The pressure that a Tour pro feels to make birdie on the last hole to win a tournament is the same feeling you have to make a six-foot putt to win your club tournament. When the pressure is on, we unconsciously revert to our learned behaviors. To react means to act in the same way. If you are reacting unsuccessfully to pressure, it is time to change your learned behaviors.

How you deal with pressure separates you from your competitors. The pressure experienced in a competition is an external pressure. How you interpret this pressure will determine how well you can focus and whether you will succumb to the self-imposed stress, or thrive on it. The pressure can motivate you or cause you anxiety depending on how you see the situation.

Monitor your emotions 

Be aware of stressful feelings when they surface. See them as an indicator that you are heading in the wrong direction; away from success. These feelings are caused by thoughts that are harmful to your performance. Instead of reacting to negative thoughts and feelings, begin a mental rehearsal practice program. Visualize your self experiencing all kinds of external mental pressure on course. Imagine over and over again feeling calm, relaxed, composed, and focused on the shot at hand. Repetition is the way to instill a new belief into your subconscious. Young golfers do this automatically as they feel and see themselves winning the U.S. Open.

In your mental rehearsal repeat the following practices as you see yourself playing under pressure.

• Take deep breaths  Breathe deeply through your stomach. This will relieve the tension and anxiety and help you to relax and focus. See your self taking several deep breaths in your pre-shot routine.
• Slow down your behavior  Feeling anxious will cause you to walk and talk faster, swing faster, and rush through your routine. Slow down by walking slower and being more deliberate with your pre-shot routine.
• Physically release the tension   If you feel tightness in the shoulder and neck region, shrug your shoulders up to your ears and then release the tension by letting them drop. If   your arms and hands tighten up, grip the club tightly and release the tension. To release full body tension, swing your club as hard and fast as you can until you have released all the tension.
• Change your self talk  Notice when your self talk, or others, is negative. Change all self sabotaging thoughts to positive ones. Affirm your performance by saying thoughts in the present such as “I am totally relaxed and focused in creating my best shot” instead of “I have to make par to make up for my last bogey.”
• Focus on the process, rather than on the results  Shift your attention from the external pressure of your score to your mental preparation and focus on the target or hole. Allow your mind to visualize the successful shot or putt.
•  Smile often  Smiling at adversity will bring you an attitude of automatic, relaxed, focused attention to the process.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

It has been my pleasure to share my insights into the mental game of golf from decades of research and personal experience competing in national and international amateur golf championships.

The information I have written about is entirely about the mental-emotional-spiritual aspects to the game of golf because I believe that knowing your inner self is the secret to great golf. There is no information about the mechanical parts of the golf swing.

My main purpose in starting my business was to promote the game as a way to have fun which then results in lower scoring. I have found that the best way to do this is to show you the steps you need to learn to access “the zone state” where the game is easy and you play your best without effort.

If you haven’t visited the Positive Mental Imagery website lately, I would like to invite you to log on at www.pmi4.com The PMI website is dedicated to you and to your self-awareness for success in performing at your peak performance level on the golf course.

On the PMI website you will find:

• Q&A from my clients about mental golf that you have always wondered about.
• 18 published articles about different facets of the mind game.
• 183 monthly mental golf newsletters from 1999-2015.
• 7 self-hypnosis golf CDs to improve your mental game.

New information about the mental game of golf is added weekly on the PMI blog. You can access all 153 weekly mental golf tips blogs from 2011-2015 at www.pmi4.com/blog.

More lengthy in-depth mental golf information is available at the Archived Newsletters link. Each blog and newsletter has a title along with the date so you can easily find the information you need.

I have produced seven self-hypnosis imagery golf CDs that were requested by my clients to power up their mental beliefs and attitudes. They are available at www.pmi4.com/cart  The cost of the CDs has not changed since 1992. For more personalized help, I create a 30-minute personalized CD for you to overcome your blocks and regain the confidence in the game you know you are capable of.

For further information about my services, schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation session with me by email at pmi4@bellsouth.net or by phone at 828.696.2547. Ask about my 4 C’s program to overcome a lack of Control, Confidence, Concentration, and Consistency in your golf game.

                                        Play “in the zone” with Joan

                   Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

February is the month when we turn our attention to the feeling of love in our hearts.  Universally the 14^th of February is designated as a day to show our love to others through gift giving. Perhaps this year you can gift yourself by remembering through all the adversities, how much you love to play golf.

Unlike the golf swing, love can’t be taught. It is already part of our make-up. As humans we block out the awareness of the feeling of love by allowing negative thought patterns and fear-based actions to interfere with our lives and our golf games.

The greatest lesson I learned was to play for my own enjoyment.

I stopped thinking about how to swing. I stopped thinking of what others might say about me or my game. I stopped thinking about having to make a certain score to maintain my low handicap. I stopped thinking about beating others. I stopped trying to win.

As I let go of these mental blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, I began to trust my abilities. I believed that I knew enough to play at my peak potential. I believed that I deserved to have good things happen on the golf course. I believed that I deserved to be a winner. And I did win, again and again. Miraculous things happened on the golf courses that were beyond my fondest dreams.

I returned to the state of loving the game for what it is, a compelling game full of ups and downs, twists and turns. Love is a unique life force energy that motivates us. Without the passion, it is just dedication. Without the love, it can feel like an all consuming work effort. Love is what makes it easy. Love holds our attention in the present.

Here are some of the reasons my clients say they love to play golf.

• Golf is a fun game to play.
• Golf is a game they can play alone or with others.
• Golf is a common social bond among all who play the game.
• Golf is a game played outdoors in the beauty of nature.
• Golf is a game that challenges them against the golf course and others.
• Golf is a game that moves them into an inner state of focus.
• Golf is played in a peaceful setting that relaxes them.
• Golf reinforces confidence in them and in their abilities.
• Golf teaches them about themselves.
• Golf is a game of honor.
• Golf is a sport that can be played for life.
• Golf is the most difficult sport that keeps them trying for the perfect shot.
• Playing golf “in the zone” is the same feeling as when a person is “in love.”

 HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

February is the month of love. The feeling of love comes from your heart. The feeling of hitting a perfect golf shot resonates in your heart. Discounting that feeling by judging the result keeps you in your thinking mind.

Love is a state of peace inside and out where you are focused in the moment. There is no worry, fear, doubt, indecision, humiliation, feelings of self-doubt, unworthiness, inferiority or superiority.  Any impulse to aggressively control your game will move you into these feelings of self-judgment.

One of the mental keys for successful golf is to let go of self-judgment. When you think about how you are doing, or how to do it, you are judging yourself and your performance under the guise of helping your game. When you judge yourself you are likely to feel anxious, guilty, embarrassed or angry. These feelings will ultimately sabotage your golf game, lower your self esteem and keep you from being successful.

Let go of judgment

Judgment is the comparison between how something seems and how we think it should be. We would like to believe that we could hit every golf shot perfectly. And when we don’t do that, we feel frustrated, embarrassed and humiliated, and reject ourselves because we feel inadequate. And so we pretend to be what we think we should be (the perfect golfer) by demeaning ourselves with words or physical actions of disgust. In other words, we pretend to be what we are not (perfect), because we are afraid someone else will notice that we are not what we pretend to be.

The way we judge ourselves is the strongest Judge there is. When we miss a shot in front of other people, we try to deny the mistake and take off the attention by covering it up with excuses and rationalizing why it happened. To be a champion golfer, you need to seek your own approval, not the approval of others.

To maintain our balance and composure it is necessary to look at the game of golf/life in a different perspective. We need to forgive ourselves for being human, for making mistakes. This is the answer to Judgment. It requires a change of attitude and a new belief system. Golf is management of imperfection. Each shot is a story. When it is over, you begin a new story. Instead of blaming yourself for your mistakes, learn from them so you won’t repeat them. When we are “in the zone” and playing at our peak performance level we are not learning—– just enjoying the experience.

Become a magician! Use your thoughts and words and pictures to create the life and golf game that you desire. Let go of judgments that sabotage your game and put you into an internally self-created prison. Give yourself permission to enjoy the game of golf with its ups and downs, with its perfect shots and imperfect shots, with its humiliating situations and its joyous moments! Remember that golf is a game where an inch can make the difference between total disaster and absolute perfection! See the round in its entirety. Don’t be trapped by a few miss-hits into judging your whole performance by them. Reinforce and enjoy the good shots.

Affirm your worthiness

Peak performing athletes rarely put themselves down. They talk to themselves positively about what they are attempting to create. They change past negative messages that come up into positive empowering ones. This is a part of their mental training program. They repeat positive mental affirmations and training routines until they are wired into their brains, body and spirit and become a conditioned response.

You are your most important critic. Nothing is more critical than the opinion you have of yourself. What you say to yourself in your inner mind is the most important conversation you will ever have. You become confident by affirming yourself.

Keep doing your best. If you always do your best, there is no way the Judge within can find you guilty or blame you. When you give it your best effort, you learn to accept yourself. Practice, learn from your mistakes and look honestly at the results. This increases your awareness of your Self.

Focus on the good that you want to create in your golf game and more good will come to you. This is the Universal Law of “like attracts like.” Be your own best coach. Encourage and treat yourself as well as you do the others in your foursome. Let go of all your unreal self assessments in which you find yourself in any way inadequate that comes from never measuring up to being perfect. Accept and love yourself more than anyone ever loved you.

Golf is a game in which you have to play your mistakes. Learn to forgive yourself for your imperfection of being human. Instead, congratulate yourself for what you did well during the round of golf. Gratitude is the answer to forgiveness. You probably made fewer mistakes than you thought.

Love playing the game of golf more than you love the outcome.

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

Confidence in your golf game comes from both physical and mental training. Begin now to let go of the self-talk that sabotages your self-confidence on the golf course, and affirm daily your belief in yourself and in your abilities. You know that you have the ability because you have seen many good shots in your past golf games. Choose to believe in what you can do, not in affirming what didn’t work.

One of the ways to develop a belief in yourself and your abilities is by positive thinking and nurturing affirmations. Since the turn of the century, noted hypnotherapist Emile Coue (1857-1926) discovered that if you repeat an affirmation enough, and the affirmation is possible, the brain will produce the belief in physical reality. For his clients Coue devised the affirmation to be said daily upon arising, “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.”

What is an affirmation?

An affirmation is a positive thought that you consciously choose to put into your belief system to produce a specific desired result. A good example is the Nike slogan, “Just Do It!” An affirmation is always stated in the present time such as I am; not as I will try, or I hope. Through repetition it replaces the negative belief in your subconscious mind (authoritarian messages from the past). It is your key for opening the door to positive thinking. You can re-program your brain in this way for your own personal success.

The purpose for using affirmations and imagery is to bring you to accept the belief that you desire to have happen. Writing is an extremely powerful technique. Write only one affirmation at a time. As you write the affirmation and imagine yourself being/doing it, think what it means to you and notice any objection to it by your conscious mind. Write this doubt next to the affirmation. Write in this manner until there are no more objections to acceptance of the affirmation. With constant repetition the affirmation is accepted by the subconscious mind and translated into its physical equivalent.

Affirmations enhanced with imagery and good feelings almost always reach the subconscious mind, because it is the feeling mind. Once accepted, these affirming statements continue to produce the same body reaction over and over again. It is a form of autosuggestion. Affirmations give you permission to be or do what you want by rewiring your brain.

For more information about golf affirmations go to pmi4.com and click on Archived Newsletters, August 2002, Affirmations.

Play “in the zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Audio affirmations are available on the Positive Mental Imagery self-hypnosis golf CDs, “Confident Putting for Lower Scores,” “Concentration for Consistent Golf,” and “Confidence to Win Golf Tournaments” available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Do your belief codes formed in your childhood keep you from being optimistic about your golf game? Since you were born you have been conditioned to be negative. You were repeatedly told what not to do or why something could not be done. In your early childhood years you were told you were not good enough more times than you were told what you could accomplish.

The expression of seeing a glass half full of water instead of half empty indicates an optimistic outlook. Are you optimistic about your game only when you are playing well? Or can you reframe your point of view when you aren’t playing well to see that there may also be opportunities to excel?

Most golfers talk about their golf games as “half empty.” They are more concerned with talking about what didn’t or isn’t happening the way they wanted it. Begin to question the old learned self-imposed beliefs of lack and limitation that are sabotaging your success. In every round of golf we all get to choose whether we are going to be a glass half-full or a glass half-empty person. Allow yourself to learn and know you have the ability to change your mindset and move toward success instead of away from it.

“The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.” – Steve Maraboli

Overcome the fear of failure 

Feeling fearful on the golf course shows a mental vulnerability that you have created to produce a rush of adrenaline. Instead of becoming fearful and afraid of the outcome, create a scenario to keep yourself in the present moment by “acting as if” what you want is happening, and saying “I can do it.”  Relieve the tension by focusing on someone or something you love that will cause you to smile inwardly. Moving from the feeling of fear to the higher energy of love will open the doors of opportunity and energize your play in a positive way. Your mental attitude is completely under your control.

“The more you let your mind dwell on negatives, of whatever type, the larger they grow and the greater the risk that you will convert them into excuses.  I have preferred to save my energy for finding solutions to problematical conditions, rather than waste it on whining.”   — Jack  Nicklaus

Fear only has power as you give it power and think that it might be true. Practice the art of letting go of fear thoughts. Keep your attention in the present by emptying your mind of the past and future, and allow your body to do what it knows to do when you aren’t mentally interfering. Fill your glass full with self-empowering beliefs of your potential and successful endeavors.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

To entrain your heart and brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery self-hypnosis guided imagery CDs in the privacy of your own home; available at www.pmi4.com/cart