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.

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 self-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 we reject ourselves because we feel inadequate. And so we pretend to be what we think we should be (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 the attention off of us 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.

Use your thoughts and words and pictures to create the golf game that you desire. Let go of judgments that demean your game. Give yourself permission to enjoy the game of golf with its ups and downs, with its perfect 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 or absolute perfection! See the round in its entirety. Don’t be trapped by a few miss-hits into judging your whole performance by them.

Affirm your worthiness

Peak performing athletes rarely put themselves down. They talk to themselves positively about what they are attempting to create. 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 to become conditioned responses.

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.

Be your own best mental coach. Encourage and treat yourself as well as you do the others in your group. Tell yourself to LET GO of self-judgment and self-rejection that comes from never measuring up to being perfect.

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

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

All golfers are familiar with the saying “paralysis by analysis.” When you are thinking about how to swing your club, you are not playing the game of golf. You are playing practice range golf. The key to playing good golf is to trust all the practice and training you have done to create your golf swing.

Indecision is the enemy of golfers

You must be decisive about what you are going to do. Once you make up your mind, don’t change it. Don’t hit another shot until you have prepared your mind and are ready to trust your decision.

Stop thinking so much and allow your subconscious mind to take over your swing. Clear your mind of technique thoughts. Clear your mind of all interfering thoughts. Develop a pre-shot routine that will prepare you to stop thinking when you are over the ball.

Prepare your mind with your pre-shot routine

Following are some things to consider in your preparation.

1. Be decisive about the club you choose.
2. Be decisive about picking your target.
3. Imagine the flight of the ball going to the target.
4. Take deep breaths to relax your body AND your thinking mind.
5. Take practice swings to access your rhythm and tempo.
6. Feel and trust your swing.
7. Align correctly using an intermediate target.
8. Focus your eyes on the ball and swing down your target line.
9. Swing at a power rate where you finish in perfect balance.

Practice your pre-shot routine on the range until you can execute it without thinking. The more consistent your routine is on every shot, the more consistent your shots will be.

A good movie draws your focus until it has your undivided attention. A golf shot can draw you into its creation the same way by following the same pre-shot routine. Using a consistent routine will:

• keep your muscles relaxed
• keep away the negative/interfering thoughts
• give you the right process to focus on.

At the end of your pre-shot routine you will be completely focused on executing a good swing.

Play “In the Zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Do you believe in yourself?

Emotions show what you are thinking about yourself and your golf game.

If you are playing golf and have missed two or three opportunities to make a birdie putt (either net or gross) on the front nine, you may still be in control and not frustrated. But on the 11th hole you have another opportunity and miss again. This time the anger from the missed birdies on the front, combined with this one causes you to backhand the “gimme” putt or not take enough time and miss this one also. Your pride just couldn’t stand it. Your emotional mind is angry at the greens, and the golf course, and pays it back by ignoring it, by wanting to get off the green. You didn’t concentrate on making the short putt because you wanted to get away from the emotionally frustrating situation — the old flight or fight syndrome.

Your life and your golf game are determined by;

1.  the way you communicate with yourself

2.  the way you perceive the environment

3.  the way you run your brain

Your emotions are a natural expression of being human. Your thoughts produce learned emotions. Emotional goals are always more important to the brain than the golf goal. And when you are controlled by your emotions it is difficult to think clearly.

Do your thoughts produce anxiety, worry or fearful feelings?

When you focus on your mistakes, fear of failing, or keeping your score going, you can become controlled by these emotions. Your heart beats faster, it is difficult to breathe, your hands shake, and you swing harder and faster at the golf ball making more mistakes.

The way to stay in control is to train your brain to always think of positive outcomes. When you focus on creating what you desire, the image and result will come to you like a magnet pointed toward a pile of iron filings.

Your emotions can move you closer to your goals, or further away. The best way to stay present is to quiet your mind by deep breathing, being decisive, trusting the process, using your pre-shot routine, and focusing on the task at hand.

Learn how to be at peace in the present moment by being more at peace with yourself and with how you play golf.

Play “In The Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart
 

Martin Kaymer’s route to victory at the Players’ Championship on Mother’s Day and the runaway US Open Championship win on Father’s Day at Pinehurst was carefully planned and executed with precision.  

In February 2011 Kaymer became the No. 1 player in the world for 2 months. Then hitting a down turn in his career he worked on overhauling his fade-only swing he had honed as a youngster and learned to hit the ball both ways. Three years later, he entered the US Open ranked 28^th.

“It shouldn’t sound cocky or arrogant, but I knew it would come,” said Kaymer. “I knew that I would play good golf again. I just didn’t think it would take me that much time to get back where I was. Actually not where I was, I think I play better golf now, I’m more of a complete player, it was just a matter of time.”

Kaymer’s Mental Game

At Pinehurst Kaymer said he had previously been thinking too much about making mistakes. His solution was to stop thinking.

Those who watched him warm up each day saw him on the practice range with a tennis ball hanging from a lanyard around his neck. Before each swing, he squeezed the ball between his forearms, feeling the pressure all the way to the top of his backswing. In this way he created a swing habit using his sense of feel instead of thinking.

About having the lead

“A lot of people think, ‘Well you have a little bit of a cushion,’ but if you approach that day with that attitude, it can be gone so quickly,” Kaymer said. “For me the challenge was to keep going, to stay aggressive, make birdies, go for some flags, and don’t hold back. It’s very difficult to do, because at some stage you get a little bit tight and your body tells you, you should take it easy. I overcame that feeling, I stayed aggressive, and I played very brave.”

Kaymer’s self-talk included, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Keep going. It (the belief) has to come from inside, not only saying it. It has to be true,” he said. “I tried to focus on staying 10 under. I didn’t focus on the other players.”

“Patience is a very, very big thing,” Kaymer said.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Mind & Body for Peak Performances

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Staying in the present moment or in the NOW is the key to playing well. Eliminate all distractions either outside of you or internally by focusing 100% on what you are doing.

When you are driving your car and miss the turn off the highway, you are distracted by other thoughts.

When you are peeling an apple and cut your finger with the knife, you are distracted by  thinking of other things.

Because your golf performance is tied into your self esteem, it is easy to be distracted by  thoughts like self-criticism and self-doubt that cause uncomfortable emotions such as humiliation, embarrassment or anger.

Reset Your game

Confidence is the process of believing in yourself and your skill abilities. The key to staying confident is trusting that you can access your skills in all situations on the golf course.

The steps to regain present-time focus on the golf course are:

1. Be aware of interferences. Be aware of your mind thinking of interfering thoughts. Release the thought by turning your attention to creating the next shot.

2. Be aware of your emotional states. Your emotions are triggered by your thoughts. When you are feeling upset, find the underlying thought causing the uncomfortable emotion, and change it to a positive one.

3. Be aware of your body language. Stay in the posture of a champion that will tell your mind you are confident despite making a mistake.

4. Be aware of your breathing. Slow down your mind and body by breathing deeply through your abdomen. It will then be easier to bring your attention back to the shot at hand.

5. Be aware of your senses.  Use your senses instead of your thinking mind. Rather than trying to correct your swing, use your senses of feeling, seeing or rhythm to create an image of the shot you want to hit.

Winners see what they want to happen;

Losers see what they fear might happen.

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

            Imagery is the formation of mental images using illustrative language that appeals to your senses. The mental images are produced by imagining the action you desire. Following is an example of programming your mind-body-spirit with imagery for success in your golf game.

            In your inner mind, imagine you are at your favorite golf  course.                       

            You have had a good warm-up on the practice range and are ready to utilize those smooth, easy, effortless swings on the golf course. Feel the quiet and calmness of nature. See yourself concerned only with what you are experiencing, not what others might be doing. You make a commitment to yourself that you are not going to be satisfied with anything less than your best effort. Enjoy the relaxed feeling of an alert mind and relaxed body working together to allow you to access your game plan.           

            As you approach the first tee you feel confident, composed, and ready for the enjoyment in the upcoming round of golf. Imagine yourself going through your pre-shot routine preparing your mind and body to focus and be ready to play. Visualize yourself swinging with perfect timing and tempo. Watch as the tee-ball flies to your predetermined target in the fairway. See yourself smiling as you experience the wonderful feeling inside your body of hitting a super drive. 

            See yourself calmly approaching your second shot with full confidence. Again you go through your pre-shot routine taking a deep breath to relax and focus. You put an effortless fluid swing on the ball and watch it as it flies toward the green, bounces and stops near the hole.  Feel the enjoyment inside of pulling off a great shot.       

            Walking to the green you observe the undulations in the putting surface. You are decisive about the line the ball will take and you visualize the ball going into the cup. Taking a deep breath to relax and focus while going through your routine, you step up to the ball and roll it effortlessly into the hole. You hear the ball as it hits in the bottom of the cup and you are aware of how good you feel. You are pleased with yourself for allowing yourself to use what you have been practicing and imagining.   

            Because golf is a game dealing with off-line hits and errors, visualize yourself hitting a poor shot but keeping your composure and hitting your next shot well. You remember that there will be many more opportunities as you remain calm and stick to your game plan. Visualize yourself missing a four-foot putt and going to the next hole and smoothly rolling in a six footer. 

            Be pleased knowing that you are not afraid to admit that in golf you make mistakes. Take pride in realizing that you are now able to deal with those mistakes in an effective manner and that will separate you from other players. Feel how good that feels. 

To prepare mentally to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

If you are an avid golfer who likes to compete, you probably have a handicap that indicates your skill level. Handicaps and indexes allow golfers of differing skill levels to compete against one another. It is estimated that 2-4 million golfers in the United States maintain a USGA handicap that is updated twice a month during the active golf season. 

The United States Golf Association adopted a handicap system in 1911 where 3 of the last 20 seasonal scores were averaged to determine a handicap. Over the years consideration was given to using the lowest 10 of the last 50 scores, and then the lowest 10 of the last 25. The present system which became effective on January 1, 1967 uses the best 10 of the last 20 scores. Also effective on that date, course ratings used decimals instead of rounding off to the next whole number. 

At the request of state and regional golf associations, the USGA GHIN service was developed in 1981. The GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) software program provides for scores to be electronically routed from any club within the GHIN network. It is the largest handicap computation provider in the world. According to the latest GHIN stats, the average index for men is 14.3 and 26.5 for women. Since 1991 the index has gone down two shots for men and three shots for women.  

What most golfers don’t know is that their lowest 10 scores aren’t averaged to give them a handicap. The USGA Handicap System is a complicated mathematical calculation using your adjusted gross core, the USGA Course Rating, and the Slope Rating. The system doesn’t indicate your current playing average……….it indicates your potential ability as it uses your lowest 10 scores from the last 20 rounds played. 

The mandatory Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) was added to the handicap system on January 1, 1999. In keeping with making the handicaps represent a player’s potential ability, the ESC sets a maximum number that a player can post for handicap on any hole depending on their Course Handicap. 

To play to your handicap and keep your Handicap Index at approximately the same level, you need to record low scores about 20-25% of the time. 

Golfers who are playing well do not understand why their handicap might go up. It depends on which of your lowest 10 scores in the last 20 have been removed.  

The more often you play, the more your potential ability will accurately be portrayed. Posting more scores will remove older scores and keep your index current.    

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Mind & Heart for Peak Performances

Twenty-two years ago I named my business Positive Mental Imagery because I knew it is the most powerful way to achieve peak performances in any sport. Using positive mental images repeatedly creates success instead of reliving failures, instills confidence, and reinforces your abilities so you can perform easily and effortlessly automatically without thinking.

Imagery is making a mental representation through the use of your senses and imagination. Since your subconscious mind takes in everything literally, it doesn’t distinguish between what is real from what you are imagining.   

Visualization is only one of your senses

Visualization is not the same as imagery. We all know that visualization is the process of creating a mental picture in our minds. Not everyone “sees” in the same way. Some people are more visual than others. And not everyone “imagines” in the same way.

Seeing or visualizing is only one of your senses. Pre-school children are vivid visualizers or day dreamers, which is a right brain function. When they go to school they are taught using mostly left brain functions and begin to stop using their right brain capabilities. When you don’t use this part of your brain, you tend to believe that you can’t visualize. We all visualize, although it may not be as vivid as it once was.

Imagery is making a mental representation through the use of your senses. We all learn by processing information and stimuli through our five senses which are seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. The senses we use in golf are visual (seeing), auditory (sound, rhythm, balance), and kinesthetic (touch, feeling). While athletes have good hand-eye coordination, they can learn and perform at their best by utilizing their dominant sense.

What is your dominant sense?

If your dominant sense is visual, you will “see a line on the green”, and learn the golf swing best by seeing it performed. If you are mainly auditory you will understand instruction best by listening, and be most confident by sensing the rhythm and tempo of the swing. If you process information kinesthetically, you will learn best when you can feel the swing. If you trust your sixth sense, you will know intuitively which club to use. When you know what your dominant sense is, you can then make positive internal representations of the shots you want to produce.

Guided mental imagery is a learning technique where descriptive language appealing to the senses is used to benefit the listener. Athletes as well as golfers use positive mental imagery in hypnosis to help them achieve their goals. Through the use of hypnotic suggestion you can communicate with your subconscious mind and program new ideas in your golf game for success. These new ideas must include positive self-talk, belief in your abilities and potential, and imagery of a superior performance in accomplishing your goal.

Be like a child and play in your inner mind, using your imagination to sense yourself practicing and playing, totally focused with calm and relaxed confidence. See, hear and feel yourself accomplishing your goals. Experience how good it feels within your physical body to hit perfect shots and putts. Enjoy your success over and over!

Available now at www.pmi4.com/cart are CDs created with powerful guided mental imagery suggestions to improve different parts of your mental golf game.

Play “In the Zone” With Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances