Golf Mental Training » golf psychology

Golf Rehab: Round 1

Alex — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:32:24 +0000

So, today was my first day back on my home course after spending the past month in the Middle East playing on a rock hard dry course. My home golf course is in the UK, just outside London and needless to say, quite a difference in conditions to the sun baked course, today the course was wet and soggy, it was also freezing cold but I had so many layers on I was immune to the cold.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn't enjoy playing golf last year, in fact, most of my rounds I wanted to be any where else but on a golf course.

This year, I WANT to play, and THAT is the difference. My golfing mindset is TOTAlly different! I missed playing with my team mates, our handicaps range between 10 and 14 and we're quite a competitive group.

My handicap is 13 at the moment, I used to be 10 but it has slowly crept up, ( see my handicap explanation here ).

I didn't start my round too well, but kept mentally VERY positive and kept patient.

Here's my score today, I'll use this as a benchmark for future rounds:

Par	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	5	36	4	3	4	4	5	4	3	4	5	36	72
My Score	7	7	5	4	5	5	5	7	6	51	4	3	5	5	5	6	3	7	6	44	95

Well, at least I kept below 100! My back 9 was MUCH better than my front round and I was striking the ball really well once I got used to the mud and slush on the course.

What was important today was that I kept postitive the whole time and I didn't let the bad shots 'get to me' I literally played just one shot at a time and didn't think backwards or forwards.

A good start to my year and most importantly I enjoyed the round.

Next step for me is to start listening to the golf mental training downloads from the training course.

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My Golf Rehab- Round 3

Alex — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:23:01 +0000

Course 1 : Narrow and Tree Lined
PAR	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	5	36	4	3	4	4	5	4	3	4	5	36	36	72
My Score	5	6	4	3	6	5	5	4	7	45	4	3	4	6	6	4	3	5	5	40	45	85

Golf Mental Game Training Course

Today's round was a practise round with 3 of the ladies in my club team. My partner and I played a better ball match play competition against 2 ladies who play off 10 and are currently playing EXTREMELY well.

I wanted to use the match to let the golf mental tips and thoughts from Wade Pearse's Golf Mental Game Training Program sink in deeply.

I have to say, the whole mental game during this round was a revelation for me, I have NEVER been so calm and in control and ALL the way through, I was drumming the lesson deeper and deeper into my game process.

To cut a long story short, my partner and I ( both playing off 13) beat the two 10 handicap ladies 2 up.

The match was VERY close and as you can see from the score card above, the closer the match got, the calmer and more mentally in control I became, my back 9 was 4 over par which is the best I have played in a LONG time.

SO much of Wade's teaching came into my game today, each hole was a 'small victory', especially when I played well to win the hole, I would treat that hole as a 'small victory' but be ready to start the next hole afresh, instead of, in the past, worrying whether " I could keep it going until the end of the match'.

The whole mental golf training process was VERY easy to integrate into my game, even though I've been a big advocate of golf mental training in the past, NOTHING I've done before even comes close to the effects this course is having on my golf mental frame of mind. Remember also, that up to now, I've only studied the 2 eBooks and listened to the golf audio sessions, I haven't looked at the videos or the other eBooks.

I'm VERY encouraged by the course so far and it's really brought enjoyment back into my golf game already and that is my main aim. One side effect of playing so well yesterday is that I've been asked to play for the team tomorrow in the first round of this year's competition, that's a bonus, and I'm looking forward to playing my match tomorrow.

One thing that REALLY stood out during recent rounds is that I notice how much some of the golfers I'm playing with talk themselves out of the game, I'm noticing the self-talk and body language of other people now and it's fascinating. I'm keeping really quiet about the fact that I'm taking this golf mental game course training because I don't want anything to distract me from the things I'm learning.

One other comment that popped in to my mind a LOT yesterday was that Wade would always choose a golfer who had the strongest mental game over one who hit the best shots but didn't handle the mental aspects well and the fact that although Wade is not the best golfer out there, he KNOWS that he is rock solid mentally and THAT is how he wins matches.

So, this summer, that is my aim, to have a ROCK SOLID golf mental game ! I may not always hit great shots, but the mental game will be secure.

In fact, I did receive a few positive comments yesterday from my opponenets who mentioned the fact that I was very calm and steady all the way through, I just smiled to myself. Yup, that's me, I want to be known as the one with the rock solid mental game ! It is SO hard to play against someone who who KNOW will only get better as the natch progresses !

Check back and I'll post my progress of my singles match here!

The thought I will leave myself with today, is that, whatever the physical state on my golf game, I can have a strong MENTAL golf game NOW!

Not after a few more lessons or a few more sessions on the range , but NOW!

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Golf Audio Coaching- Awakening Your Golf Mind

Alex — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:28:55 +0000

The first listening of Wade Pearse's Audio Coaching Session:

Before I started working with Wade Pearse's Golf Mental Training Course, I was looking for a way to bring enjoyment back into my golf game, you can read my story here, I won't repeat it here as I want to get on with my review of this course.

My thoughts towards golf last year were negative and quite honestly miserable and joyless. Playing golf had become a boring chore and as much as I enjoyed the company of my club teammates and playing partners, I had no enjoyment for the game at all. The less I wanted to play, the less I practised, and of course, the worse my game became and the cycle of misery continued for the whole of the year.

At the beginning of this year however, I decided that I've put so much time and effort into my golf game over the past 12 years that I want to get back to playing golf and decided to do something about it.

I've reviewed lots of golf hypnosis downloads and a lot of them are really good as you will see from the reviews on this site.

However, I need more than individual golf hypnosis downloads to bring about the shift in my mentality I'm looking for.

I've known about Wade Pearse's Golf Mental Game Training Program for quite some time and I've always liked the concept of having a whole course based around improving your mental attitude and mental strengths so I've chosen Wade's course to bring about my rehab.

As Wade says in his course material:"Every golfer has heard the saying "It's all in your head" or "Golf is 90% mental" or "Golf is the most mentally demanding sport in the world." Yet what do golfers do about it? Well, most often absolutely nothing! Not necessarily because they don't want to, but sometimes golfers actually think the mental game doesn't matter to them!"

For me, the most important step has already been taken, I've made the decision that I WANT to do something about my attitude and I am GOING to get back my enjoyment of the game, so, THIS is where I'm at.

GOLF MENTAL TRAINING COURSE

Now, after my first listening of the first part of the audio coaching session called " Awakening Your Golf Mind" I know I've made the right decision to follow this course.

My Review of the first part of the audio coaching session called " Awakening Your Golf Mind":

Firstly, I have to say that the sound of the voice on any audio training session is SO important for the overall enjoyment and effectiveness of the session , it's no good if the speaker has an accent that you can't understand, or the timbre of the voice grates on the nerves, or it's too high or too low, Wade's voice passes that test with flying colours, he has a deep, soft relaxing voice with an 'easy on the ears' slight Canadian accent that enters the subconscious mind very easily and gently.

( If there are any ladies reading this by the way, you will like Wade's voice, GUARANTEED! ! ) Anyway, I digress !

The subject of this audio session is to create the right frame of mind to enjoy playing golf and to play successfully, that the aim of playing is NOT about ONLY the score, but about getting into a comfortable and relaxed state of mind so that you play at your optimum mental levels and that way, everything else , scores, results etc, will happen naturally.

He takes you through a short breathing exercise before leading you into a deeply relaxed state and talks about how to sustain the feeling of comfort and relaxation throughout your game, ( getting into and staying in the zone, as the old cliche goes ).

He encourages you to bring to mind how it felt when you were playing golf really well, and to visualise the scene around you, the colours, the sounds, the feelings you had, the confidence you felt ( all successful NLP techniques of course) . The more you listen to this audio session, the easier it becomes to utilise the techniques on the golf course. To me, if I can come off the course feeling content and happy with my game, whatever the result, it's worth it's weight in gold!

Watch out for my review of the 2nd audio session for Wade Pearse's Golf Mental Game Coaching Program, I'm looking forward to it!

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My Golf Rehab- Round 5

Alex — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:40:42 +0000

Well, time has gone by since my last Golf Rehab post!

To cut a long story short, at this moment, I was supposed to be on holiday in the Caribbean, however, thanks to the wonderful Icelandic volcano all that went by the board and we're now holiday in Devon, a place I have never been to before, it is BEAUTIFUL and the weather is on our side. We have 10 days here and will probably play golf at least 7 times, something I would not have wanted to do last year but since my golf mental outlook has completetly changed, I'm looking forward to each round.

So, since my last post: I'm back having regilar lessons with my favourite golf pro, I REalLY like him, I've been with him for over 2 years, not on a regular basis I might ad, I'm just a club golfer, not about to turn pro or anything but every time I have a lesson with him, I come out feeling encouraged and positive. We've changed a few minor things with my swing and at the moment, I'm hitting the ball MUCH better tha I have for a long time. So, the physical side, I can work on and improve on in time.

However, how is my mental side of golf going?

Actually, I can report that it is going REALLY well. Thanks to the golf mind training course I'm taking, my attitude to golf has changed dramatically ! I can deal with frustarrtion a lot better and look on each potentail 'disaster' now as a challenge as to how I can deal with that one particular shot.

Yesterday we played a course next to our hotel called Saunton Sands, we started playing at 3pm afetr a 4 hour drive from London to Devon and although it was quite warm when we started, by the time we finished at 7pm, we were FREEZING.

I had a good front 9, but after 12 holes, I was so cold and tired that I stopped enjoying playing. My stableford score was miserable, 10 points on the front and 9 on the back although I was hitting the ball really well but it’s a links course and the greens were Really fast.

We're playing it again today and after a good nigts sleep, my hopes are high that I will score more points today.

I'll write later with news!

My Golf Rehab – Round 4

Alex — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:46:27 +0000

Well, today I had my first club match of the season, a team of 5 players against other local clubs, handicaps between 10 and 15, this is the first round of the knock out stages!

Hmmmm, I lost ! However, I put that down to a lack of match practise, it's been over a year since I played a competitive singles match.

The most intriguing thing is that my whole mental outlook has changed now. I went down quite early on after a shaky start, she parred the first, I bogied, same on the 2nd hole. But intsead of thinking as I would previously of the whole picture and worrying early on about the end result, I stayed really calm and was able to enjoy 'small victories' on the way.

What was even more interesting was that in the last 3 holes of the match, my opponent started to make a lot of mistakes, unfortunately I couldn't capitalise on them but instead of being devastated at losing, I find myself looking forward to my next challenge.

I've still only done a 10th of Wade's golf mental training course and I know that as I work my way thorugh I will really start to reap the benefits.

Onwards and upwards!

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Golf Psychology: How Can Golf Psychology Help Improve Your Scores?

Alex — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:20:53 +0000

Dr. Patrick Cohn at www.peaksports.com and author of The Mental Game of Golf helps you improve your mindset for golf with proven mental strategies for golfers. Visit www.peaksports.com/golf_confidence.php to download a free report.

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Golf Psychology: How to Avoid the Bogey Train

Alex — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:43:06 +0000

Dr. Patrick Cohn, author of The Mental Game of Golf at www.peaksports.com, helps golfer improve their confidence and success on the golf course. Learn how to control your emotions and get off the bogey train. Visit www.peaksports.com to download a free report to improve your preshot routines.

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Mental Golf Power Golf Psychology Tutorial 2nd July 2009 (Moore Park Golf Club, Sydney, Australia)

Alex — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:41:39 +0000

This is the introduction to the successful Golf Psychology tutorial conducted by me at Moore Park Golf Club, Sydney, Australia, on the 2nd July 2009. During the one hour tutorial participant golfers were 1) trained on how to access a naturally flowing optimal golf state then 2) were given an exercise to simulate relaxing and enjoying the company and conversation with their playing partners between shots, and then finally 3) instructed on how to re access their optimal state quickly for the preparation and successful execution of their next golf shot.

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The Shot Routine

Alex — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:37:36 +0000

Golf is a game in which we need to be able to learn to switch from enjoying our surroundings and our playing partners into a highly focused state which connects us with the shot required. Learning how to practice this key part of the mental game will help us become better players. Unless we are able to give every shot our best effort and attention, we will not get closer to playing to our potential. The thing to recognize here, is that this relaxed concentration is something we can learn and and improve every time we play. Eventually, it will become part of our subconscious and we wont even realize we are doing it. The shot routine will help you do this. This is one of the integral parts of playing better golf and is one of the fundamentals of my mental game audio teaching.

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Golf Psychology: Do You Focus on the Trouble or the Target?

Alex — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:00:38 +0000

Dr. Patrick Cohn, author of The Mental Game of Golf at www.peaksports.com, helps golfer improve their confidence and success on the golf course. Learn how to focus on the target instead of the trouble. Visit www.peaksports.com to download a free report to improve your preshot routines.