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GOLF
- The MIND FACTOR
NEWSLETTER
5 August 2008
by Dr Karl Morris
www.golf-brain.com
Features in this newsletter :
- Harrington Double
- Toughest job of the lot!!
- Save A Million Shots
- MIND FACTOR
Course 2008
Welcome to the latest MIND
FACTOR newsletter.
HARRINGTON
DOUBLE
Image Courtesy of Getty Images
It has been a fascinating month with an
incredible British Open culminating in a well deserved
2nd Major title for Padraig Harrington. He really does
show an incredible streak of mental toughness. He and
his Mind Coach, Dr Bob Rotella, should be both admired
for the work they have done on a consistent basis over
the past number of years.
Prior to that, I had the pleasure of experiencing a
personal first. I have never had clients in a ONE –
TWO situation in a tournament but at the Scottish Open,
Graeme McDowell and James Kingston, both MIND
FACTOR clients, played some awesome
golf at the weekend to finish 1 and 2.
The top finish almost guarantees Graeme McDowell his
Ryder Cup spot and in a future newsletter I will reveal
some very interesting information about the goal setting
process we used at the start of the year.
TOUGHEST JOB OF THE LOT!!
I personally think perhaps toughest job in the game
of golf, apart from the actual player, is that of the
Caddie. The much abused, much maligned and definitely
the much underrated bag carrier. In terms of professional
golf, it never ceases to amaze me how little focus in
terms of training and recognition is given to the Caddie.
This year above all others, I have seen at very close
quarters, the difference a really good Caddie can make
to a player. Graeme McDowell’s Caddie Ken Comboy
brings a wealth of experience to his role having caddied
for the likes of Thomas Bjorn and Andrew Coltart over
a career spanning the best part of 20 years. The week
before the European Open ‘Team McDowell’
sat down to discuss the previous month's decent but
mixed results. Comboy pointed out a specific fault that
he had noticed creeping into McDowell’s routine
under pressure, a fault that Graeme was totally unaware
of.
With this insight, it gave me the opportunity to give
the player some really specific direction in terms of
his process when the situation on the course was becoming
tighter and tighter. The meeting proved seminal as Graeme
then went on to finish 3rd in the European Open followed
by a stunning victory in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond
and then a more than creditable 18th in the British
Open. A three week spell which produced the best part
of a million Euros, a whole heap of Ryder Cup points
and the fourth but most important Tour victory of McDowell’s
career.
Was it all down to THAT conversation?
Obviously not, a lot of good ingredients had to be in
place, the swing was in good shape thanks to the excellent
work of coach Clive Tucker, body was in good order but
when it mattered most ,the information Ken had provided
both to Graeme and myself proved invaluable. It was
also apparent both caddie and player were absolutely
in synch with their thinking over that terrific three
week spell.
Steve Williams has been the highest paid sportsman
in New Zealand for a number of years. Yet, as Tiger
Woods' Caddie, do you think he needs to be up to the
job of looking after the greatest sportsman on the planet?
It is a fascinating insight when you read Steve Williams'
book about his life with Tiger, just how much psychology
is involved in their working relationship. The right
word or gesture at the critical point in a round will
literally be the difference between winning and losing.
We are all so acutely aware of another person’s
body language that the world class Caddie needs to be
constantly aware of how he carries himself, his demeanour,
his message that HE is sending out
to the player. If the player drops and the Caddie goes
with him, then we have a recipe for disaster. Just as
Shane Warne once said that he felt the MOST
important lesson he had EVER learnt
was to take CHARGE of his body language.
So it is with the Caddie that he MUST
keep up when the player is down. This is the time his
bonus money is REALLY earned.
How can all of this help you and your game?
Well, as we have already said - the right word at the
right time is critical. You may not have a Caddie when
you are playing your medal rounds, but there will certainly
be a good deal of conversation going on between YOU
and YOURSELF. I have often
had players make a big leap forward when I ask them
to tune into what they are saying to themselves during
a round of golf and followed that by asking them the
question, ‘If you had a Caddie on your bag and
HE spoke to you just like
you speak to yourself, how long would he last????’
Obviously, a smile follows and a recognition of how
much we actually beat ourselves up on the course and,
if a Caddie dared speak like that, he would be gone
in a matter of holes!!
Just for the next couple of rounds, do yourself a favour
and begin to speak to yourself out on the course just
as a really good Caddie would. Pick yourself up, encourage,
and make sensible decisions. You make not win a Scottish
Open but I think the very least you will be giving yourself
is a much better CHANCE of not only enjoying the game
but scoring as low as you are capable.
SAVE A
MILLION SHOTS
If you want another way of quickly knocking shots off
your golf handicap then for a limited period you can
join the online golf community at www.saveamillionshots.com
and watch Free
Golf Videos from some of the world’s top golf
coaches.
AND
Here’s another quick and easy way to
improve your golf – watch free
golf instruction lessons online from some of the
world's top golf coaches at www.saveamillionshots.com.
MIND FACTOR
COURSE
Become a MIND FACTOR
coach. An Incredible FOUR DAYS of learning
and training with Karl Morris. November 22nd to 25th
2008 in Central Manchester. Take the opportunity
NOW to learn some of the tools and techniques
that have helped some of the world’s best players
and can help YOU now to transform yourself
as a Coach or Player. Go to www.golf-brain.com
for details.
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