Hypnosis for Golfers

If you are doubting yourself or if you are like a number of my clients, have negative issues that reside in your subconscious mind, in a slump or do not believe in yourself then you may need a system along with your sports hypnosis sessions. If you know wrestling and the majority of my work is with wrestlers, you have known for years I have suggested that wrestlers take advantage of the book "Winning State" because here you will learn how to overcome fear and pressure. Well here is another method that will help you in your sports career and help when you see a sports hypnotist regardless if it is here or across the country. Take the next step for a positive change and enhance your hypnosis sessions. As a sports hypnotist I accept no fee for these two endorsements, they help my clients and make my work with you better in sessions, so take a look and subscribe to " The Inner Game for Winning Athletes System™" click below and go to Loren's site.

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Rory McIlroy's Big Breakthrough

This article was written by Sports Performance Consultant..... Loren Fogelman, Creator of The Inner Game for Winning Athletes System™

As in sports, as in life, the goal is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Some athletes claim preparing for the worst case scenarios might jinx them. Another perspective, however, is based upon the scouting motto, “be prepared.” Awareness of various possibilities affecting performance, and outcomes, is preventative. You are better equipped to deal with the unexpected and regain your focus, when there is a plan.

Look at Rory McIlroy when he played the Master’s in Augusta. He was strongly positioned to win entering the 4th round with a four stroke lead. Receiving the famous Green Jacket would have made him the 2nd youngest golfer in history to win the tournament.
As with any sport, so much about golf is left to chance, totally out of your control. The only choice, then, is to focus on what you can control. Your thoughts, your actions. That is pretty much it. A good rule of thumb is planning for unusual circumstances.

If McIlroy had a plan for the worst case scenario, he might have recovered from his tee shot on the 10. After his tee shot ricocheted off a tree and settled between the cabins, his focus unraveled. Nothing had prepared him for this. He had no prior experience to draw upon.
His composure was impacted on three different levels.

1. Focus and performance were the most obvious. He was off his game. The lost concentration caused his patience to dwindle. The domino effect set things in motion causing McIlroy’s four shot lead to disappear. What had begun as stress free golf, quickly changed. The tables had been turned.
No one on his team was able to help him through this moment. It was beyond his caddie’s capabilities. The resources were just not there for him in his moment of need. He hadn’t been working with a sports psychologist on his mental game. He thought he didn’t have the need for one until now.
Had Rory worked with me prior to the tournament we would have been strengthening his mental game by preparing him for unforeseen circumstances just like this. He would have been prepared to regain his composure by effectively using his recovery period in-between shots to refocus.
Prevention and preparation are priceless.

2. McIlroy admits his confidence had been shaken. His game was thrown off and he did not possess the tools to regain his composure. At that point, he was unable to leave his last shot behind. It was virtually impossible to focus on his current shot while still recovering from the10th hole.

3. The lost momentum was powerful. Once he stepped out of the zone, his energy changed. The vibrancy was gone. His edge was dulled. McIlroy was in a breakdown.

Breakdowns are significant. If you are in a situation where everything seems to be going wrong, feeling like a bad streak of luck, then you are probably in a breakdown. They can appear in all forms including physical problems, situational issues or technical malfunctions. It just depends.
Not only was he dealing with the upset at the Master’s, his golf clubs were lost between his flight from Georgia to Kuala Lumpur, for the Malaysian Open. Under normal circumstances that fluke appears highly unlikely since he was on a private chartered jet.

All athletes experience breakdowns as they move up in rankings, working toward BIG goals. The crucial piece is not if it will happen, because it will. More importantly is how you respond to the breakdown when it occurs. Your response is directly related to your level of commitment for your vision.
When faced with an obstacle, something which initially appears insurmountable, how will you respond? Pivotal events of this nature separate truly committed athletes from all the rest. The highly driven athlete perseveres although faced with adversity. Continued inspired action continues to be taken to maintain momentum toward the goal. By maintaining focus on his overall vision, McIlroy chose to stay the course. The obstacles are detours instead of road blocks on his rise to success.

Loren Fogelman, Creator of The Inner Game for Winning Athletes System™

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The Enormous Power Of Visualization
by Craig Townsend (Dip. of Clinical Hypnotherapy).

Visualization is the most powerful tool available
to achieve peak performance on the golf course (or
anywhere, for that matter) - which is the simple act of
running through your mind the exact scenario you wish to
happen on the course.

Whether they realize it or not, everyone uses
visualization to some extent, as ALL thoughts are
converted into images inside the subconscious - but the
problem many golfers have is that instead of using it
positively, they tend to run horror movies through their
mind before they hit a shot! Of course, this works highly
effectively and ensures they hit a bad shot!

So actively using visualization ensures that you are
running positive movies through your head, instead of
negative - which was the highly-used practice of Jack
Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. Jack Nicklaus said that whenever
he walked up to a ball, he 'went to the movies' which
basically meant that he first of all pre-programmed the
shot in his mind before he would ever consider addressing
the ball.

Visualization has the ability to overcome any negative
subconscious 'programs' which can create problems, such as:

* The yips

* 1st tee nerves

* Concentration lapses (e.g.. spasmodic lapses, or back-nine
lapses)

* Lack of belief in your own ability

* Slumps in form

* Regularly recurring problems on the course

* Technical problems

* Practicing hard but getting no results for your hard
work

* Doubts, fears, worries and anxieties

* Inconsistency in competition

* Playing great in practice, lousy in competition

* Overly worrying about the "obstacles" such as the
bunkers and trees

* Injuries occurring just before competitions

It is a scientific fact that in order for human beings
to 'create' anything, they must first have a mental image
conceived in their mind - this is true even of every
invention created throughout history, and also true for
your golf shots. You must first construct the shot in your
mind before you can expect your body to do it properly.
However, visualization should not only be used on the golf
course, but for a 5-10 minute session each day at home -
as this creates a new program within your subconscious for
your body to follow.

Building a Better Golfer
by Bill Hartman, PT, CSCS, ART

When was the last time you truly prepared to play your
best golf game? Now I'm not talking about buying the
right shoes or the best clubs, I'm talking about preparing
yourself to play your best game. Chances are, if you're
like most golfers, you never have. Sure you took lessons
from the best teacher you could find, but for some reason,
you continue to have good days and bad days on the course.
You still have that one simple fault in your swing that
forces you to hit inconsistently no matter how many lessons
you take. No matter how many balls you hit at the driving
range.

Now consider this. Does a football player just decide he
wants to play football and straps on the pads and takes to
the field? Does a baseball pitcher just head out to the
mound and throw 100 mile an hour fastballs? Of course
not. Then why would a golfer, regardless of his current
abilities, expect to go out and play his best game without
preparing his body first?

Some say, "Well, golf is game of technique and practice.
It's not an athletic event." I totally disagree. When you
swing a golf club, the club head speed can reach 100 miles
an hour. At the same time, the golfer's peak muscle
activity can reach 90% of his or her maximum. That is
equal to a weight lifter lifting a weight only four times
before he could not lift it again due to fatigue. Now if
you're a pretty decent golfer you may have to generate that
same force up to 40 times a round. And you thought you
were tired on the 18th tee because of the all the walking
you were doing. Guess Again.

Let me give you two recent examples which most golfers will
be familiar with as to how some specific forms of training
can improve your game. First is Tiger Woods, arguably the
best golfer around. He just finished the longest winning
streak in professional golf in 52 years. An astounding
feat in itself until you look at how he won it. How many
times did he come from behind? How did he play his best
golf at the end of the round and hit so consistently when
the other golfers fought themselves to maintain their
game? The answer is he trained for it. The second example
is David Duvall. Has anyone noticed the new slimmed down
version of David Duvall? Why did he lose all that weight
and start working with a trainer to improve his game?
Because he understands that with all the advances in his
equipment and his competitor's equipment, golf scores have
essentially remained the same. So the difference then must
be the golfer himself. When asked why he underwent such a
physical transformation to improve his game Mr. Duvall
simply said, "Because Tiger did it, and I need to keep
up." 'Nuff said.

Now sure, these guys are the big time. They make a living
playing golf. Why should you care? Well, have you ever
spent a little extra money on a specific club in hopes of
increasing your driving distance, and you didn't notice any
significant improvement? Maybe it's not the club. Maybe
your body hasn't been trained properly to produce the
appropriate force at contact with the ball to drive
farther. Have you ever taken a lesson with an experienced
teacher to identify a fault and no matter how much you
practiced, you just couldn't produce the adjustment in your
swing that you desired? Maybe you lack flexibility in your
shoulders, back, or hips that prevent you from making the
adjustment. You see, it's not your fault. You just
haven't been trained to produce the golf game you desire to
play.

Sport-Specific Training for the Average Golfer
Any one can improve their golf game without investing in
new equipment or hundreds of hours of lessons simply by
improving four basic physical qualities: flexibility,
stability, strength, and power. A deficiency in any of the
four will result in faulty swings and inconsistent play.

Flexibility

Lack of proper flexibility in the shoulder, back, and hips
can create restrictions in back swing, follow-through, as
well as a loss in your swing plane or create faulty
clubface angles on contact with the ball. Working
consistently toward ideal flexibility can eliminate many of
these swing faults.

Stability

Lack of stability in the trunk produces an inconsistent
address posture and alterations in the swing that can
produce an array of faults causing you to push on one swing
and pull on the next or hit fat then thin. Training for
proper static and dynamic stability produces consistency in
the golf swing from the beginning of a round to the end.

Strength

A lack of proper strengthening of the trunk results in the
most common injuries to the back, elbow, and wrist due to
overuse. Appropriate strength levels in the trunk
musculature allow the golfer to tolerate the tremendous
forces produced in the swing and prevents fatigue which can
reduce performance.

Power

Power is the generation of force per unit time. More power
means faster club head speed resulting in longer drives.
To develop power, you must train for it.

The Bottom Line

You can improve your golf game by training appropriately
regardless of your age or your current physical state.
It's not about building huge muscles or the perfect body.
In fact, bodybuilding type training will inhibit your
progress. It's about selective strengthening and
increasing flexibility, then integrating those new
qualities with the proper timing within the golf swing.
It's about building a better golfer.

It's All in The Mind part 2
by Dr Aidan Moran, Professor of Psychology

Concentration, or the ability
to focus on the present task while ignoring distractions,
is probably the most important mental skill in golf. As
Paul Azinger said, ~Staying in the present is the key to
the golfer's game: Once you start thinking about a shot you
just messed up. You're lost~. But what can you do on the
course to improve your focusing skills? Here are some
practical tips that are designed to keep your mind focused
on the job at hand.

Develop a pre-shot routine

Routines train your mind to
focus on the ~here and now~. Remember the steps involved in
any good routine: Assess the situation, then prepare to
play and finally, trust your swing and let it flow.

Pick a specific target

Always ask yourself "What's my target?" for every shot you
play. Picking a target is a good way of blocking out
distractions.

Focus on the challenge of every shot

Try to see every shot as a contest between you and the
target. Nothing else matters.

Use "trigger words" to refocus your mind

If you find yourself thinking too far ahead, try using
phrases like "this one ~ now!" or "nice and easy" to
refocus your mind.

Visualize the type of shot you want to play

Visualization, or "seeing" and "feeling" a shot in your
imagination before you actually hit it, is a popular
concentration technique among top players.

Learn to put the past behind you

Develop the habit of "letting go" of the shot you've just
played. If it was a bad shot, remind yourself that it's the
next shot that counts. If it was a good shot say "well
done" silently to yourself but remember to re-focus on the
next target to aim at.

Developing the Right Attitude to Golf
by Dr Aidan Moran, Professor of Psychology

Developing the right attitude to Golf
Here is the first in a series of articles by Dr Aidan
Moran, Professor of Psychology Research at University
College, Dublin. Dr Moran is adviser to many of Ireland's
top Golfers including Padraig Harrington

Anyone who has missed a short putt in a competition knows
that although golf is played with the body, it is won in
the mind. But why is golf so demanding mentally? More
importantly, what frame of mind helps you to play to the
best of your ability on the course?

Golf is a psychologically demanding game for three main
reasons. First, it is an un-timed sport so you must be
prepared to play for as long as it takes to complete the
round or match. All too often, club golfers upset
themselves unnecessarily by losing patience with slow
players ahead of them. Remember what the late Payne Stewart
said: ~A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing!~ A second
reason why golf is tough mentally is because you have to
take full responsibility for what you do on the course.
Unfortunately, many players try to evade this
responsibility by making excuses ~ blaming the course,
their clubs, the weather and/or the balls they're using.
But research shows that only losers make excuses.

Finally, the ~stop-start~ nature of golf means that you
spend more time thinking about playing than actually
hitting the ball. In fact, in a typical three and a half-
hour round of golf, less than 10% of your time is devoted
to swinging the club. The rest of the time is spent
walking, talking, looking for balls, regretting mistakes,
losing concentration and, of course, making excuses!

The implications of this finding are clear. In order to
play consistently to the best of your ability, you have to
learn to concentrate on only one shot at a time ~ no
looking back and no thinking too far ahead. The best way to
do this is to regard golf as a target sport ~ a bit like
archery. Without a target, your mind will wander. But
remember, your target must be a positive one ~ something to
aim at (e.g., a spot on the fairway) rather than something
to avoid (e.g., a water hazard).

So, next time you play, make sure to pick a target for
every shot.

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