My barber was talking about bringing out the golf shoes a few weeks back. I laughed but it made me wonder: Is it too soon to start talking about golf? Do avid golfers ever not talk about golf?
Every golfer knows golf is a game played between the ears. They also know almost every competitive golfer uses mental coaching to lower their score. This is great but limited since most mental coaching is a conscious mind effort. Hypnosis, on the other hand, taps into the subconscious mind for fast, long-lasting mind programming and helps the golfer to access resource states that allow confident play. Mastering the golf mind is probably more important than the golf skills they’ve acquired and are constantly improving. The professionals would agree:
“Competitive golf is played in the six inches between your ears.” - Bobby Jones
“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus picture of it in my head.” - Jack Nicklaus
“I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance from my left ear to my right ear.” - Ben Crenshaw
“It will always be the ball and me. My main focus is on my game.” -Tiger Woods
The one thing golfers do not like to share is that secret weapon yielding consistently better performance. That secret weapon, as I hinted, is self-hypnosis, disciplined thought, and relaxation skills, which lead to golf mind mastery. I would add emotional self control and mind management as well. Golfers who have discovered self-hypnosis play better and feel better because they know they can be in control when it matters.
While I gave up golf years ago to pursue my own hypnotic outlet – hot air ballooning – I help golfers at all levels to relax and consistently improve their game using the power of their own mind. Golf hypnosis, as it’s called, increases course confidence, improves focus and concentration, and helps them find the motivation to bring their best game to the entire 18 holes.
Hypnosis and visualization, along with improved self-talk, combine to create an unbeatable mindset for golfers at any level. The key to helping them improve is simply to allow their subconscious mind to play each shot. Golf hypnosis is not about teaching golf skills. It’s all about helping the golfer get out of their own way and let their mind execute what it already knows how to do, free from all the conscious clutter hindering their performance.
Consider these tips, which you can immediately apply in your mind, right from your armchair while you wait for golf weather to arrive:
Let go of stress, anxiety, and tension. Muscle tension and undue stress don't help your golf game.
Breathe to relax the mind and body. I always ask my clients whether they play golf to relax or if they relax to play better golf.
Stop trying to golf well, and just golf well.
Picture or mentally rehearse a good shot. Hear it. Feel it. Watch it. All from your chair.
Develop the now mindset and anchor your last shot. When you slide the club back in the bag, let that shot go. Only focus on the shot you are taking.
Be more mindful and aware of your emotions. Learn to be calm, relaxed and in control.
Master your self-talk and develop your unique affirmations to program your mind for golf success.
These points were absorbed consciously as you read them. The hypnotic golf mind learns to apply subconscious suggestions to eliminate the common golf mistakes and take their game to new heights. Know that hypnosis is a resource state enabling greater focus and heightened awareness, which allows your subconscious mind to embrace and accept suggestions aligning with your intentions. As you get better and better, you learn to anchor your course performance to visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and olfactory queues to help your mind and body work toward those intentions. Soon, every day and in every way, you get better and better.
Grab our new report: "Seven Ways To Take Three Strokes Off Your Game." You’ll find it at www.bobmartel.com/golf.
Bob Martel, a professional coach and hypnotist at Positive Results Hypnosis in Holden, is the author of "I Am Sleeping Now", a book on holistic sleep techniques. Reach him at bob@bobmartel.com or www.positiveresultshypnosis.com.
