a spoon, and
work your way to the driver through the brassie. The
tee shot is still a percentage shot.
Never tee your ball up in the fairway. Each time
you do, you are doing the equivalent of spreading
Vaseline across the face of the club.
Don’t seek advice on your selection of clubs. Hit
what you feel like hitting, for indecision will ruin
the shot even though it was the correct club.
Debate each of your first choices of clubs. Do
hazards dictate playing to the front or back of the
green? Or the right or left of it? Be wary of any pre-
conceptions you may have about the correct club.
Aim at the green, not at the pin. You can’t hit it
with a golf ball if you can’t hit it with a rifle.
Play the last putt as decisively as the first drive.
There are eighteen holes to a game of golf, not seven-
teen and a half.
Bad golfers think first of recovering from hazards.
Good golfers think first of getting out of them.
The trap shot should be the easiest shot in golf.
You don’t even have to hit the ball.
Think strongly in terms of the shot you want to
play. Think “hook” if that’s what you want the ball
to do.
On either a downhill or uphill lie, always play the
ball nearer the higher foot.
Reduce all trouble shots to what you probably can
do, not what you possibly can do.
—119—

THE   NATURAL   WAY   TO   BETTER   GOLF
After you have addressed the ball, have only one
thought in mind: “Hit the ball.”
Those who play the best golf of which they are
capable relax and enjoy the game—their own game.
And those who relax and enjoy their own game play
the best golf of which they are capable.

Jack Burke

Excerpt from “The Natural Way to Better Golf”

1. Place two clubs parallel to the line towards the cup on either

side of the ball.  Check to see you are swinging your putter

through a straight line.

2. Place a two by four parallel to the line towards the cub outside

of the ball.  Check to see you are swinging your putter through in

a straight line.

3. Mark the sweet spot with a piece of tape (a half inch by a half

inch should do it).  See if you can it the sweet spot with each putt.

4. Place 6 balls in a circle around the hole about 4 feet away.  Putt

each one in turn.  Can you make all six?  Remember to read the

green before each.

5. In order to aim for the center of the hole, Place four tees in front

of the hole with enough room for a golf ball to squeak through.

Try from two and four feet out.

6. For long putts, use the distance on the practice green.  Start with

your short putt routine and then hit three from 20 feet.  Then

three more.  Then three more.  Are they getting closer?

Remember 90 percent of long putting is judgement of distance.

Putting Tips to Read the Green:

Remember 90 percent of long putting is judgement of distance.  But

we all know that the greens can be harsh.  There are two tiered

greens, sloping greens, upside down plate greens, and greens that

just happen to be an optical illusion.

Here are seven tips to read the green better.

1- as you approach the green look for slope (note that most greens

slope back to front-I did say most!)

2- look for the grain.  Treat it like slope.  If the grain is away

from you, it will be faster.  If the grain is towards you, it will

be slower.

3- look at the terrain. Grass grows towards the sea, towards a

setting sun, away from mountains (tricky in a ravine), or with the

direction of water supply.

4- think about moisture. Shaded, early morning, or evening greens

can be slower.  Goes for rain and sleet also.

5- think about sunshine. Sitting in the hot sun can dry and make a

green faster.

6- watch the line of your partner’s putts.  Enough said.

7- lastly, is the wind strong enough to have an effect?

Golf Putting Tips For The Stroke

14. Develop a routine for your putt.

- review the slope, grain, and layout of the green.

- estimate the distance.

- select your aiming point.

- setup your grip, feet, head, and putter head alignment.

- decide on your stoke for the distance.

- take a parallel practice swing.

- smile confidently to yourself.

- swing smoothly.

- wait.

*************************

Dropping in Those Long Putts

15. When faced with a long putt, carefully study the green for overall slope, individual breaks, grain, wind speed and other factors that may influence your stoke.

Having decided on the proper target line, pick a spot along the line a few feet in front of your ball and aim for that.

16. Once your feet and the face of your putter are squared to the target, begin to think in terms of speed and distance.

Try to visualize the ball rolling along the desired path and into the hole. Then make your putt with confidence.

17. Putt Like a Pendulum

When putting, your hands should always be slightly ahead of the club head and the ball.

Your arms and shoulders should form a triangle that moves in unison during your back swing and stroke-much like a pendulum.

Just slide the club back without breaking your wrists and the forward again. Be sure to follow through straight along the line of your putt.

by Mitch Tarr

Junior Golfer Putting Reading Green

It’s the 18^th hole and my junior golfer, 15 year old son, walks up to the green and eyes his ball lying about 25 feet from the hole. It’s a double breaker with a bit of an uphill putt that he needs to win a bet from me.   I follow him around the green as he squats behind the ball to take a look at the slope.  I hover around him and look him in the eye and finally decide to give him a little lesson in managing his mental game.

I ask him: “So AJ, right when you take the putter back, do you breathe in, out or hold your breath?”

I have a sly smile on my face as he sends mental daggers my way through his eyes.  He is determined to show up the old man for the first time in our many years of playing together.  I just keep smiling and smirking while noticing his body language reeks of tension.

Flash backwards in time for a moment.  I’ve been playing and teaching my junior golfer since he was 3 years old.  Before that, I actually pushed him around a course while in a jogger’s baby carriage in his first year while I played the game. Heck, it was the only way I was going to get to play some weekends when his mother left him with me.  I’ll never forget the gyrations I went through to try to keep him either asleep or entertained enough to stay quiet on a golf course!  From a distance, other golfers must have thought I was nuts doing African dances around my funny-looking golf cart!

Come to think of it,  you know, those times were probably very instrumental in my learning how to deal with distractions and still play the game at a high level.  Did you know that Tiger Woods Dad would purposely yell and throw clubs in front of Tiger while he was swinging in order to teach him that famous Focusing ability he is famous for?

But I digress from the main story.  From the age of 3 til about the age of 12, AJ would listen and hang on every word that I would say about golf.

Golf Swing follow through

I showed him a very simple swing that served him very well and we enjoyed many years of playing together, driving golf carts in crazy ways, and celebrating another grand day at the course with a tall soda (and beer) at the 19^th hole.

And then, something happened…AJ hit that age where he all of a sudden “knows everything” if you know what I mean.  His game started to get better and I could see this wall come up any time I would talk about the mental game of golf.  In his eyes, it was just a matter of him playing more and practicing more and he’d seen the beginnings of improvement from that formula.  Never mind that I write to 10,000 golfers every week, never mind that I’ve worked with hundreds of kids and elite athletes from all over the world. Never mind the fact that I took my own golf handicap down to a 5, shot a 1-under and a hole in one, all without practicing….No, never mind all that…I’m just Dad and I don’t know anything, right?

Sound familiar?

Flash  forward to that 18^th hole where he challenged me to a bet where if he won, I would have to buy him some new Nike shoes and if I won, he would have to wash my car 10 times.   He wants those shoes really bad.  I don’t let up as he walks all around his putt and takes an unusually long time to line it up. I know that he is a bowl of jello inside and his legs look like they will give out from under him at any moment.

He takes the putter back very hesitantly and leaves himself a 4-footer.   I mentally pounce all over him as you can feel the pressure in the air between us.  I tell him that he will not be able to handle the pressure and that I am looking forward to a clean car for the foreseeable future.

Score is everything

Hi misses the putt and I say nothing, not a word.  We walk to the car in silence as I let him process the whole thing his way. I turn the radio on in the car to break the tension as we drive home.

A whole month later, he comes to me and tells me he is ready to learn about the mental game and we get going in earnest.

I just learned this week, as I write this, that AJ has earned a college scholarship to play golf in college. He is a fine, upstanding, moral young man who impressed a college coach not just with his golf skills but with his personality and character.

Sometimes, golfers need to get their lessons in a certain way that only works for them.  After working with hundreds of golfers in person and more online, I’ve noticed a few patterns about what makes you a play your best game.  It’s all about being able to play under pressure. More to come on that…

Greens and fairways,

Craig Sigl

The No-practice expert

Those golfers look forward to a half day when they can be with the guys or the gals.  They secretly (or maybe openly) don’t want their spouse to be there on the course. I know some golfers who prefer to play by themselves for this reason.  Or maybe they enjoy showing up at the golf course and being paired with somebody new each time. I think this is all great, it’s just personal preference!

On the other hand, there’s the golfer who loves playing with friends and family. Many of us, like myself, have kids whom we have tried to brainwash into loving the game so we can take them out, connect through the sport AND GET MORE PLAYING TIME!

Above all, make it fun!

I was successful with that for one of my boys.  (I’ve been successful at brainwashing the other one to love my other favorite past time, fishing).

Anyway, I want to give you some insight and tips on how to get a beginner to want to play golf with you so that you can spend quality time with them AND get your golf fix at the same time.

The biggest tip I have for you here is….

Think long term!

You are planting a seed and each time you take a beginner out and show them a good time, the seed grows.

In other words, when you are introducing someone to your passion on the course, don’t make it about you…MAKE IT ALL ABOUT THEM!

You can still have a great time out there but you can’t expect everyone to instantly fall in love with golf the way you did.

I recently took my girlfriend on a golf trip weekend.  She doesn’t play normally but was willing to give it a try.  I had previously taken her out on a short par 3 course and given her a basic lesson.  Before the round, we hit a few balls at the range and a few more pointers on the putting green.

Be patient with your beginner golfer

She was optimistic. It was a beautiful day. The course was in great shape. Life couldn’t get much better for me until…

She squibs the ball about 30 yards ahead on the first tee and the frustration started.

So what did I do after this shot and about 20 more just like it?

I kept emphasizing the positive!

You have to think about what  beginner golfers are going through if you’ve already forgotten.  They look at you or others and think that they should be able to hit the ball almost as well as you.  And when they don’t, they get down on themselves and forget all about how beautiful the course is and how great it is to spend time with you playing a very fun game.

Anything she did well, I made it a big deal to point it out.  I kept my positive, encouraging voice tone with every bit of advice I offered.

As I was pointing out her improvement, she started to enjoy the game (just like you when you improve).

I also went out of my way to have fun with her and joke around.  What I didn’t do was get so immersed in my own game like I normally do.

All of this works the same way as when you bring a kid to the course. If you want to make it even better for your kid, then bring fun snacks along to munch on.

Kids love golf for shorter amounts of time

Remember, it’s all ABOUT THEM, and not you,  when you bring a beginner to the course.

Make sure and let other players play through behind you so that your beginner doesn’t feel pressured.  Keep an easy, smiling attitude throughout and you will be anchoring positive feelings and experiences to being on the golf course.

Whatever you do, do not let your beginning golfer attach a score to whether or not they like the game. In fact, I’d recommend you don’t even keep score until they can get a bogey or better once in a while.

There’s so many facets to enjoying the game and I want you to experience them all.  Yes, I know, the challenge of going for your personal best score is probably your primary reason for playing.

There’s one valuable mental skill that you will really be teaching yourself when playing with a beginner that is very valuable to improving your score…
Patience.

The end of the story? She was done after 9 holes and I finished the round playing multiple balls and trying all manner of
rescue shots that I wouldn’t normally try if I was keeping score. By the end of the day, I had completely satisfied my addiction for the game and my girlfriend picked me up a few hours later and we had a great evening from there, talking about her new adventure in golf.

What a great day on the course and I didn’t keep score!

Tell me your stories below in the comments section, good or bad, fun or not,  about bringing a beginner out to the course with you.

Greens and fairways,

Craig.

***********************************************************************

Ever hear of a golf pro tell you about the importance of “visualization?”

John Daly said  “visualization is the best thing that I do.”

“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.” – Jack Nicklaus

“The best lessons I ever gave myself were at 4 in the morning, in bed, visualizing my game before the tournament” - Byron Nelson. All-time record holder for most tournament wins in a row – 11

“I have three keys to long and accurate driving.
The first is visualization, and it is the most important one to me.” – Arnold Palmer

Click Here To Learn Powerful Visualization Skills

Did you feel threatened?

Did that bring up some old feelings?

or

Did you agree with the statement I made that Tiger Woods is not mentally tough and get a smug feeling?

Or did you have some other reaction?  Either way, I hope you felt something from that.

I received a lot of hate responses after that email. Some people said that I’m an idiot. Others said I was racist. Others said I had no idea what it takes to make it on tour. (I find it fascinating what it takes to get people to feel…something…anything and then respond.)

I pulled those statements I made about Tiger from yesterday’s front page of our local paper and another article I read online.  I didn’t even come up with them. I don’t normally make provocative statements but felt compelled to teach this way today.

…But this is not about me.  This is about you.

I write this blog and the emails in order to teach you something about golf that maybe you’ve never heard elsewhere.  But really, I’ve got a greater purpose for you in doing that. If you’ve followed me at all, you know that I think of golf as a metaphor for life. It’s almost like a religion. There are so many things to learn from playing this game that can be applied to the rest of your life. If you’ve read anything from me, you know that to be the case. You know you aren’t going to get mechanical swing instruction from me. I write about bigger things than that.

You know, I put out content all of the time and get no responses whatsoever. And then when I mention Tiger Woods,  the emotions come out.   Yes, yes, I could have said something about religion or politics to get a reaction but I thought I would stay within the bounds of golf since that’s what we are all doing here.

I sent that email out as it was…on purpose: to get a reaction from you for a powerful lesson and something I’ve been working on the last few years and that’s Emotional Mastery. A few years back, I became totally convinced that this is the key to opening the door to your golf (and life) potential and have been working on it ever since.

So why should you care about emotion and your golf game? Here’s why:

What is it that causes the yips? Emotion

Why does it seem that a 5 foot putt is sometimes harder to make than a 10 foot putt? Emotion

Why do we play well on the front nine and not on the back (or vice versa)? Emotion

Why is it that some golfers seem fired up and do very well when challenged? Emotion

Why is it that you play better on some courses and not on others? Some days and not others? Emotion

I could go on and on about that but you already know all of that.  All pressure is emotion too!

When teaching about emotion, other mental game teachers would just write something like:

“You’ve got to manage your emotions”

or

“Don’t get too high or too low”

“Get in control of your emotions”

When have you ever heard from someone who can tell you HOW to do that?

I, on the other hand, am trying to show you something by experience. In order to do that, you have to actually FEEL something and not just intellectualize it.There are answers and there are solutions to the emotion problem.

When you become aware of and work with your emotions, LIFE and GOLF gets so much easier and you perform better

Here’s some questions you might want to ponder about yourself. You don’t have to answer the questions directly…just absorb it and let your mind go where it needs to go.  The questions themselves will do the work for you and help you to take back control of your emotions. Take your time with each question and see where you need to go with it. I recommend you get yourself in that difficult emotion while doing this…remind my email again and get angry again if that helps.

In order to first make change, we have to aware of what needs to change.

If you got a strong negative reaction from my email:

1. How is it that you could allow a total stranger whom you’ve never met or seen in person cause you that emotion?

2. How does that happen on the course? In business, in your relationships?

3. Where does that emotion begin in your body. Try bringing up that emotion again and see where it starts.  When you become aware of this, you will be able to nip those troubling emotions in the bud BEFORE they become a problem.

4. Ask yourself:  “Why is it that some people would not have a strong reaction like I did”  Follow that up with: “Is that difficult emotion USEFUL to me?

5. Do I want to be a victim of my emotions out on the course or master them?

6. When have I been offended before OFF the course and shrugged it off? How did I do that? Can I do that ON the course just the same?

Now, here’s the big kicker:  7. What is the belief I’m holding that is causing me to have a negative reaction.

I’m sure that the people who wrote to me expressing their anger and hate would say something like:  “What he wrote made me so angry”

But how can I MAKE anyone angry?  I can’t.

NOBODY or NOTHING outside of you can MAKE YOU EMOTIONAL

If you got NO EMOTIONAL REACTION from my statement, you want to ask yourself: “Do I allow myself to FEEL?”  Can I get excited and passionate about golf…or anything?

Some golfers may be missing out on their potential because their true nature is a FEEL golfer yet they’ve shut that system down over the years.  I’ve run into that many times working with male athletes.

Emotional Mastery isn’t just about dealing with difficult emotions. It’s also about creating the fun ones like joy, bliss, pure, flow, etc. All of those emotions and more are what golfers use to describe THE ZONE.

You might be thinking about now: “This is a bunch of garbage. This has nothing to do with golf or my life. All I need to do is work harder  at my game,  practice more and I’ll get better.

And I would have to ask you…”How is that belief useful to your game?”

Tiger’s got some work to do. That’s no secret. He can still develop a type of mental toughness that he doesn’t have right now. That’s also a fact.

My own personal opinion is that the game of golf would be so much better if he were back in contention every week and I want to see that.  He brought excitement and passion into the game and it is sorely missed now.

The first step to mastering your emotions is allowing yourself to feel them.

The next step is to resolve the reason for the emotion and tell yourself that resolution WHILE IN THE EMOTION.

There’s more to this. I’ve developed a 7-step process to Master your emotions.  I’ll tell you more later.

The next time you hear from me, I’ll be giving you some training from a real pro instructor….unlike me.

Greens and fairways,

Craig

******************

Now to continue on with the story…

My first drive is perfect. I can’t ask for more.  What do I do? Instantly after watching my ball land right where I want it to and as I walk towards it, I am reminding myself of what made that happen, namely, my plan I told you about in part 1.

Improvement on the green came from "The Plan"

I followed my plan to the letter. I did exactly what I said I would. I got the result I wanted. I felt totally empowered. I told myself that I got it now. I replayed that shot over and over in mind as I walked to the ball. I talked to my unconscious mind and thanking it for pulling the “280 yard straight shot” file from the filing cabinet in my mind.  I told it that I wanted that again and again…all day.   I went over an over in mind what went right. I filled my thoughts with “this is how I play” and “this is how I drive the ball.” Etc.

And…I’m smiling all the way as I keep walking to the ball.

Deer on the golf course

I get up to my second shot and it’s about 70 yards to the pin. Great, no problem. I know what to do here as well.  I know that my sand wedge will go 70 yards at about a 3/4 backswing.  I figure that out a couple years ago when I took a bucket of balls down to the schoolyard while the kids were out and I placed a rag at 30, 50, and 70 yards out and then hit while only observing how far back I take my backswing.  You really only have to do this once and it pays off for years.

Now, the problem for me wasn’t my distance on approach shots. The problem was hitting the darn thing straight.  Standing over the ball, I re-committed my entire mind and energy to what I had been working the last 2 days…square and point.

I took a look at the pin and used that target to draw an imaginary line to my ball.  I squared my body up to that target line.  I went through my preshot routine like religious monk in prayer.  I NEVER LOOKED AT THE TARGET AGAIN.  I didn’t have to!

Yes, I know, this goes contrary to popular golf advice for score improvement.  Everyone says to be “target oriented” and so do I. But, you see, at my level of play and for 90% or more of all recreational golfers JUST PICKING A TARGET AND FOCUSING ON IT ISN’T ENOUGH.  We need to have an intermediate, simple instruction between the target and our swing that bridges that gap.

That “bridge” is the 12-18 inches of imaginary target line from the ball to the target.The simple instruction I give to my unconscious mind is to “square the club face at the point of impact and point it (or “follow it” if you like that better) down the target line”

I hit to about 10 yards from the pin, I lip out my putt and tap in for an easy par.

Wild turkeys on the golf course

My son, on the other hand, is in big trouble having hit his shot into the lateral hazard. He pulls out a bogey and I can see the sweat starting to bead on his forehead as says “nice hole Dad” to me…and we go to the next hole.

I end up following my plan to near perfection.  I end up the day with NO DOUBLE bogeys and 1 birdie.  I shoot a 79 playing strictly by the rules of golf and I win the bet.  I’m very excited! I’ve got my game back!!! Woohoo!!!

My son owes me 12 hours of labor. What do you think I should have him do for me? 

Car washes? Clean my clubs? Clean my house and toilets!, Yes, that’s it…hahaa.

I don’t rub any of it in with him. At the end of the round, I’m a good sport and I put my arm around him and remind him of some great shots he made.

The 19th hole

We go out to beer and pizza afterward and have a good laugh about the round and the funny things we said and did that day.  We love golf. We love the camaraderie that goes with the game. We love the competition whether it’s with someone else or with just ourselves to beat our personal best. We love the outdoors and we love the game itself.

I go to bed that night in total gratitude…

The next day, in the car on the ride home, I ask my son what his plan was for fixing what went wrong with his game.  He gave me the typical teenager “I don’t know” answer.

We had a long talk and I helped him devise it.  He says he is committed to the plan…we’ll see

We’re playing tomorrow.

I’ll let you know.

Greens and fairways,

Craig

p.s. This just came in from one of my golfselfhypnosis.com members:

“Thank you so much.  I’ve really been helped with my golf game.  Having
been a therapist for several years before I retired and got to play
more golf, I’ve seen what hypnosis can do.  I usually shoot in the low
100s, but after listening to that one time I shot a 92.  I’ll be sure
to keep it going.  I hope any of the older women will go with it.  I’m 68  and
it’s great to play better!

Thanks again.

Katharine Abbott, Ph.D., Provo UT

$24.95 for real golf improvement - Click Here

Wild things on the golf course

Anyway, the first round out, I played horribly.  I put a couple dollar bet on the score with my 17 y/o son who lives for the days when he can beat me at golf.  He’s well on his way and ended up winning by a stroke as I carded an 88. Ugggh.  I was not happy with my game at all. Usually on vacation, I play my best because, well frankly, I’m in a great mood as vacations tend to do that!

After that game, I examined myself to find out why I played so poorly.  By the way, the time to do that is after the round. During the round, you just want to focus on your successes and forgetting your misses.  In that review of each hole, it was obvious to me that I just wasn’t hitting my approach shots which is one of my strengths!

As I teach my son and you, I then went about designing a plan to fix that before the next round and that plan revolved around “square and point.” (If you missed that video, here it is:  straight golf shots)

I thought, “Great, I know the problem, I have the solution, I know what to do” and vowed to put some attention on it during my warmup before my next round.

So the next round comes up a couple days later and I go to the range to warm up. I go through my usual routine of pretending to play the course while on the range. During my “pretend” approach shots, I’m thinking and practicing “square and point” and my shots seem a lot better than before.

I go out on the course and shoot an 86. Ugggh!

Running Y golf resort

Please understand that I don’t mean to insult you if that’s a great score for you. Everyone has their standard and mine, of course, is to break 80.

“What’s going on here” I again reflect and ask myself after the round. I was making putts and chipping reasonably well but my drives were bad and that undermined my confidence for my approach shots.  Net effect on score: NO GAIN.

We had a 3rd round planned in a couple days. I vowed to fix these problems and finish the week with a great score.

With my driving, it was simple. I found myself trying to be too tricky in “working” the ball. I was trying to turn it over to get that extra 10 yards so as to make sure I out drive my son.  I was trying to be Mr. Pro Golfer by hitting the low screaming drives against the wind and making it fly high with the wind…all fun things to do, but if you aren’t good enough to be consistent with that (I’m obviously not) then that is a BAD plan.

I let go of that and made a solid commitment to hit my regular consistent straight shot… every time, no matter what the hole or how long it is.  Follow my preshot routine, pick my target, align my body along it, and just do “square and point.”

I spend the next 2 days thinking “square and point” with every free moment. I listen over and over to my golf hypnosis recording for accuracy. Before the round and warming up, I leave my woods in the bag and completely dedicate my warmups to “s and p.”  I turn myself into a robot before I ever get to the first tee.  I allow myself to have fun and joke and mess with my brothers and my son between shots but as soon as the preshot routine begins, I am Ben Hogan jr. with my icy focus on S & P.

Golf Green protected by bunkers

Look over what I’ve written here as there are powerful messages on how to really improve your golf.

1. Review your game after every round.

2. Come up with a plan to fix what went wrong. In doing that, know that if you’ve hit good shots before or putted well before, then you have the answers within you. Ask for help if you need it.

3. Completely commit to the plan. Believe in yourself and the plan. Go all out to execute it.

What do most golfers do instead?  The same thing they always do. They go to the range, do the same routine they’ve always done, and then they just HOPE that the golf gods will smile on them and  give them a good score the next time. Not me, there is no HOPE in my vocabulary. There’s INTENTION and COMMITMENT.

My son makes a bet with me for straight up scratch scores.  If he wins, I have to buy him a new pair of Nike Golf shoes.  If I win, I get 12 hours of free labor from him for whatever I want.

The round begins and I rip my drive 280 right down the middle….

…tell you the rest in my next post.

********************************************************

Click Here

focus on the present

play one shot at a time

stay within yourself

Easier said than done right? You know what the problem really is? It’s that we have too much brainpower for this game. Our brains are way overdeveloped to be able to swing these clubs and knock this little white ball around a grassy field to drop it into a silly cup cut out of the ground.

Notice the beauty of a course

What I’m writing here today could just be a big breakthrough for you as it has been for a lot of my clients I work with in my office. You see, most of the athletes I see in my office for help with their mental game are smart, really smart. In fact, some are quite brilliant outside of golf and sport. Out on the course, this can be a problem.

You read all of the time about pros who say that they think of “nothing” out there on the course when they are swinging or going through their preshot routine. This is great advice FOR SOME PEOPLE. And poor advice for others.

For many golfers, much better advice is to DIRECT your mind and give it something to do that is constructive instead of the destructive things you are currently doing with it. You are too smart for golf and so you have to learn how to channel all that mind power.

Golf tee lookout

So, I have a couple main lessons for you here that once you understand, I think you could get a big “Aha” moment that frees your from your destructive thinking.

1. Just because a top pro tells you a certain way to think, don’t necessarily buy into it. Your brain probably works completely different than others. Everyone is unique. I’ve been preaching this for years now and sometimes it seems like nobody is listening. Do not think that advice from anyone in the golf world (including me) is good for everyone.
You’ve got to pick and choose and then trust that when it feels right or you somehow get a sense that this works for you, then it is!

2. I like to fill my mind with what my senses are taking in on the course. If you were to just stand on a course and just put all your attention on what your 5 senses are taking in, you will find many things to occupy your mind so that it doesn’t get in the way of your next shot so that you can play unconsciously.

3. Here’s the biggie. You’ve got to make a commitment BEFORE your round that this is what you are going to do during your next round. It’s a mental skill that you develop, get good at, and then do automatically at some point. It’s not going to happen without some effort and dedication. Too many golfers pay lip service to their mental game and then default right back to their old ways once they are on the course. If you haven’t pre-lived how you are going to think once you are on the course, then you’re unconscious is going to create a strong pull to do what you’ve always done…and you won’t break through.

Start tapping into the power of making a decision and commitment to practice using your mind in ways that support your game instead of being a victim of it. You have this power…use it!

Greens and fairways,

Craig