Golf Psychology Newsletter - The Power of Memories

Welcome again to the Golf Brain newsletter.

What a summer it has been! The most incredible sporting series that we have ever had in the U.K. has finished with the Ashes back in England. The roller coaster of emotion has been incredible, as two great teams have gone head to head in an unforgettable series of matches. We have had the thrill at Trained Brain of working with Michael Vaughan and Freddie Flintoff on their mental game and one of the key components of our work with them applies directly to your golf, your business and your life.

Science also backs up for us the need to understand how our emotions have such a powerful impact on our memory, which in turn hugely affects our ongoing confidence levels. The point being is that most of us need to be coached in how to use emotion effectively it is not something that is naturally conditioned by the society that we live in. What would it be like if you had a series of tools that would allow you to become the very best that you could be? Just imagine the impact that you could have on yourself and those around you!

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Memories are made of this

What were you doing on June 11th 2001? Can any of you remember that day and what you were up to?

Chances are that unless it was your birthday or you got married on that day or had a hole in one you will have trouble recalling the events of that day.

But what were you doing on September 11th 2001? Do you recall the events of that terrible day? Do you remember where you heard the news, who you were with, the time of day?

Now most of you are nodding your heads as the memories come back to you of a day that we will never forget for all the wrong reasons but purely in terms of your memory it is incredible. I have just plucked two dates out of your personal-history; one of them you have no recall for, yet the other is instant and vivid.

Tiger Woods has been quoted as saying that the ‘secret’ to the mental game of golf is the ability to ‘instantly recall past success and forget failure’.

The reason you have no recall for June 11th but instant recall for Sept 11th is the way that your mind will ‘tag’ a memory if it is associated with high emotion.
When you consider your golf and what you want to remember, what do you attach most emotion to out on the golf course, the good or the bad? What are you actually storing in your memory banks for further use?

It could well be that the way that you use your memory in future could be ‘the key’ to the success or failure of your golfing future.
If you wish to change the way that you store your golfing memories, follow these 5 key points.

• The golden rule is INCREASE the emotion on a good shot and DECREASE the emotion on a poor shot.
• Allow yourself to ‘get high’ on the good shots. Pump a fist, squeeze the club, say yyeeesss on the inside, whatever it takes put some emotion into the good stuff.
• Make a note mentally to ‘Save it’, just as you would do with an important word document on a computer. Having the intention to recall a shot is a powerful memory aid.
• Detach yourself from a poor outcome. Have yourself view it in a neutral state. ‘What will I do next time?’ is a good question.
• After a poor shot BREATHE, research shows that focusing on your breath can neutralise the emotional attachment.

RESEARCH

From the New Scientist some research that backs up the need for emotional control in sport.

James Gross at Stanford University and Jane Richards at the University of Texas showed 57 volunteers a disturbing film about a surgical procedure, then asked them questions about their emotional state, how much effort they put into hiding their feelings, and their MEMORY of the events in the film.

They found that people who made the most effort to keep their emotions in check had the WORST recall for what they had seen.

In the second part of the study, they instructed a different set of volunteers either to try to control their facial expressions or to distract themselves by thinking about something else. Both groups did equally POORLY in remembering what happened in the film.

Gross suggests that the effort in trying to control your emotions DETRACTS from your ability to remember details.

What do you want to remember the GOOD or the BAD?