Food For Thought
Today's Wise Words:
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Target Oriented Golf Theory...
Time to play...
What Is Golf Performance Coaching?
Do you often ask yourself why you play golf so inconsistently relative to all other life skills you master, why all that time practicing technical skills on the range fails under competitive pressure? I work with PGA coaches who help build golf swings appropriate to the individuals physical attributes but there are many critical life skills you also need to practice on the range in order to play the game of golf which include anxiety management, concentration, targeting and acceptance. When you are taught how to focus your attention on practicing these skills on the range you learn how to trust your technique because you stop paying attention to it (see DVD sampler page to see why this is so important). You will discover why learning how to play golf is a very different mental skill to learning how to swing golf clubs efficiently.
I work with professional and dedicated amateur golfers. I teach players how to build a discipline of mind and a flow of action during the critical period between stepping into the ball and observing your ball fly to the target, the period where performance lives. I call this the Process. This is what it looks like in practice. This video demonstrates a Professional putting prior to TOG training - his routine looks PHYSICALLY efficient compared to amateur golfers but he now recognises it was MENTALLY flawed, which you obviously can not appreciate currently. The head movement at execution occurs due to outcome oriented thinking. Head movement significantly impacts a putting stroke and can be the critical difference between success and failure under tournament pressure.
This video demonstrates Target Oriented Putting after training - the changes in attentional focus brings about anxiety free putting! He can now FEEL his putting stroke for he developed an awareness of his body and has his conscious mind actively occupied throughout the entire routine. Without feel, you have no stroke. You can't get feel when putting until you develop self awareness. His mind is now solely on the target at execution NOT the outcome!
When you get your emotional state right and focus on target, the swing and putting stroke simply go along for the ride. You give up control of your actions and gain control of your mind. Believe me, you are learning golf in the polar opposite at the moment and your inconsistency will be very frustrating!
This period of time is where a player's mind runs 'out of control' in competitive situations and this is most evident on the putting green. I see anxiety in many players from pro to amateur due to their excessive technical control. It is often like watching a surgeon operate rather than an artist perform. Technical coaching is based upon physical control and 'doing it right' and this combined with distributed attention on the outcome of the putt actually stimulates adrenaline flow, which in turn destroys your putting stroke and you miss again. Nothing to do with poor technique, everything to do with your thinking. This actually happens anywhere from the first tee to the last putting green and many places inbetween. Your focus of attention during this period of time can be the same for all shots including your putting so you can be in the optimal physical and mental states to perform on the golf course. Golf is played stress free because you build a discipline of mind and you learn why, when and where your focus of attention needs to be throughout the Process.
When you stop trying to control your actions, you will reveal what your swing really looks and feels like. You know the one, the practice swing which feels so good compared to the one when you hit the ball! What changes between the two? Your focus of attention and arousal levels! That is where I come in. The difference is analogous to learning chords on a musical instrument and playing music, notice what happens to your focus of attention when you begin to play. Free at last to trust your actions you have mastered through repetition. You stop trying to control your actions and you play music, you trust your self. Golf is no different when you learn how to trust your swing by focusing your attention on playing golf.
I will teach you what performance feels like so you can practice it and take that to the course. So you can learn how to trust, not control, your technique and begin to play golf the way you know you can but so rarely see.
Here is your pathway to success and it is critical for you to understand each step before you can progress to the next: Comprehension (TOG) ---> Arousal Control ---> Attentional Focus ----> Target Orientation----> High Performance Golf.
Today, most golfers can not perform consistently because they do not understand targeting. You will never be able to target effectively until you understand attentional focus. You can not focus until you master arousal control. You will never remain calm in a competitve situation without comprehension. Your journey begins here with Target Oriented Golf. Click HERE to see an amateur developing a discipline of mind for golf on the range....
Why Do You Need Target Oriented Golf?
When you can remove all the statements in this picture from your practice and more importantly your play, you are half way to understanding Target Oriented Golf.
Do you think this way when you practice? How do you think when you begin to play poorly? What becomes the focus of your attention? More importantly, where is your target in this whirlwind of thoughts?!
Target Oriented Golf will show you how to train your conscious mind for golf both on the range and on the course. The DVD is unique amongst the plethora of auditory based hypnosis CD's available which attempt to change your SUB-conscious mind. You must learn how to take control of your CONSCIOUS thought processes but no-one is teaching you how to do this. It is your conscious mind which determines how you behave and perform out on the course. You can leave your sub-conscious in peace to do what it does best, manage your physical actions as it does successfully in every other walk of life. If you are a dedicated golfer, do not delay for there are no quick fixes on offer here and there is alot of work to be done. Golf requires patience, discipline and trust and these skills all need to be practiced on the range just like your swing. Hit the play button and listen to Vidar Thorstensen, European PGA Professional explain why you should be learning how to play Target Oriented Golf: Golf psychology books have been fun to read but do not show us how to apply the theories discussed so we acquire some nice ideas but they get washed away in the heat of competition. If the written word really was effective golf instruction, we would all be champions by now. For the first time you have the opportunity to SEE how to apply golf psychology and it will demonstrate why all those isolated mental tips in forums, magazines and from technical coaches have proven so ineffective in bringing about any permanent change in your game. Most work for a short while then you return to old habits. When you pay attention to the skills presented here you can stop paying attention to your technique and begin to perform the way you know you can but so rarely experience. You will discover why learning how to swing is very different to learning how to play golf. Presenting a new golf instruction paradigm on DVD was not undertaken lightly but it will return the joy of golf to you.
Golfers devote most of their time on the range to working on their technical skills. When do you learn how to trust your swing when you spend all your time doubting it? You never will. What golfers think in the time before and after their swings determines how well they perform on the golf course. The practice swing is proof of this. Feels great I'm sure. So what changes between the practice swing and the real swing? Your THOUGHTS do. So how much time do you spend working on this critical time before and after your swing on the range? The answer is none for most and yet it is anxiety in this time which affects the quality of your swing on course, far more than poor technique especially when you begin to play off handicaps below 20. It can exist anywhere from the first tee to the last putting green and many places inbetween! When you acknowledge it exists within your game, as it does with all players, you will be ready for Target Oriented Golf. The alternative is more of the same frustration you experience every time you play. This image demonstrates how you are taught to keep your head still by technical instructors. Do you know where the student's attentional focus is whilst being man handled like this? Does the technical coach? What about on course? This method of learning how to swing golf clubs is still used today but it is not learning how to play golf, it is learning how to swing golf clubs. It's the difference between learning how to play a musical instrument and playing music, your attentional focus needs to be in a very different place. It is never even discussed in your golf lessons and consequently you play golf with a mental blindfold on.
Conscious Or Sub-Conscious Training?
When sports people perform, they talk of being in the “Zone”. What is this ‘Zone’ and why do they stumble in and out of it? Is it possible to access it more regularly, by intention and decision – rather than haphazardly by chance? Elite sportspeople find the Zone more easily and more often than others but even they struggle to explain it - other than to say things like, “I got out of my own way”, and only the greatest champions seem to be able to access it at will. Yet getting into the Zone is like most other sports skills – it is a learnable skill, attained through understanding of the conscious mind AND effective practice.
Attention focus is at the heart of getting into the Zone and is the art of recognising what you are attending to at any moment in time. It is critical to sports performance especially when you are afforded the time to think before you act. One erroneous conscious thought prior to execution kills performance. Let me explain this process by introducing you to the inside of your head and show you how attention focus is a brain function and how this relates to the Zone.
As you read these words, their meaning in the context of the sentence is rapidly being processed in your brain. This is all most people notice when they read. Now, let me change your focus of attention. As you read these words, take a moment to notice the physical process of reading. Light energy reflects the written word into your eye, your eye converts the light energy to electrical impulses for transmission via the optic nerve to the occipital lobe of your brain, where the image is compared to a pre-existing model previously learned and then you internally verbalise it. Amazing how it all happens so quickly isn’t it. Can you also now hear how your inner voice converts all the written visual information into auditory form as you read? Why does your brain do this do you think? Why can’t you read without saying what you see?
When you are reading and your attention focus wanes, your eyes no longer occupy your attention with the written words before you and your inner voice takes you to far away places. You are no longer in the ‘reading’ Zone. The same thing happens in golf – the moment your attentional focus is distracted by some conscious verbalisations unrelated to the task at hand, you leave the Zone and the target is lost to you. Your swing has no commitment and your ball heads off to the water! Looking and attending are very different brain functions and it is what you are ATTENDING too which denies or grants you access to your performance zone NOT what you are looking at.
When you see your target and respond, you perform. When you think during execution, you kill your physical sports flow. Try throwing a ball at a target to experience being in the Zone. You are in the visual domain, reacting to targets with no conscious control of your actions or inner voice dialogue. Would you like to learn how to play golf this way at the range and on the golf course? Let me show you the way. Golf is not a unique life skill. How you are currently taught and practice the game is and it is this which you must change in order to reveal your true golf potential. He who hesitates will continue to be lost.
Is is time to wake up golfers! Your inner voice is the heartbeat of consciousness, ignore it at your peril!
Completing Your Golf Gestalt...
What can you see in the picture below?
Can you see both women? One old, one young. Take another look. They are there. Get some help if you can not see. This is called completing your gestalt. When you see both women in the picture, did you say "ahh, I see them now!". When you do you will be a little closer to understanding Target Oriented Golf and your game of golf. Is your golfing gestalt similar to your initial interpretation of the image above? Do you see a game where emphasis is on technical lessons, new equipment and a 'tip' mentality regarding the psychology of the game? Why has no-one ever presented to you a systematic, practical approach to the psychology of golf on DVD? Well, it was difficult but when you see, understand and apply the skills presented on Target Oriented Golf your golfing gestalt will complete and you will experience a new golf paradigm.
When you watch TOG and say "ahh, I see it now!" you will have arrived at that place in your golfing life when it all begins to make sense. You will experience a paradigm shift and see the game through new eyes, as you hopefully did the image above. You will begin to understand why the majority of your mistakes are mental errors out on the course. This will help you stop the technical analysis paralysis on the range and you will begin to work more on the skills I have to demonstrate to you. You will learn how to trust your technique. The DVD is an introduction and of course you will watch using your existing paradigm. If you relate to the content, there is much more detail to be explained beyond that presented on the DVD which requires personal dialogue with me. After the conversation, you will watch the DVD a number of times and each time you will discover more and more about your game.
Having an incomplete gestalt leads to a life of frustration and inconsistency out on the golf course. You live it and I lived it too. It was the catalyst for my research and production of this work. Every golfer needs to understand the content of this DVD in order to play consistent golf but unfortunately not every golfer can acknowledge that their mind is the weakest link in their game, so instead continue to doubt their technique. This should become even more obvious the more technically proficient you become but you continue to believe your technique keeps letting you down. You have no alternative due to your incomplete gestalt. Your doubt cycle (explained in the DVD Sampler) actually limits your ability to perform throughout your golfing life. Like an aeroplane trying to take off in strong winds, as soon as you hit turbulence, you put your wheels back on the ground and you bump along the runway. Target Oriented Golf will show you how to fly, when you are ready. Plato sums up your challenge wonderfully. Healthy scepticism, an enquiring mind and Target Oriented Golf will help you complete your golfing gestalt:
Back to TopConcentration...
How often do you hear your inner voice issue little control statements over the ball like "Don't do this or don't do that..." just before you swing your club and where does the ball go! Coincidence? Of course not. It's poor concentration. What had become the focus of your attention in your mind?! Golf success is not determined by what you are looking at but what your mind is focused on and if you were not thinking about the target when you played your shot, you should ask yourself "What were you thinking about and why?!".
The target should consume your attention just before you initiate your backswing but you will never be able to target effectively whilst your attentional focus is disturbed, resulting in higher physical arousal and adrenaline flow. Hypnosis CD's use visualisation and occasionally subliminal messaging techniques to improve arousal control but are independent of your practice on the range. It is not your sub-conscious which needs changing, it is your conscious behaviour. Leave the sub-conscious in peace to manage your physical actions as it does everything else in your life. It is IMPOSSIBLE to remain calm in competition whilst you continue to have a poor understanding of attentional focus. Learning how to manage arousal effectively is important only because it is the gateway into attentional focus.
Let me explain, have you ever driven your car and wondered how you arrived at your destination? - your eyes and your subconscious knew what to do and where you were going and always on the task of driving but your conscious mind was away with the fairies in a different time and place, possibly feeling anxious thinking of events you were concerned about in the past or the future. These feelings of anxiety are not a problem whilst driving but they destroy your fine motor skills when playing golf. Unfortunately, this is how the vast majority play golf and time travelling in your mind is the biggest killer of your golf game. It actually creates anxiety, stimulates arousal and destroys your putting stroke. Notice how your subconscious drives the vehicle, not your conscious mind, in the same way you must let your subconscious perform your swing and stroke. This is never possible whilst you continue to focus your attention on it in practice and playing. You will never perform consistently out on the golf course in competition. You must learn how to shift your conscious mind away from control of your actions and onto the skills of arousal control and targeting, then you let your intuition control the swing just like you do when you drive or perform anything else in your life successfully.
Please understand, you will never feel calm on the golf course until you build a routine which controls your conscious mind ALL of the time during the period between stepping in to the ball and executing your backswing. A routine which has 'holes' in your conscious stream, backdoors if you will. through which just 1 erroneous thought can enter is enough to destroy your swing or stroke during this period. Arousal control is critical but only because it is the gateway through which you must travel first before you can begin to focus your attention on the more relevant details of shot execution. Your practice and playing routines must include both arousal control and attentional focus skills, they are inextricably linked and co-dependent. One without the other is useless and is demonstrated by the variable performance in Professional players on a daily basis - or do you think their technique keeps letting them down? They lack these skills as much as you do because they have been taught to play the same way as you! Sure their technical abilities seperate them from the rest of us but if you think they understand their variability in performance, you would be wrong. Golf looks easy on the TV but they only show those on the leaderboard having a good time! What happens to the rest of the players?! Knowing why, where, when and how to focus your attention whilst incorporating arousal control into your practical playing routines is the essence of this DVD. Whilst you continue to allow your attention to drift in time and place, your mind looks more like a Kakadu lightning storm and your body reacts accordingly. You can wave goodbye to all that emotional control practice on the range or in your living room! The fear of failure and the fear of success create the same physical reactions and your mind is out of control when you start thinking this way. It is a real discipline to stay in the present but the key to successful golf and one you have to learn how to practice on the range.
Anxiety...
We often feel confident when hitting balls on the driving range and yet when we stand on the first tee our mind can become flooded with thoughts. These thoughts can destroy that fluid swing we had been working so hard to trust. Every time we have outcome oriented rather than target oriented thoughts, we set off a chain reaction in our nervous system. It is a simple procedure to reproduce those feelings, even as you read this. Recall a situation in your life where you were in a vulnerable position. It could be a job interview where you really wanted to impress, a first date or waiting to begin a final examination and were not sure you had prepared yourself thoroughly. Can you recall an anxiety provoking situation?
As you do, can you FEEL what is happening to your physical state. A chain reaction has begun. The feeling of being out of ‘control’ of your situation initiates a feeling of anxiety which causes your breathing to become shallow and rapid. This in turn causes dryness in the mouth and a general tensing of the muscular system. Every negative thought you have releases another shot of adrenaline in to your body, setting you up for an innate fight or flight response. Your thought process is simply tricking your body to believe there is something real to fear and it reacts accordingly. Your thoughts. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why some thoughts create anxiety and others do not? You can have many thoughts which have no impact on your performance so what is so different and why do you have them?!
Now, let’s stop this. Take a good deep cleansing breathe, fill your lungs and release it slowly through your nose and mouth. You should feel your shoulders drop and the tension leave your muscles. Do these as many times as you need to relax your body and calm the mind. Does the feeling you have just experienced seem familiar? It is the very same feeling you can have on the first tee, hitting over some water, out of a bunker or putting. Taking some good breathes as part of your pre-shot routine BEFORE you step into your shot, will have your body in the best condition possible for a fluid swing to occur.
If you ignore or are unaware of your physiological state before swinging the club, you will find the swing is often not what you had hoped for. You may then choose to believe it was ‘your swing’ which was flawed. Maybe your muscle tension prevented you from swinging? This is most likely to be occurring when your round is going poorly so rather than trying to deal with the situation once it has occurred, doesn’t it makes sense that prevention is better than cure? Use your breathing effectively as part of your pre-shot routine to manage arousal control, allowing you to focus on the target. The alternative is elevated arousal, an inability to focus and a poor swing due to loss of target. Sound familiar? You will find there is less time spent wondering “what happened there?” as your ball shoots off in the wrong direction when you learn how to play target oriented golf. Back to Top |
