Dear Golf Enthusiast,

PMI is pleased to provide this free electronic newsletter, Mental Coaching for Golf to give you information for balancing your mind-body-spirit so you can play golf effortlessly, free from distractions, trusting your swing, confident, focused, and enjoying the game more!

Thanks for subscribing. With your subscription you will receive new tips and insightful information at the beginning of each month to help you develop a winner's mentality for your golf game by balancing your mental, physical and spiritual bodies.

Last month I gave you information about preparing your mind to be Y2K compliant by setting your golf goals for this year and the rest of the millennium. If you have been following your action plan for a month, you will have noticed substantial improvement in your golf game. If you have achieved one of your goals, it is time now to set a new goal and a new daily plan to achieve it.

There are many aspects to the Mind-Body-Spirit equation in your daily life and in your golf game. It is important to keep these systems in balance to prepare for movement into the Zone State on the golf course. This month's topic for balancing your golf game, and your life, is nutrition.

We normally think of the food we eat in terms of enjoyment, of being healthy or of what it does to our bodies in terms of attractiveness. The truth is that your body is a vast storehouse of chemicals and what you eat, the amount you eat, and when you eat, can change the chemistry of your digestive system and your nervous system. When it affects your nervous system, it then affects your mental and emotional state.

1. Do you limp in and shoot high scores the last few holes?
2. Do you have trouble getting started again on the 10th hole?
3. Do you have a letdown and feel tired around the 14-15th holes?
4. Do you have trouble recovering after taking a big number on a hole?

You may have experienced these letdowns due to a carbohydrate/sugar drop in energy. When our bodies experience mental or physical fatigue, the tendency is to swing the golf club faster or harder to make up for the lack of energy. This usually results in a jerky or rushed swing that causes errors.

When you eat foods high in carbohydrates (These are mostly white foods such as potato, sugar, flour, rice.), you will feel tired and won't be able to think properly because these foods turn to sugar rapidly and move into your nervous system quickly. When there is too much sugar in your system, the pancreas secretes insulin to decrease the glucose (sugar) levels. When the glucose levels drop as a result of the insulin, you become mentally fatigued, physically tired, lose motivation, lose focus and concentration, become nervous, and have a low tolerance for problem situations.

It is important to maintain emotional and chemical energy balance throughout your round for peak performance. You may remember how Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova raised their level of performance to become international winners after changing their diet. Through proper nutrition they learned to manage their energy and emotions, and their ability to concentrate improved significantly. Dave Duval just lost 40 pounds through diet and exercise, is driving and putting better and has a fearless attitude.

For the past five years I have been working personally with Eric H. Innes, D.C., a chiropractor who has specialized in Nutrition and Energy Balancing for over 20 years. He has shown me that the body is an electronic computer that requires air, food, sun and water. When the body gets depleted in any one of these areas, it becomes unbalanced. Through his hands on research he has found that balance happens in our chemical body when the food ingested is high in protein, and low in fat and low in carbohydrates. Dr. Innes has found that eating the following foods in this combination maintains a high energy, high performing, healthy body:

1. Carbohydrates: brown rice, oats, millet
2. Protein: all meats except pork & shellfish, vegetables
3. Fats: Canola and olive oil
4. Fresh fruits, not fruit juices, for sweets

Fruits are easy to digest and can satisfy cravings for sweets. They should be eaten by themselves, which make them an ideal food for the golf course.

Everything in the universe operates in cycles. Nothing stays at peak performance at all times. To maintain high performance levels and to avoid feeling down requires proper sustenance of the body. Here are some suggestions for keeping your bio-chemical body physically, mentally, and emotionally stable so you have the energy to produce your peak performances.

1. Eat a diet high in protein, low in fat and carbohydrates. Proteins promote increased alertness, and the ability to make decisions under pressure.
2. Reduce your intake of sugar. It is important to stabilize your blood sugar levels. Sugar raises the glucose levels causing the production of insulin. Your muscles will feel energized for a short period of time before the insulin reduces the glucose below the original level and your brain will be starved for energy, and will crave more sugar for energy..
3. Eat breakfast. This will begin to provide glucose to your brain and body and you will be off to a good energy start to the day. A good breakfast would be oatmeal or brown rice with some additional protein.
4. Eat every three hours. Eating small meals at regular intervals causes digestion to occur slowly and continuously. Your nervous system is then receiving a continuous supply of glucose for sustained mental performance.
5. Eat fruit 30 minutes before or 2 hours after a meal. Fruits are best eaten alone. They have a moderate to low insulin-stimulating effect, and have vitamins.
6. Drink water, water, and more water. It is important to drink water because it is beneficial to your organs, especially the kidneys. It is recommended that you drink a minimum of six to eight, 8-ounce glasses of water daily, 12 glasses if you are overweight. Add one glass of water for each cup of coffee, alcoholic beverage, and soda you drink. Make water your beverage of choice.

The most important aspect of chemically nurturing your body is to take the time to enjoy the foods you eat. Just as you give your pre-shot routine and golf game your full attention, love what you eat by savoring the taste, smell, and texture of each food. . Tune in and enjoy your food. Your body will then know that you are nurturing it, helping it to digest the foods easily to fuel your muscles and to keep your nervous system balanced.

For additional nutritional information, contact E. H. Innes, D.C. (561.746.4522).

Bon Appetite! You are what you eat!