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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!
NOVEMBER, 2000:
Step your Mind into Focus
One
of the most effective changes that a golfer can
bring into his or her game is what I call
step-breathing. The benefits of using
step-breathing are many. You give yourself a
solid, focused mental and physical place from
which to hit your shots or make even the longer
putts, you have a time to find the best level of
mental arousal, and you gain more control over
your playing tempo.
Another
advantage of taking the time and centering
yourself with step-breathing is that it places a
nice dividing line between the thinking part of
your golf swing and the hitting part. The old
saying is; "The thinking must stop before
the hitting begins."
You
begin to learn step-breathing at home. You simply
sit in a comfortable chair and imagine a side
view of a set of stairs. When each stair drops
down, this is your exhale. When the stair is
flat, and horizontal to the ground, this is your
inhale. In normal breathing your breath in and
out and really never move lower in your body. If
you were to graph a normal breath it would be a
"U" shaped curve. It would go down on
your exhale and back up on you inhale. Your
breathing would be one long line of "U"
shaped curves. This is fine for taking in oxygen,
but not very effective for centering your mind
and body to maximize your golf.
You
continue your training by practicing lowering
your center of breathing from high in your chest,
near your throat, down to your lowest point in
your stomach. Following your six or seven steps
down into your body. Remember the exhales are
when you drop a little further down and the
inhales are the flat part of the step. On the
inhale you do not go down, but you also do not go
up, as in a normal breath.
Once
the breathing is very low in your body practice
keeping it there for four or five breaths. Then
let it gradually come back up. If you practice
this exercise one hundred to one hundred and
fifty times you will begin to find that the
breathing begins to anticipate your lowered
center of breathing and your breathing will
automatically drop on the second or third breath.
When this happens you have learned the ability of
using the short form of step-breathing. The short
form of step-breathing utilizes this learned
reaction and allows you to become fully centered
using only two or three breaths. On the course,
or even in practice, you will need to use this
short form of step-breathing so that you can
quickly get centered and ready to take the swing
or the putt.
After
you have learned the short form of step-breathing
you are ready to make it part of your pre-shot
routine. After you have planned your shot,
addressed the ball, recalled a successful shot
like the one you are about to make, you can use
the step-breathing to end your thinking, relax
your body, lock your expectation on the exact
target and be externally focused on the ball. No
thinking, no worrying, no wobbling of focus and
fully ready to put the ball where you want it.
Now
that you can center your breathing, begin to use
it on the practice tee. Practice your pre-shot
routine before each shot. (Did you think the
practice tee was only for physical practice? How
will you find your best game if you only practice
the physical aspects of your game?) Establish
your exact target, complete the step-breathing
short form, focus on the ball and let yourself
hit the ball. By practicing the entire routine
you will soon be very comfortable with the
procedure and your scores will reflect your new
level of mental and physical control.
Do
not try to utilize this or any other mental
training technique until you have understood the
theory and concepts involved and practiced the
mental technique to the extent that you are able
to fully use the procedure. Then bring it into
competition after you have used it in practice
several times. There are no short cuts to
improving your game. You need to do the work and
do it in the right order before you can really
enjoy the higher level of play it brings.
Start
practicing your long form of step-breathing today
and soon you will have the mental control you
need to play your best game.
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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