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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!
MAY, 2001:
Controlling your state of mind
One
of the most important concepts in the mental game
of golf is the concept of mental states. This
concept tells us that we have several dozen
mental states that we can be in during each day,
but when it comes to golf only a few are good
mental states for playing at our best.
Each
mental state has a range of emotions, a range of
physical actions and capabilities and a range of
performance capabilities. Each mental state sets
limits on what we can do.
Most
of the time we are unaware of what mental state
we are in. Unless there is a rather dramatic
emotion attached to the mental state we can
usually move from one state to another with very
little conscious awareness of the change. In fact
there are times when others can probably tell us
with more accuracy than we can about what mental
state we are in. Think back to being in school
and taking a test. Remember how sometimes you
were sure you really got a bad grade and
sometimes you were right, but other times you did
better than you had expected. Your mental state
when taking the test was very important to the
final score, perhaps as important as how much you
studied. Especially if you were really upset and
feared doing poorly. We have all heard of the
self-fulfilling prophecy.
In
golf the mental state you are in also has a
strong effect on how well you perform. A mental
state of confidence and positive expectation is
hard to beat for playing at your best. There are
times when you want to have high energy and
strong arousal. Other times you want to be cool,
almost aloof, to perform at your best. There is
no one best mental state for all the situations
found in golf.
Learning
to master and control these mental states is very
important. When you have been talking with a
fellow golfer before your shot and you are now
ready to get back into focus to put forth your
best effort on the next hole, you had better have
a plan on how to bring back, or move into, one of
your more productive mental states. If you do not
have a plan how do you expect to do well?
There
is probably more than one mental state in which
you would shoot at or near your best game so we
will call these states your focused state of
mind, just to give it one name. In order to
control, or at least to increase your control of
this focused state, you need to do a few things.
First, find a time in your past when you were
playing at or near your best. This may have been
a "flow" state or, as some call it,
playing in the zone. This was a time when you
seemed to be unaware of problems, worries, fears
or distractions. This period may have only lasted
for two or three holes. Or it may have lasted for
a longer period of time. Then, take yourself back
to that time in your mind. Really step into the
memory. Do not just see yourself as in a movie.
Get into the memory and feel the weather, feel
your body move and hear the sounds as you swing
the club or putt. As you experience the memory
think of how it feels. Think of a word to match
the feeling of your body. Settle deeply into the
experience and pinch your left-hand index finger
and your thumb. Squeeze these and think of the
feel of the shots you made. By doing this you are
anchoring a signal to the feel of the memory. The
feel of the memory is the mental state you are
capturing. Finally, now you can use the squeezing
of the thumb and finger to bring about or
"trigger" the mental state. Do not
expect it to overpower you. The actual feeling
may be small and physical, or you may experience
it with more emotion. Most people have a rather
gentle feeling associated with mental state.
As in
any practicing of mental techniques you should
practice first at home and then in practice
sessions at the practice tee or putting green,
then on the course during a practice round and
finally you can use it in competition. Beginning
at home, take time to relax and ask yourself the
question, "How would it feel to be playing
in competition tomorrow with these
feelings?" and as you let your mind go into
the future competition you again squeeze your
thumb and finger and imagine the same mental
state being present in the future. You notice how
you would expect to respond to both the
competition and the feelings and abilities
contained in the mental state. Make sure you
really step into tomorrow and feel the experience
of playing with the target mental state. Practice
this ten to fifteen times. Each time, stepping
even more completely into the future. Move
through several holes of play and move through
the scene at a normal pace, do not hurry the
event.
You
can also use this trigger to access the mental
state while in physical practice. During
practice, stop and slowly build up the feelings
in the trigger. Continue to practice and
experience the mental state. After practicing
these techniques you can greatly increase your
control of several mental states during
competition. Your physical learning and practice
sets what you can do, the mental training
determines how much of your ability will be
realized on a specific day. In using this
technique you will create a place in your mind
that is mostly free from worry and agitation. In
this place you can play better golf.
The
right feelings, the right expectation and the
right action will give you the best golf you are
capable of.
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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