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Our special guest,
Dr.Bob Phillips "Golf
Psychologist" will be here exclusively every
month to reveal to you techniques used by top
level professional golfers to mentally prepare,
maintain focus, bring about their peak
performance and to help you improve your score!
FEBRUARY, 2001:
Be Your Child's Biggest
Fan...
But Not the Coach
Most
parents want their children to enjoy and be
successful in sports. They spend time and money
in helping their child have the best chance of
becoming a good golfer. Unfortunately, many also
spend a lot of time either trying to be the
child's coach or acting like the "practice
police". Parents can become very active and
supportive in the mental side of training.
It is almost always a mistake to become either
officially or unofficially the child's physical
trainer or coach. This is usually a bad idea
because, first, you probably are not qualified to
teach golf. Twenty years of lessons is not the
criteria for being your child's coach, nor is the
fact that you have won the club championship
three times. It is much better to be the child's
biggest fan and supporter than it is to be his or
her trainer. You can help the child in the mental
area of golf by learning all you can about how
the mental game disrupts and also enhances
physical performance. While it is true that no
amount of mental training can make up for
improper or incomplete basic skills, it is also
true that most golfers add five to ten strokes to
each and every round because of mental errors.
The mental game begins with the big picture. Golf
is a game and should be played for fun. Sometimes
the fun is postponed while you go through hours
of practice and slow physical improvement. But
nevertheless, it is fun when you have begun to
master the physical skills and you are improving
in competition. Competition is the reward for
good practice and without good practice, mental
or physical, there will be no payday and
therefore a lot less fun. The process of learning
includes failure. As a friend of mine likes to
say, "When you fall on your face you are
still moving forward."
Most people, let alone children, seem to not
understand that it is not what happens to you but
how you respond that matters. When a child learns
golf it would be most helpful for the child to
also learn that making themselves upset adds
nothing good to the situation and usually greatly
reduces their ability to play at their best. How
marvelous it would be to teach each child to not
make things worse than they are by thinking of it
in the worst possible way.
There
are few things as important as controlling our
thinking. In golf a child can become very
frustrated and even quit the game because of how
bad they make it when they play poorly or compare
themselves with other more physically developed
children. It is vital to help the child accept
themselves as they are and enjoy getting better.
This process has to come from both the coach and
the parents.
This
attitude is not taught by telling the child what
to do. This attitude is taught by the parents and
coach acting like it is true and being consistent
about it. If your attitude says this is awful
then the child will learn that it must really be
awful. If you act like it is unpleasant but not a
big deal, then they will believe that that is
what it is. How good or bad sports are for a
child is determined by the adults around the
child.
Children have a natural tendency to use
imagination and imagery. This is perfect for
learning the proper ways of mental rehearsal and
preparation. The parents should read books on how
to use mental imagery and teach the child, with
the verbal support of the coach or trainer, age
appropriate ways of mentally preparing to play
comfortably and well. This imagery is also used
to prepare for the unusual and potentially
troublesome situations that can easily throw a
child's game off. If you are prepared mentally,
very little can force you off your best game.
Learning the mental game, and how to control your
responses, will go a long way toward eliminating
the frustrations, hassles and slumps that make it
hard to keep going while learning a complex game
like golf. But once mastered, there is little
else that can help and support the child's
mastery of this wonderful game as much as mental
training.
RETURN
TO DR SPORT MAIN MENU
Bob
Phillips, Ph.D.
Aspire
Training and Coaching Personal coaching for
success in sports, business and life. Helping you
achieve your goals. 748 Holcomb Bridge Rd.
Norcross, Ga. 30071 (770)729-0030 Fax
(770)449-5758
Ask Dr. Phillips about any
mental game of golf question or problem you have
and he will e-mail you an answer.
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Bob Phillips, Ph.D., has
been helping athletes, sales people and managers
perform at their best for over fifteen years. As
a leading performance psychologist and coach, he
has developed several methods of evaluating and
maximizing performance.
In this series of articles
Dr. Phillips gives golfers the information and
techniques used by top level athletes in all
sports -- especially golf -- to mentally
prepare, maintain focus and bring about their
peak performance. A number of articles will focus
on Junior Golf.
ONE-ON-ONE
COACHING
Now Available
- First Session Free -
Dr. Bob Phillips offers
one-on-one coaching by phone to home or office
for golfers who are "stuck" and want to
move up to the next level of play, taking 5-10
strokes off their game. For more information,
call Dr. Phillips at 770-729-0030 or e-mail him
below.
E-Mail
Dr. Phillips
"Check
out your mental game for FREE"
Visit
Dr. Phillips'
web site
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