The inner game of golf is made up of the mental beliefs you have of your self and your abilities that surface in your performances on the golf course.

A good mental attitude is achieved when you learn the skills to decrease the mental interferences that keep you from playing at your peak performance levels. You reach your peak performance levels when you become aware only about what you are experiencing in the present moment. Then you are playing the game.

Accessing this awareness comes from relaxing your mind for the total focus needed to hit the next shot. In order to relax and focus on playing the game, you must overcome the interference of fears such as failure, embarrassment, worry, anxiety, self-doubt, negative attitudes and beliefs. Fear keeps you from moving forward toward success. Fear keeps you in the “victim energy” feeling powerless. If you use the time in-between shots to think of failing, it is time to release the inner critical voice in your head and replace it with the goodness of your inner Self.

Confidence comes from within.

Golfers who lack confidence talk about how poorly they played certain holes in their past rounds, or talk about the difficulty of the golf course/greens, or about how poorly they are hitting/putting. Golfers who lack confidence think about the things they don’t want to happen. When you lose your confidence your negative self-talk increases and your performance deteriorates. Confidence builds when you remember your best shots more than you remember your misses.

Confidence comes from making positive choices

• Choose to live your life now, or choose to listen to old useless inner mind tapes from the past.
• Choose now to talk to yourself as if you are a winner, or choose to keep putting yourself down.
• Choose now to take back control of your life and your golf game, or choose to be a victim.
• Choose now between bonding with your playing partners, or choose to worry about what they might be thinking about you.
• Choose now between enjoying the fun and social interactions with your playing partners, or choose the fear of being judged.
• Choose now to focus between the feeling of hitting great shots and dropping putts, or choose to worry about your score. 
• Choose now to focus in the present on each shot, or choose to allow your mind to wander elsewhere. 
• Choose now to focus on what you desire to create in this moment, or choose to focus on what you don’t want. 
• Choose now to believe that you can improve, or choose to give up. 
• Choose now to believe in yourself and your abilities, or choose to believe that you are a  failure. 
• Choose to have a winning strategy, or choose to have excuses for losing. 
• Choose to see a possible solution to every situation, or choose to decide it is too difficult.

“The trouble with all of us, who grumble over the game and thus spoil an otherwise pleasant afternoon with congenial friends, is that we do not understand the game, nor ourselves. In this we can take a number of lessons from the poorer player who without fail has fun. For no matter how good we may be, if we should fancy that we have mastered golf to the extent that we can go out day after day and play as we please, then we are greater fools than ought to be left at large”.  ~ Bobby Jones

When you focus on not being good enough, it produces anxiety and fear. When you focus on the positive, the positive comes to you like a magnet pointed toward a pile of iron filings. If you focus on your mistakes, on what other people say, or what you think they are saying about you, or on what they are doing, you won’t have enough energy left to concentrate on your own performance. Focus on the only thing you have control over; you and your positive abilities. Then the game will become fun.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

If you aren’t able to maintain a positive attitude on the golf course, email Joan at pmi4@bellsouth.net for a complimentary 15-minute consultation about developing a new successful strategy.

Determine first what your mental stumbling blocks are. Take note of your limiting thoughts about the golf course or how you view your upcoming round. For example, you might say, “I worry about playing with others who are better than I am.”

Most golfers are intimidated by playing with better golfers. During the round, they worry about what the better golfer might think of them and their game. This kind of thinking causes anxiety and a lack of mental and emotional control.

Decide what is under your control and what is not

The ability and the way someone else plays the game is not under your control. However, letting go of worry and thoughts about someone else’s game is under your control.

Instead of dwelling on something outside of you that you can’t control, reframe it into a new perspective that will reinforce a positive focus on attaining your inner control. Anytime you determine that a thought is outside of your control, use it as a cue to give yourself a positive, constructive message where you can influence or control yourself positively.

Use self-talk that nourishes confidence

Some examples are:

• I give my full intention and attention to each shot.
• I play my best by thinking and executing one shot at a time.
• My shot preparation is decisive.
• I use my consistent mental pre-shot routine for every shot and putt, visualizing and feeling each one.
• I believe in my ability to score low.
• I relax between shots by keeping the conversation light, breathing deeply and feeling the   joy of swinging with ease.
• I stay relaxed to keep a good swing tempo to maximize my physical skills.
• I make something constructive happen by learning from my mistakes.
• I love all the challenges of playing a round of golf.
• I give myself credit for the good shots I hit.
• I love to putt on any kind of green.

The only thing you can control is yourself. Do not give any mental or emotional energy to what you cannot control. This includes the condition of the golf course, the weather conditions, your playing partners’ behavior or their scores. Spend your energy on preparing for your shot, sticking to your game plan, your own awareness and changing negative perceptions to positive thoughts.

If you aren’t able to maintain a positive attitude on the golf course, email Joan at pmi4@bellsouth.net for a complimentary 15-minute phone conversation about developing a new mental strategy. Learn what is missing in your golf game so you can achieve the success you desire.

Golfers always ask why they can’t take their golf swings from the practice range to the golf course after they hit the ball so well when warming up, and then play terribly on the golf course. One of the reasons is that they don’t practice their pre-shot routine on the range. For your swing to be consistent, your routine prior to swinging must be the same. Preparation is the only part of the golf swing over which you have 100% control.

A mental and physical routine is used in every sport to prepare the athlete to perform. It keeps the athlete engrossed in the moment, and away from distracting thoughts. Athletes train their minds to do the same thing in sequence over and over until the routine becomes a habit and they don’t have to think about it. These pre-performance routines are the maps that give direction to your brain and body about what you want to do. Without a consistent routine you are asking for inconsistent results. 

Why have a pre-shot routine?   (www.pmi4.com, Archived Newsletters, February 2005)

• The pre-shot routine prepares your mind to automatically hit a shot.
• A consistent pre-shot routine will produce consistent results.
• The pre-shot routine moves you from the thinking phase to the automatic doing phase.
• It keeps you engrossed in the moment and your thoughts away from the pressure of the results.
• It is a signal to the unconscious mind to get ready to perform.
• It is a series of actions to get you totally absorbed in the process of getting the ball to the target.

Why have a post-shot routine?

The post-shot routine helps you build positive mental consistency. After the shot is hit, the routine prepares your mind to anchor a good shot or to let go of a missed one. Our minds are very active and the memories we remember the most are the ones connected to good feelings or negative feelings. Repetition of the post-shot routine will result in more self confidence.

Anchor your good shots. Anyone who has had a hole-in-one can describe in great detail where, when and how it happened. Why? Because of the excitement generated which anchored it into the memory bank. If a shot comes off as you plan, anchor it by replaying it in your mind with a good feeling, good visualization and a trigger such as a smile or fist pump.

Let go of your bad shots. To release the emotions of a miss-hit and regain your positive thought process:

1. Release the frustration and anger with an exhalation or a swear word. It has been proven that this works.
2. Take a deep breath to calm your mind and body from the tension.
3. Do not try and analyze what went wrong with your swing.
4. Step aside and swing the club you used until you feel the swing you wanted.
5. Focus on accessing your timing and tempo.
6. Visualize the ball going along the target line to the target.
7. Anchor the good feelings and visualization.
8. Don’t move on down the fairway until you have completed your post-shot routine.

Develop your own personal routines 

For complete information on how to develop your own personal golf routines, log on to www.pmi4.com  and click on the link for Articles. Scroll down to the article entitled “Use a Consistent Routine for Consistent Golf.” 

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

I have heard from several male and female senior golfers who have lost interest in playing golf due to their long term memory of disappointments over the years and not being able to play as well as when they were younger.

In talking to low handicap senior golfers in their 70’s to 90’s who have accepted their physical changes, I found the following. As they age, golfers are prone to the “wear and tear” degenerative weaknesses that can require back and knee surgery. After surgery most golfers return to playing, but with limited restrictions. They say they have learned to practice less and be more tolerant of bad shots.

Most of the amateur golfers who ask for my help are so frustrated with their golf games that they are ready to give the game up. They have lost their passion for the game because they can’t play up to their expectations. The solution is always about changing a belief system that says if you put in a lot of effort you will achieve the results you want.

My suggestion is to look at why you play golf. Golf, like any other game, is played for your enjoyment. Fun is what you did as a young person that made you feel like you wanted to keep on doing it. If you aren’t haven’t fun, golf will always be a mental, physical and emotional struggle inside yourself.    

What is your motivation for playing golf? 

Golf is a vehicle for personal growth. It teaches us how to understand our inner Self on a deeper level.

Do you really understand the game? Do you know that the golf course will win more times than you do? Do you know that we have different personalities, and some golfers will play very fast and some will play slowly? Do you know that when all parts of your game are working it is a rarity? Do you know that golf will challenge your patience, tolerance of others, your emotions, your beliefs and attitudes? Do you know that you are trying to avoid embarrassing yourself anymore? Do you compete to prove how good you are, not to just play and have fun? If you just compete to boost your self worth, all of the above will affect the way you view the game.

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player don’t play the Pro Tour anymore because they aren’t able to compete at that level anymore. Arnold at age 86 still plays every day just for the enjoyment to see if he can be competitive at another level with his friends. His motivation is to win the bets.

Ben Crenshaw, 63 two time Masters Champion retired from competing at the Masters this year in his 44^th appearance after shooting 91-85. He has wonderful memories of playing against Nicklaus, Palmer, and Woods and being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Ben has given up playing on the Pro Tour but he will return each year to The Masters to play in the Wednesday, Par 3 tournament.

At my country club in Florida some of the male golfers started a group of 10 handicap and under players who played once a week. As they got older and their handicaps went up they searched for a group name to put on their golf caps. They considered names such as “could have been,” “never was” and decided on “Used to Bees.” Their logo was USTBee with a graphic of a small bee. Once a month they went out to lunch and in December met for a Christmas dinner with their wives.  Instead of lamenting growing older and not playing as well, they changed their attitude and had fun with the camaraderie of their senior friends.

How can I play well when I am older?

When you were learning how to play the game of golf, you were motivated to learn all the different aspects of the different swings. Now it is time to trust what you spent so many years learning and just play the game instead of practicing so much and worrying about how to improve your swing. Concentrate instead of improving your short game because that doesn’t require your physical prowess and will protect you from shorter tee and fairway shots. When you have a good short game it will save you from being embarrassed and humiliated after missing shots.

Changing your attitude or belief system takes time and effort. Here are some reliable suggestions for putting the fun back in your “senior game.”

1. If you have lost distance, routinely take 1-2 clubs more.
2. Practice to develop confidence in your short scoring game.
3. Stay physically fit so you don’t get tired.
4. Practice shots on the golf course instead of on the range.
5. Move up one tee box.
6. Enjoy being outside playing with friends who love the game.
7. When your golf game isn’t fun, have another game to play that doesn’t require the physical exertion.
8. Join a 9-hole group and socialize more. Use it as a practice round.
9. Play games on the putting green for bets.
10. Stop thinking of swing mechanics and more on scoring
11. Play golf courses that suit your game.
12. Trade in your long irons for hybrid clubs.
13. Use a shorter shaft in your driver for more accuracy.
14. Play the game not to win, but to see how well you can score on each hole.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart and Mind for Peak Performances

Improve your mental golf game now by listening to PMI self-hypnosis imagery CDs in the privacy of your own home. You can order today at http://www.pmi4.com/cart

I once played with a friend who told me with better course management I could cut 5-10 strokes off my score. As a single digit handicap player I was astounded that this part of my game was lacking. My personality gave me a “grip it and rip it” action type of golf game so I was very good at recovery shots. When I learned to slow down and moderate my behavior I became more consistent and scored lower rounds.

To determine the kind of golfer you are, log on to my website and read the 2004 January through April newsletters. When you understand your personality you can then consider the strengths and weaknesses specific to your style and relate your behavior to your golf game.

Before the golf season is in full swing, why don’t you take the time to determine if your personality is playing the holes at your home golf course the best possible way for scoring low? The golf course architect designed each hole with a specific purpose. If you look at the holes from the architect’s perspective, you might find a better way to play them.

Golf is a game where the position of your golf ball is vital for scoring. Without a strategy it is easy to beat yourself. Professionals have a plan to play each hole for the lowest possible score. With the plan in mind, they then focus by taking dead aim at each target, one shot at a time.  In planning your strategy, visualize the entire hole and ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the length of the hole?
• Is the fairway wide or narrow?
• Is it flat, undulating or sloping?
• Is it straight away or a dog leg?
• What is the yardage from the tee to the trouble (bunkers, water, trees, etc.)?
• Where do I want to land my tee ball to avoid all the problems?
• Is there trouble around the green (water, sand bunkers, trees behind, etc.)?
• Is it better to hit short or long on this green?
• What is the shape, slope, speed of the green?

You may have lots of talent, but if you don’t know how to think your way around the golf course, you aren’t going to play up to your potential. Here are some tips for managing your game:

1. Play the percentages. Don’t expect to hit your best shot. Hit the shot that you can hit 75% of the time. Hitting to the center of the greens will give you more opportunities than hitting to the pins.
2. Hit the ball in the fairway. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Know where the widest parts of the fairway are. Hit to the largest landing area. This may require using a 3-wood instead of a driver off the tee. Know exactly how far it is to avoid the fairway bunkers.
3. Par 3’s: Know where to miss it away from any possible trouble spots. Plan to land the ball where you haven’t “short sided” the next shot. Give yourself the best angle to hit to the green. If the pin is on the left, tee your ball up on the right and vice versa.
4. Par 4’s: Use the terrain of the hole to help you put the tee ball on a flat fairway lie. If you miss the fairway, knowing the layout of the hole will enable you to change your strategy for the best possible recovery.
5. Par 5’s:  These longer holes give you one more chance to recover. If you have to hit your best shot to reach the green, plan on laying up to avoid the greenside bunkers. If you have to lay-up, place the ball where you can hit a full shot and have a good opening into the green.
6. Be decisive. Once you start your pre-shot routine, trust that you have been decisive inl your choices and are ready to send those images to your swing.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Jordan Spieth is the Masters Champion at Age 21

Jordan Spieth amazed the world with his winning Masters performance last weekend. He set scoring records for 36 holes (130) and 54 holes (200), and shared the record for 72 holes (270) with Tiger Woods. His first round was the lowest start by a champion (64). Spieth also erased Michelson’s record of (25) birdies made in 2010 with an outstanding (28) number of birdies that continually found the center of the cup.

Spieth is a great example of a golfer with a successfully executed mental game. On his website he states, “My Dad told me growing up, ‘You’ve got to start setting goals.’ That’s been my philosophy, set goals and work hard, stay focused, and reach them as soon as possible. At each level, I always reevaluate my goals and establish new ones. I never want to become complacent, but always push myself further.”

Spieth received extra motivation from his runner-up finish to Bubba Watson in the 2014 Masters. He gave up a two shot lead with 11 holes left by playing too fast and losing his ability to control what was happening around him. In the last month he was runner-up in the Texas Open and then lost in a playoff at the Houston Open. ”So the combination of the two allowed me to keep my head down, not worry about anyone else in the field except myself and to play a golf course that is my favorite course in the world,” he said.

Jordan Spieth is an athlete who owns his confidence in his ability to compete with the world’s best golfers. When he was asked about the best part of his game, he said, “Playing badly well.”

How did he hold on to the tournament lead for four rounds?

Jordan Spieth’s mental game strength came from making a winning strategy, sticking to it, and trusting it for all four rounds.

His entourage consisted of having his friends stay at one house and his family at another house. The house rules were that no golf talk was allowed. There was to be no golf on TV when Jordan was present. Jordan’s time off the golf course was filled will fun games like basketball, cards and ping pong.

Holding the lead at the Masters in each round caused some sleeplessness and anxiety for Jordan  as the tournament progressed, but he was determined to stay with his strategy which included:

• Stay in the moment
• Stay focused on course management
• Stay focused on where to put the ball, not on the golf swing
• Remain grateful to have another opportunity to win in the Masters
• Remain motivated to win this year after finishing 2^nd last year
• Keep a “game face” no matter what the emotions are inside
• Don’t look at the scoreboard: “the more you focus on finishing, the harder it is to finish”
• Play as if it is a regular round of golf, have fun, joke, talk

In the Butler Cabin after receiving his green jacket, Jordan was asked what is next for him. His answer was, “I wanna be like Bubba and win two Masters.”

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Somewhere along the way of learning to play the game of golf you may have forgotten why you took it up in the first place. There was something that intrigued you. For most of us it was the first shot we hit perfectly on our club’s sweet spot. It resulted in a joyous feeling inside our hearts. And then we were hooked into finding the way to have that feeling again.

Have you gotten wrapped up in the job of learning all the mechanics of the swing, or the fears and anxiety about how you perform, and forgotten about having fun? If so, it is time to change your attitude about why you play golf.

Change your attitude 

You can change your attitude and your emotions in an instant. It requires freeing yourself from the mental blocks of negativity of not being good enough. When you keep replaying past mistakes and self judgments your energy is at a low level. Energize yourself with a positive outlook, love, and gratitude for the game. 

Focus on your potential 

Golf is a game you can play as a means of relaxation and a source of enriching your spirit. When you play for fun you have the right balance of seriousness and relaxation. Dr. Bernie Siegel, the noted Yale surgeon and holistic author of 12 books says that fun is something that causes time to stand still. That means you are totally focused in the moment when you are having so much fun you want it to go on forever.

When you see golf as a competition, your attitude changes and you now want to win and are driven by the need to perform well. Your self-esteem is then at risk every time you “play”. If the only way to define success is by winning, then your self-esteem is always at risk. This is very taxing on you because you are constantly on an emotional roller roaster and there isn’t any harmony and balance within. 

The reality is that there is only one winner (individual or team) and everyone else loses. So you must realize that the goal isn’t to win. It is to do the best you can during the round so you will have had fun. I sincerely believe that the best way to do that is by letting go of the judgments, expectations, worries, and thoughts you have about yourself. Play the game not as a job or as something in which you have to excel. If you are playing with better players, it may not be possible to win. If you give it your best effort, you are a winner because you accomplished your purpose of having fun.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Hear & Mind for Peak Performances

There are different ways to focus during a round of golf. Players like Ben Hogan concentrated on his game for the entire round by not talking to anyone and by not thinking about anything else. If you find that you lose your focus during the round, perhaps it would be better to relax your mind between shots. Joke with your partners and focus only when it is your turn to hit.

A mind that is busy, restless or indecisive will find it difficult to concentrate on one activity. The first step toward improved concentration would be to quiet your mind.  When it is your turn to hit, “turn on” your focus by going into your established pre-shot routine to keep your mind from wandering.

•  Begin by taking deep abdominal breaths to relax and slow down your mind.
•  Be decisive about the club you are going to use.
•  Take practice swings to feel your tempo.
•  Mentally rehearse the shot using positive images of past successful shots.
•  Select an intermediate target for good alignment.
•  Trust you will hit the shot you have imagined in your mind.  
•  Focus on connecting with your target line and target.
•  Smile inside to prepare yourself to enjoy the shot.

The ability to focus your mind is all-important in achieving a successful performance.  For most people, concentration constantly shifts from outside you between shots to inside you for the actual shots.  Watching an engrossing movie, your attention is focused on the action. In the same way, planning a golf shot can be just as engrossing. Being completely engrossed in the process of performing a shot is known as being in the “flow” or “in the zone” where peak performances occur. Practice your pre-shot routine until it is repetitive and will automatically prepare your mind and body to launch a successful shot.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Improve your mental golf game now by listening to PMI self-hypnosis CDs in the privacy of your own home. You can order today at http://www.pmi4.com/cart

The way to prepare your mind to play golf with lower scores, is by using a consistent pre-shot routine on every shot whether it is a tee shot or a putt. Using a consistent routine keeps you focused in the moment so your mind won’t be distracted. 

Why have a pre-shot routine?  (www.pmi4.com, Archived Newsletters, February 2005)

• The pre-shot routine prepares your mind and body to hit a shot.
• A consistent pre-shot routine will produce consistent results.
• The pre-shot routine moves you from the thinking phase to the automatic doing phase.
• The pre-shot routine keeps you engrossed in the moment and your thoughts away from the pressure of thinking about the results.
• The pre-shot routine is a signal to your unconscious mind to get ready to perform.
• The pre-shot routine is a series of actions to get you totally absorbed in the process of getting the ball to the target.

Why have a post-shot routine?

A repetitive post-shot routine helps you to build positive mental consistency. After the shot is hit, the post-shot routine prepares your mind to let go of a missed shot, or to anchor a successful shot into your subconscious mind. Our minds are very active and the memories we remember the most are the ones connected to good feelings or negative feelings. Repetition of a positive post-shot routine will also result in more self confidence.

Anchor your good shots. Anyone who has had a hole-in-one can describe in great detail where, when, and how it happened. Why? Because of the wonderful feeling of excitement generated which anchored the experience into your memory bank. If a shot comes off as  planned, anchor it by replaying it in your mind with a good feeling, good visualization and a physical trigger such as a smile or fist pump.

Let go of your miss-hits.   Use these steps to release the emotions of a miss-hit and focus on the process of creating the next shot:

1. Release your frustration and anger by exhaling a swear word. It has been proven that this works.
2. Take a deep breath to calm your mind and release the body tension.
3. Do not try and analyze what went wrong with your swing.
4. Step aside and swing the club you used until you feel the swing you wanted.
5. Focus on accessing your timing and tempo.
6. Visualize the ball going to the target.
7. Anchor the good feelings and visualization.
8. Don’t move on down the fairway until you have completed your post-shot routine.

Play “In the Zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Improve your mental golf game now by listening to PMI self-hypnosis CDs in the privacy of your own home. You can order today at http://www.pmi4.com/cart