Posts from September 2019

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Golf - A Game of Emotions (Thrones!)

Posted on 27th September 2019 at 15:37

Have you ever been in such a state on the golf course where you could have broken your club over your knee, threw the club in the lake (just like Rory!) or got so angry you swore like a trooper? Well most people when playing golf or any other sport can get so frustrated with themselves that their behaviour becomes filled with negative emotions. In fact, most of my golf and other sport’s clients seek my services due to not being able to control their emotions before, during and after their chosen sporting event.

“the secret to the mental game is the ability to instantly

recall past success and let go of failure” Tiger Woods

So, what is emotion – well the dictionary states that ‘emotion is an effective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate or the like is experienced’. As our bodies are made up of matter and energy then emotion is a form of positive or negative energy moving within our body – positive or negative. Also, as everything in life is a choice – we either choose to do or not do (there is no try - remember Yoda!) with the things we have control over and where we don’t then we choose how to react!

The other thing to remember is that if we begin to act negatively on a regular basis when we don’t pull off a good shot we get emotional and have a good old swear, get angry, our pulse races and blood pressure rises and out comes the negative behaviour, which in turn becomes habitual. And that is where the following key actions are needed to break the negative emotional habits:

• Choose to be positive or at worst neutral when things don’t go according to plan – it just is!

• Always use the two-box routine and remember to deeply inhale and exhale as you step over the imaginary dividing line between the strategy box and execution box

• Anchor positive emotional feelings of a past sporting success i.e. hole in one, winning a match or competition, and eagle

• Visualise playing the game the night before in perfect conditions and playing to your handicap or one or two shots better

• Between shots hold your head high and keep focus on the top of the flag as you walk towards the green

• Use the 4:4:4 breathing technique – inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds and exhale for four seconds

All the above techniques are easy to do and easy not to do! So, take a leaf out of Jeff Olsen’s book ‘The Slight Edge’ and do the easy things and see your handicap move in the right direction.

Another technique that My Golf Mind uses when a client has serious negative emotions and it’s impacting the progress in their sport is, I get the client to simply hold a pencil tightly in their hand and ask them if they could simply let go of it. They all say yes, so I then ask them to let go of the pencil, which they do. I then get them to do the same exercise again but instead of tightly holding on to a pencil, they are holding onto a negative emotion and repeat the above instruction. Some get the metaphor straight away and begin to change their negative emotions to neutral and positive behaviour. Those that don’t let go need further work to release them of their poor habitual behaviour on the course!

Until next week - keep it on the fairway ...

Remember that My Golf Mind carries out 1-2-1 and group sports master mind-factor coaching sessions, either face-to-face, Skype / FaceTime or telephone if you want to improve your mental tenacity. My Golf Mind also offers a free session if you book (six sessions for the price of five) onto the gold performance coaching programme.

Do give My Golf Mind a call on 07973 614969 or fill out the form below if you have any questions or would like to challenge what I've said.

Keith Haynes

Northamptonshire’s First Sports Master Mind-Factor Coach

PS ... My Golf Mind also delivers a two-hour 'Spring Clean Your Mind; Spring Clean Your Game’ seminar if you or your golf club are interested! And now everyone gets a free gift for attending that is guaranteed to improve your mental tenacity and golf, so get in touch right away ...

PPS … As Christmas is getting closer golf widows / widowers can now purchase a MY Golf Mind Christmas Voucher for their loved one, so get in touch now …

Ben Hogan's Blackboard

Posted on 13th September 2019 at 11:54

What’s your pre-tournament medal or stableford match preparations? Well with today’s technology you can invariably visit the course website to see and read about the course layout and each hole in detail. More and more golf courses are using video shot by drones to escort you through each hole in turn to get a fantastic movie and often a commentary from people like Peter Alliss of the course you’re about to play. Serious amateur and professional golfers who play on the various tours around the world have for a very long time been provided with course planners or yardage charts, which are invaluable for the caddie and golfer to plot their route around the course.

If you go to a professional tournament or just watch golf on the television, then you will see every player and caddie working together using the yardage charts before and sometimes after each shot. These extremely valuable aids should be used prior to the actual day of play to set up a picture in your mind how best to play each individual hole depending on the pin position/s for the competition. Also, the top professionals record their own analysis of their performance. All this information is kept so every time they go to play the same course out comes the yardage chart and analysis so that they can be even better prepared than last time. So, if you play at your local course every week do you use a yardage chart and record your own analysis to help reduce your handicap by one or two or even more every year?

Its reported that Ben Hogan – one of the greatest golfers of all time used to take a blackboard and chalk with him to the hotel wherever he was playing and especially for the four Majors. So, each night he would chalk out each hole and indicate the best position for the ball to end up for each shot depending upon the hole position. So, stop and think what sort of advantage Ben Hogan had over his contemporises before he even went to bed! I’m sure Ben Hogan would be amazed at the number and different types of electronic gadgetry and systems available to modern player these days.

So why is this so important to building up your mental tenacity on the golf course I hear you say? Well firstly the best decisions are made when you have sufficient and valuable information to make an informed choice. So, building up a library of important information over a number of rounds or years is tremendously advantageous to golfers of all abilities. Secondly if you have this wealth of information you can build up your levels of confidence to be able to place the ball exactly where it needs to finish up to give you the chance of being in contention. In addition, your unconscious mind has the information stored up ready for use when you go out and play the round of golf. This also enhances your levels of confidence and mental tenacity as you build up your resources to deal with the pressures coming down the stretch or when things don’t quite go to plan. Remember its only you out on the course and you’re just doing battle with the course architect and the green keepers!

If your serious about your golf and want to make major strides to lowering your minus or plus handicap and being in contention more often then perhaps collecting hole by hole data is what’s needed?

Until next week - keep it on the fairway ...

Remember that My Golf Mind carries out 1-2-1 and group sports master mind-factor coaching sessions, either face-to-face, Skype / FaceTime or telephone if you want to improve your mental tenacity. My Golf Mind also offer a free session if you book (six sessions for the price of five) with my gold performance coaching programme.

Do give My Golf Mind a call on 07973 614969 or leave a comment on the form below if you have any questions or want to challenge what I've said!

Keith Haynes

My Golf Mind

Northamptonshire’s First Sports Master Mind-Factor Coach

PS ... I deliver a two-hour 'My Golf Mind - spring clean your mind; spring clean your game' seminar if you or your golf club are interested! And now everyone gets a free gift for attending that is guaranteed to improve your mental tenacity and golf, so get in touch now ...

The Colour Of Golf

Posted on 6th September 2019 at 10:52

Tiger Woods always wore a red shirt on the final round of a tournament, Patrick Reed also now dons the same colour. Karl Morris (The Mind Factor Coach) had Louis Oosthuizen the 2010 Championship Golfer of the Year (at St. Andrews – the home of golf) draw a red dot on his golf glove as a reminder to pay attention to Louis’ pre-shot routine. So, the importance of colour can be paramount to the success of a golfer.

Colour is significant in our everyday world and in particular for the flora and fauna species for repelling a predator or attracting the opposite sex!

Red is often used as it is the same colour of blood and can symbolise aggression and even war! Colour is also an energy which has been proven to impact on one’s physiology and psychology. Red would make Tiger more confident and powerful, while his opponents would feel intimidated! Hence when Tiger was at his best just the colour red could be a signal to some professional golfers that their goal was at best second place. They just accepted that Tiger in red on the last day would be most likely to win!

The following exercise is one that I get most of my clients to do – I get them to state what their favorite colour is and think of an extremely memorable event i.e. a hole in one, winning a tournament or golf club competition. I then guide them through the following stages to create a very powerful resourceful anchor that they can draw on as and when needed on or off the golf course.

Imagine a 2’ / 60cm square in your favourite colour on the floor just in front of you

Now step onto the imaginary magic coloured square and think of a golfing event that meant the most (hole in one, winning etc.). Now see yourself in the event, hear the sounds that you heard, feel the emotional feelings that you felt and notice anything else that made the event so very, very special. Now double the sensation – what do you see, hear, feel and notice, double the sensation again and again. Enjoy this sensation until it just starts to wain and then step off the magic coloured square

At the height or most intense feeling you get then clench you fist to provide a stronger anchor that you can replicate the sensation as needed

Repeat this at least five times regularly, and especially when challenged

Whenever you need additional energy, resources and or to boost your confidence then just imagine the coloured magic square and clench your fist to regain the energy and confidence to utilise as you need, okay. Only you will know that as you walk down the fairway as you’re stepping out onto your resourceful magic coloured square. Give it a go because it won’t work unless you practice it! And remember practice doesn’t make perfect - it makes continual improvement!

One of my PGA Touring Pros uses this technique and often walks down the fairway on an imaginary blue carpet!

Hopefully, you're beginning to find my blog post of interest and have started getting you thinking about the importance of the mind game? So why not share them with your golfing mates, okay.

Do give me a call on 07973 614969, leave me a comment or fill out the form if you have any questions or would like to challenge what I've said, okay?

Keep it on the fairway ...

Keith Haynes

Northamptonshire’s First Master Mind-Factor Coach

PS ... I deliver a two-hour 'spring clean your mind; spring clean your game' seminar if your golf club or society are interested! Get in touch ...

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Posts from September 2019

Golf - A Game of Emotions (Thrones!)

Ben Hogan's Blackboard

The Colour Of Golf

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