Golf Psychology Newsletter - The Nature of the Mind

NEARLY 59!!

Congratulations to Trained Brain client, Phil Archer, who so nearly broke what has become a 4-minute mile-like barrier for the European Tour, by becoming the first man to break 60 in a European Tour event. A six-foot putt on the last in the first round of the Welsh Open agonisingly lipped out to keep Phil in a very exclusive but not unique club of players who have shot 60 on tour.

On the Monday after Wales, some of Phil’s disappointment was eased as he secured a place in his first Major by gaining the last spot in the US Open.

THE Nature of the MIND

It seems to me that so many of the players that I work with talk about FEAR.

Fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of losing their game....

We talk so much about fear that we have almost stopped to think about what it really is and how to go about coping with it.

If we look back to our ancestors, the days when we roamed about looking for food as we ventured away from the safety of the cave, then fear was a very real and USEFUL mechanism in so much that each day involved one of two experiences; either we were going to HAVE lunch or we were going to BECOME lunch!!!

Fear kept us alive, it protected us and allowed our species to flourish.

Safe to say though that today we are not in too much REAL danger. Danger that will actually threaten our lives is thankfully few and far between and unless lightening is around, is certainly not a factor in golf!

So, why are we so afraid?

It seems that the nature of the mind is to change its mind!

One day we feel on top of the world and indestructible, yet the next day, we feel like we have never played the game before. How can the mind be so unhelpful as we constantly battle against our ‘inner demons’?

We are often told to ‘be positive’ yet the positivity only tends to last a short time and then we need another ‘fix’.

It seems to be that it is not so much a positive mind that we need to play great golf, but a QUIET and CALM one that is dealing with the task at hand.

• Could you just let your mind be?
• Could you just notice the endless looping conversations and images that pop up and go in and out of the theatre of your mind?

As you ‘step out’ and begin to NOTICE what is going on instead of reacting to what is going on, you begin to take up a different position in relation to your mind, a position that allows fear to subside. As Stephen Wolinsky has said you ‘get out of the thick of things’.

Over the coming months, we will look at more tools to allow you to discover just how the mind can serve you better with your golf being a medium for that exploration.

‘Train your Golf Brain’ cd is FULL of PRACTICAL and APPLICABLE ways to Train your Golf Brain

RESEARCH

Coaches be careful of what you EXPECT your pupils to achieve!

EXPECTANCY RESPONSES

New York (1975) a well-known psychologist approachd a school to utilise 2 teachers and 2 groups of students.

Teacher A was told Group 1 was a group of superior students. All the students have a very high IQ he is told. Do not tell the students or any other teachers. We (the Principal and the Psychologist) expect you to have a great year. Exit Teacher A.

Teacher B enters and is shared to following news.....the students that you have (Group 2) are students who are not doing very well. They have very low IQs. Do not tell the students or any other teachers. Do your best. Exit Teacher B.

8 months later into the study the research project is stopped because the students in Group 1 almost all have an "A" average. The students in Group 2 are averaging "D" grade.

The punch line........The students were randomly assigned to the groups. There was NO difference in the average IQ of the students! The study was immediately stopped and has never been repeated since.

Become a Mental Game Coach
Train with Dr. Karl Morris and become a qualified NLP Sports Practitioner.
5 day course runs in central Manchester 20th to 24th November 2006.
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