Golf Confidence Coaching

2011-05-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from writing blogs here, but coaching, books and CDs still available!

Putting well under pressure

2009-09-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

A great pre-shot routine will give you the best chance of performing at your best under pressure.

Read on for some tips on developing a great pre-shot routine for your putting routine.

Great putting routine

1. First of all regardless of how you've been putting, get yourself into a more confident state. Get your head up, shoulders back and say to yourself that the putting green is your arena - it's where you do your best work (think about some of your best putts or just imagine how you'd walk approach the putt as a brilliant putter.)

2. Focus on getting the ball into the hole. Not 'close'. Your aim is to hole the putt, not to avoid three-putting. (As per my previous articles here you get what you focus on...)

3. As you're having a look at the path that your ball is going to roll into the hole, always go with your first instinct. This is your unconscious reaction and it will be better than any conscious effort to work out a different path or weight.

4. As you address the ball take a slow deep breath in and out and remember to have soft hands.*

5. Keep practice strokes to a minimum - ideally one or none*

6. Have one or a maximum two looks at the hole, forget about any technical stuff and stroke the ball into the hole. (Easy!)

*The reason that you want to minimise the time over the ball is that the longer you take, the more your conscious mind will try to get involved, leading to tension and a lack of feel. Keep the routine short and more of a reaction to the shot.

CD testimonial

"Your CD has been such a great help!"

- Kylie Walker after winning the silver medal at the European amateurs.

New pre-game CD!

Have you ever been unsure how to get yourself into the peak state to play well?

My new pre-game CD 'Play like a Tiger' is now available at just £14.99 (incl. P&P). You can also get an MP3 version for just £9.99, if you'd rather just download it to your iPod.

As with all my products it's short and easy to apply to your game, so that you see results quickly.

Click here for some more information on how it will benefit your game and then order your copy now!

How to be more consistent

2009-08-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

Read on for some tips on developing a great pre-shot routine for your long game.

Every shot is the same

It's important to treat every shot in the same way. Think of Jonny Wilkinson and his specific routine for every kick. When you're at the range go through your full pre-shot routine to train your mind. Then when you're on the course you can take some of the pressure off by:

a) focusing on your routine, rather than the score

b) telling yourself that this shot is just like the one you've hit many times in practice

How to do it

Here is a good structure for a pre-shot routine for your long game. Break it into 2 parts, mental and physical:

1. Mental:

Stand behind the ball with your head up looking at the horizon.

Choose a line you are confident with and commit to it 100%.

Visualise the shot

Make a good quality practice swing with a maximum of one swing thought (to show your mind what you want to do)

2. Physical (no more thoughts about the swing or the shot):

Walk confidently to the ball

Take your position

Relax your jaw and hands*

Say 'trust' or 'accept' (or 'Fork it!' if you've read my article on this my blog)

Swing!

*Tensing up and trying to hit the ball makes you lose distance and control.

Stick to this routine and you'll find that you are more consistent on the course.

Developing patience

2009-07-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

Patience is a very important part of scoring well in golf. Read on to learn more.

Jack Nicklaus & patience

Jack Nicklaus said that his coach Jack Grout was "the most fortunate thing that ever happened to me in golf, (as) he would not under any circumstances, allow me to get really down on myself."

It certainly seemed that a few players could have done with more patience at Turnberry last week.

Bamboo

If you ever need to develop more patience, this story will help.

There is a type of bamboo that is only about 6 inches tall even after five years of watering & fertilizing. Then, in about six weeks, it grows over two feet a day to 90 feet.

So, did the bamboo grow 90 feet in six weeks or did it grow 90 feet in five years?

Obviously it grew 90 feet in five years, as it was developing huge roots to support its amazing growth.

Perhaps you are developing your root system? Can you see where you must continue to water* yourself? (*should be easy enough in the current Scottish weather!)

Lucas Glover & patience

Glover credits his US Open success to a more patient approach. When he was asked if he had always been a patient player he replied:

"Absolutely not. But I've had to learn that in the last few years. My attitude's better. If something bad happens, let it go."

Say "Fork it!" and get out of the way

2009-06-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Read on to learn about how to hit the ball with all of your potential.

Think less

Your Mind Coach saying 'think less'? Yup. Read on.

You want to think less about how you swing the club. If you're making a change to your swing at the range, then at first you might be focusing on how you're drawing the club back and so on, but when you're on the course and you want to hit the ball with all of your potential, you need to let go. Your conscious mind can't keep up with the swing.

Remember that the opposing muscles that move your arm are most effective when you are relaxed. When you try to think your way through a golf shot do you feel loose and fluid... or tight and like you're forcing it?

You need to trust that your unconscious knows how to hit the ball better than your conscious mind. You hit lots of physical targets unconsciously every day!

(When was the last time that you missed your mouth with your fork?)

So say "Fork it!" Rather than trying to remember everything about how to swing the club, spend more time just hitting the ball the way you want to. This will introduce more freedom and fluidity into your swing and you'll certainly enjoy it more.

It can help to see your body as a powerful golf club swinging machine. Once you've programmed it and pressed the start button you want to get out of the way. Otherwise you're going to jam up the mechanism and it's not going to be pretty!

Improving your concentration

2009-05-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Meditation

Perhaps you are wondering "Meditation? Do normal people do that?" Read on...

"I practice meditation, that's just something I do"
- Tiger Woods

Ok, so now you can see that successful people use meditation, here is some evidence of why it's good for your golf.

Recent research proved that meditation is a great way to improve the quality and accuracy of movement, (possibly as it helps improve concentration.)

One group did no meditation and their accuracy was 70%.

However, the group who did some meditation, achieved 89% accuracy, (one person even managed 98% accuracy.)

These results show that meditation is a great way to boost concentration ability in your golf game (and your life!)

How do you meditate?

There are different ways, but essentially the word meditate means "to think about, contemplate, to consider deeply and continuously."

So all you have to do is find a quiet spot, and start to work on putting your attention in the here and now. Not what happened previously, and not what you have to do, or what might happen next week, tomorrow or even 2 minutes from now.

Are you trying to get something done, so you can get onto something else? (We often are.) If so stop and appreciate that everything is ok now.

Just notice things that are 'now'. What are your surroundings? What sounds can you hear? Notice sensations in your body.

Focus on something that is in the present, such as your breathing. Take slow deep breaths into your stomach, so it inflates and then exhale completely through your mouth. This has the added benefit of:

- lowering your heart rate,

- decreasing your blood pressure, (both a good release of nerves and anger)

- getting more oxygen to the brain, (better decision making)

- balancing your left and right brain (very important for golf, especially the short game, look out for more on this subject in the future...)

Do this for 5-20 minutes at the start of each day and enjoy the effects it will have.

Take control of your thoughts

2009-04-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

'Bad thoughts lead to bad swings'

Annika Sorenstam's coach, Pia Nilsson, says:

"Bad swings lead to bad shots, but it's often bad thoughts that lead to bad swings"

...and when we analyse our game this is often true.

Make your mind a fortress!

This is a quick exercise to help you develop focus, so your mind will only focus on what you command it to focus on. Either you control your mind, or it controls you.

1. Be aware that you have been focusing on unhelpful thoughts.

2. Realise that you can replace them just as easily as you allowed them in.

If your mind wanders, smile and put your focus back on what you want.

Start with 10 seconds and build up to 1 minute (long enough for a golf shot).

Better to let anger out?

2009-03-26T01:39:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed how often players complain about bad luck and say things such as "That shot made me angry", "I couldn't help it", "It irritated me" and so on.

A lot of people think that it's better to express their anger, to 'let it out' so they will be calmer afterwards.

It's actually been proven that:

- blood pressure goes up with expressed anger

- but down when it is 'suppressed' (or at least not expressed out loud).

Did you hear Tiger's assessment of his game after his equal worst score on one of his favourite courses at a 71 at the WGC-CA Championship?

"I hit so many putts that looked good. I thought I hit my lines and thought I had the right speed but they just didn't go in".

The ideal response in terms of self talk.

Read on to learn how to have more control over how you feel.

First things first

You can choose your thoughts. Rather than allowing your happiness and effectiveness to be decided by external factors, focus on choosing your reaction to what happens.

This doesn't mean never having a negative emotion again. It just means recognising that you can either continue to feel bad (and let it get worse) - or you can find a way to let it go.

Read on for a couple of tips on how to let go.

Being mentally strong

1. Be aware that you have been focusing on unhelpful thoughts.

2. Realise that you can replace them just as easily as you allowed them in.

When you choose your reaction you can be calm, happy and peaceful regardless of the outer world.

Quick tip for letting go

Try this now:

1. Look up

2. Smile

3. Hold it for 7 seconds

It's almost impossible to do this and feel angry or down at the same time. Easy, but effective!

Positive Self Talk

2009-02-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I working on with the SLGA squad in Spain earlier this month was to be aware of their self talk (and naturally to keep it positive).

If you've wondered why what you say to yourself is important, you'll benefit from this story.

The secret ingredient

Let's imagine someone made you some delicious cookies. And just before you were about to eat one, they said that they'd used the usual recipe, except that they'd substituted one ingredient for some dog poo.

How appealing (or should that be appalling) would the cookie be?

The rules

You may have heard of the 'law of correspondence' which is best explained by the phrase 'as within, so without'.

This means that your outer world (ie the job you are in, your health and happiness) is merely a reflection of your inner world (your thoughts, beliefs, and values).

So if you want to make a change on the outside you must first make a change on the inside.

Choose carefully

So be selective about what you put into your mind, and what you choose to say out loud.

When someone asks how you are why not copy Zig Ziglar and say 'Better than good'. Many people who've adopted this attitude have gained promotions and more.

If you can't think of anything positive to say, then don't say anything. Start to become aware of how often you complain about something - i.e. "I'm so tired" - as though that will make it better!

Making New Habits Stick

2009-01-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

How often have you said:

- I'm going to get my handicap cut?

- I'm playing well I just need to improve my putting / driving / irons etc

And yet it hasn't really happened.

They're like broken New Year's Resolutions. Good intentions, but poor strategies.

Read on to learn about how to make them work.

Improving your game

Improving your game means developing new habits by developing positive rituals.

A positive ritual is a behaviour that becomes automatic over time motivated by a deeply held value.

i.e. brushing your teeth twice a day on autopilot (not an effort to remember as you do it at the same point each day) - compelled by a health value.

In order to build rituals you need to:

- define precise behaviours
- and perform them at set specific times
- motivated by very deeply held values

Protect these rituals as you would any other important meeting in your diary (or they won't last.)

One step at a time

Remember that "nothing fails like excess!" Don't try to make too many changes at once. Do things in small and manageable increments.

Pushing too hard increased the likelihood that you will give up. You only have so much will power / conscious control. Make one significant change at a time.

Key ingredient 1

Practice different things! Practicing the same things harder won't make you better. Take different action, starting by writing some new rituals into your daily schedule - and do it today!

Perhaps this will just be scheduling in a drink of water on each tee (being 2-3% dehydrated leads to 60% more mistakes!)

Key ingredient 2

Remember that you'll get better results when you have a coach.

Why fear and faith are the same

2008-12-22T04:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy month for me with a few more SLGA workshops for the other squads.

This month is about why fear and faith are the same.

Read on to learn about how if you are worried about something, then you can also have faith that good things will happen - and why doing this will be good for your health as well as your golf.

Fear & Faith

Fear and faith are the same; they both require you to believe that something will happen in the future.

Rather than worrying about something, why not look forward to it instead, in the same way that you look forward to eating your favourite food, or going on holiday?

A belief is just something that we repeat to ourselves regularly and look for evidence to support it.

Scientific proof that being positive helps

In his latest book "How your mind can heal your body", David Hamilton refers to a study that clearly shows that optimism is better for your health.

The study showed that 'optimists had a 45% lower risk of death from any cause' and a 77% lower risk of heart disease!

It won't hurt to try to be more optimistic - but it will hurt if you don't...

How this affects your golf

Rather than fearing a shot, you can imagine it going well.

Keep a journal of good shots to build up belief in your game.

Staying calm on the course

2008-11-26T04:35:00.000-08:00

Many people would say they aren't that angry - but when we're honest most of us will benefit from learning to be calmer - whether it's at home, at work, in the car, over the weather, the financial climate... and of course on the golf course! Read on to learn why it's important for you to stay calm.

Anger is bad for your health

We know that it's not great for us to be angry. But sometimes we need to be reminded that it can have negative impact on our health before we change our behaviour.

For example, just by making angry facial expressions your heartbeat goes up by about 10-12 beats. Similarly it's been shown that getting angry can depress your immune system.

Anger is bad for your golf

Have you ever told someone about a very funny comedian you saw, but found that you couldn't remember any of their jokes? We don't always remember what people said, but we remember how they made us feel.

This is because:
a) We have to find a way to manage huge amounts of information, so it is easier to generalise about situations, than it is to remember the details.

b) Everything we do is driven by our desire to feel a certain way. We do things for emotional reasons, not intellectual ones. So we are conditioned to remember situations where we have experienced strong emotions, but we do so in a generalised way.

Your action steps

In golfing terms this means that you want to be selective about how you react to your shots. If you react angrily to a missed putt, then it will stay in your mind for much longer than if you accept it.

So reserve your emotional moments for the good shots that you want more of! You know those short putts that you expect yourself to get, but occasionally miss?

Generally we become angry when we miss them and brood about them for the next few holes, but we hardly ever remember them when they go in. Rather than getting upset about the misses, start celebrating the ones you get - even on the putting green. This will help to build up a good feeling around them and you'll miss a lot less.

Negative thoughts in your backswing

2008-10-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Don't fight your thoughts

You know when you've set yourself up well, you're feeling good, you take the club back and at the very top of your backswing a little voice says something helpful like 'You're going to mess this up'?

Rather than letting this lead to a mishit shot, start to see the voice differently.

The best way to deal with that is to allow the voice to be there. Fighting against your thoughts gives them more power.

Ketchup and ice cream?

Ignore negative thoughts / voices (whether they are yours or someone elses!) - see them like ketchup being in the kitchen when you are about to have ice cream - you don't have to try to get it out of the kitchen - it's ok for it to be there, you just don't have to use it!

Simple, but powerful - and not just on the golf course.

Visualisation and putting

2008-10-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

How improving your mental approach to putting will cut your score.

What do you expect to happen?

Have you ever noticed that when you get nervous about a putt, it's because you are thinking about putts that you have missed?

Or perhaps you're worrying about your next putt! i.e. My aim is to get the ball close enough to avoid 3 putting.

Your aim on every putt should be to sink it no matter how far away you are. Remember similar putts that you've holed in the past, then take this feeling into your current putt.

Pre-game visualisation

You'll remember from last month that just by visualising yourself doing something successfully you improve your performance by up to 25%!

So take some time to remember - or even better write out a list of all the good putts you make after your round. This will build up your confidence and help you expect to make putts.

Visualisation on the course

Experiment with different things that help you feel like you're going to get your putt.

Imagine there are magnets along the path from your ball to the hole.

Or perhaps your ball is on the end of a piece of elastic that is pulling it back into the hole.

If you have a downhill putt see the ball running fast enough to just slip over the edge of the hole.

For an uphill putt see the ball striking half way down the back of the cup as it runs into the hole.

Don't hit your putt until you have pictured your ball going in.

Mental preparation and golf

2008-08-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

Improve your game without hitting a ball.

The effect of mental preparation

In 1980, the Winter Olympics Soviet Team was split into 4 groups:

- Group 1 did their normal physical training

- Group 2 did 75% of their normal physical training and 25% mental work

- Group 3 split their training 50/50 in terms of physical and mental work work

- and Group 4 did 25% of their normal physical training and 75% mental work

At the Olympics Group 4's performance was most improved, followed by group 3,2, then 1.

Pre-game visualisation

In addition to the above example it's been shown that just by visualising yourself doing something successfully you improve your performance by up to 25%!

A combination of visualisation and practice can result in an improvement of 40%!

Visualisation and putting

Take 5 minutes a day to visualise yourself getting putts and playing well. Think of someone like Tiger Woods. Notice how he is focused on the hole but relaxed. Look at how balanced and settled he is over the putt. Now imagine how he feels as he slows down his heart rate around the green.

The next time you are playing imagine that you are Tiger. How would you approach this putt if you were him? In a calm way where you not only wanted to sink it, but where you also saw it going in before you hit it, right? So, just pretend that you are him!

It might seem simple but this is powerful. Studies have shown that your thoughts have a strong influence on your success.

A group of students was asked to imagine themselves as professors then answer some trivial pursuit questions; they got 56.6% right.

Another group was asked to imagine that they were football hooligans - they got 42.6%. They two groups had the same ability.

And yet their thoughts were the difference between success and failure.

The effect of confidence on your golf

2008-08-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

How it affects you

Do you play your best shots when you feel nervous or when you feel confident?

Look at the Jack Nicklaus quote in the left hand column. Since Jack thinks confidence is the most important thing in golf it's worth improving yours isn't it?

Improving your confidence Part I

My book '(How to Improve Your Golf Game (And Your Life!)' provides a number of tips on dealing with nerves and feeling more confident, but I'll share another with you here.

First of all think of a car. Good. Why did I ask you to think of a car? Because I wanted to show you that you can choose what you think about.

Many people find this tricky because they tend to worry about what can go wrong in life. It's amazing how often we do think about what we don't want to happen.

Start to become aware of what you are focusing on in your daily life. Don't get hard on yourself if you catch yourself being negative, just smile at how silly it is to imagine something bad happening, and re-focus on something that feels good (it could be ANYTHING that makes you feel better.)

Improving your confidence Part II

Now think of some of the best shots you've ever hit. Notice how they help you feel more confident. What if each time you feel nervous or unsure about a shot you ask yourself this question:

"Which good shots have I been ignoring?"

Sounds simple? It can be. Especially if you combine it with other techniques that you'll get in my book or in a coaching programme with me.

What to say to yourself

2008-08-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Read on to learn about improving your self talk.

Stop beating yourself up

A top football player told me that his manager was able to get him and his team mates to consistently punch above their weight because all week the manager gave the players encouragement in training, then before the match he'd really talk them up so their belief was sky high!

Cut out insults to yourself such as "You idiot, you messed up."

You didn't do it intentionally and I've yet to see a player who improved their concentration by becoming frustrated with themselves.

Why you've done this

You thought that it would help you to focus better or concentrate more. You thought that you need to be hard on yourself to raise or maintain your standards.

Do you think you have more chance of hitting a good shot when you feel good about yourself or when you've just been told that you're a useless underperformer?

What to do next

Start off by being kinder to yourself off the course.

When you look at yourself in the mirror, notice something you like about yourself. Make a list of good qualities that you have. Do the same for your golf game. List all of the good shots you've played.

Why do you want to write them down? For the same reason that you take photographs on

special occassions. It's easier to remember them.

Dealing with negative thoughts

2008-08-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

Don't worry if negative thoughts pop up. You don't remove all the salt from the kitchen because you don't want it in your cereal; you just don't use it.

If negative thoughts pop into your head, don’t become upset or fight against them. This is a bit like fighting for peace!

Simply allow them to be there, as you do with adverts or unnecessary ingredients in the kitchen. (As you read above, just because you see the salt you are not forced to pick it up and add it to your cereal.)

Rather than fighting negative thoughts, just allow them to be there and repeat positive ones. Smile at the negative thoughts, accept them and they will affect you less and less.

Your magnetic thoughts

2008-08-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Read on to learn about one of the most powerful laws of success - in any part of your life - and how to apply it on the course.

Don't go into the bunker...

How many times have you told yourself not to go into the bunker, only for precisely that thing to happen?

There is a reason for this - and it's not that you're stupid or lacking concentration! It's just that you gave your mind the wrong instructions.

Why this happens

You need to understand two key things about your mind that will change your golf game:
1. Your unconscious mind (the control centre that decides what to focus on) doesn't pay attention to the word 'not'.
2. Your thoughts are magnetic.
This means that you attract whatever you focus on regardless of whether you believe that it is good or bad.

How to apply this

Give it a try. Don't think of one your favourite songs or TV programmes. Let me guess it just popped into your head?

Applying this to golf is simple, yet powerful. Instead of telling yourself 'not' to do certain things, focus on where you want the ball to go.

For example, "Don't hit it into that greenside bunker", becomes "Hit it into the heart of the green." You might also want to apply it to feelings; so "Don't be nervous", becomes "Be calm and confident."

It might sound simple, but keep practicing it and you'll start to notice a difference.

This isn't about never having any more negative thoughts, as this is unlikely - you're not a robot!
It's just about being more aware of your thoughts and repeating positive ones to yourself instead.