The Mental Golf Psychology Review

When Pressure Takes the Fun Out of Your Golf

2010-12-31T01:32:00Z

The Golfers Mental Edge Reviewed – My Interview with Dr. Patrick Cohn

Not playing what you think is your “A” game can suck the fun right out of golf…

As a golf game lover you want to play well… very much so. This can lead to tightening up and actually playing this game much worse!

You see this pattern all the time….

You work your tail off, expect a lot from yourself on the course, and then want to win (heck, just score good) really bad. Sounds good so far, right?

But here’s the problem. All this wanting to play well and high expectations can cause your mental game to unravel even before you hit your first tee shot!

After my personal chat with Dr. Patrick Cohn recently of Peak Sports, I learned that I wanting so badly to play golf well… I further realized that this also causes me (and no doubt, yourself) to play with fear… the fear of failure… Damn, I hate that!

We tighten up, get anxious about results, and lose any trust we had in practice.

As Dr. Patrick Cohn explained to me… “It gets even worse for many of my students”… “After a blow up hole, missing an easy putt or an up and down, most of us find ourselves getting frustrated or worse – trying harder to not make more mistakes.”

I immediately understood that this leads you to want the round to be over fast because you’re not having fun. Crap… been there, done that!

So… how can we have more fun on the golf course?

Yani Tseng, top in the world in women’s golf and past defending champion at the McDonalds LPGA Championship, thinks fun is the name of the game when it comes to playing well:

“The harder you try the worse you can get. My mental golf game was not there for a period of time. My brain just (kept) going down. My expectations were too high in 2008. I just wanted to try so hard and win so hard and it wasn’t working. So now I adjust my mindset and just go out and have fun,” said Tseng.

Myself, I find fun and pressure are polar opposites in golf. The more you [and I] pressure ourself to play well -and the harder we try, the tougher it is to shoot low scores and, of course, we’re not having fun now.

However, let’s face it… having more fun is easier said than done.

But the first place to start is to remove the pressures and expectations to always be perfect or play your best. And “fun” doesn’t have to always come from playing great.

Tap into what excites you on the golf course besides winning within yourself. If you simply replace the ‘must be perfect’ thought patterns with simple… gratitude for allowing yourself to ‘enjoy’ the moments of the game, you just might discover a simple, yet powerful tool to add to your bag.

I’ve applied this technique and within a few holes on my first round out I was (surprisingly) able to connect to my ‘happy’ self and removed my perfection outcome attitude. And, it felt comfortable as it released a good deal of my tension, which did allow for better shots.

Yet, getting past the… “it’s ok to have fun” thought pattern took a few holes, especially when one starts out with a couple of bad hits. But, once you break the mold and really connect to your fun’ness’… well, anyway… give it a go next time out to see what you discover.

If you want, chip on over to The Golfers Mental Edge and, for sure, listen in (above) on the portion of the talk I had with Dr. Patrick… btw, get in on my email list and receive a copy of the free eBook… “Stepping Up To The Ball With Confidence” – and from time to time you’ll also receive (complete) insightful conversations with other leading mental golf professionals.

To Your Better Experience on the Course…
Enjoy Your Game!

-Michael
the Mental Golf Psychology Review

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What is the Worst “Lie” in Golf?

2010-12-31T01:35:52Z

Let us begin with a few myth busters…

Myths -

1) If you have a perfect golf swing you’ll have a perfect game.
2) You can buy a better game with the latest in gadgetry.
3) Technology has lowered golfers scores.

Most every golfer subscribes to these beliefs in one way or another. The entire golf instruction, training aid, and golf club making market bear this out. Golf magazines, tv shows, and article after article offer tips, fixes, cures and virtually every imaginable training aid conceivable to craft the perfect swing. All with the pretense that ‘hardware alone’ will have you playing better golf.

Well has it worked? Let’s take a look…

In 1978, 75% of all golfers never broke 90 – so barely 25% ever shot in the 80’s.

In 2004, a full 26 years later, after the advent of 460CC drivers with 45″ multi-kick point shafts, cavity back irons, balls that prevent hooks and slices, and world class instruction from the smartest minds in the buzz, that number has been increased by a whopping 3%!

Now a full 28% of all golfers have broken 90. But hey, let’s cut the industry some slack, there’s only been 90+ billion spent on golf equipment over that time! That doesn’t include lessons or training aids! All that technology and collective wisdom and this is how far we’ve come…impressive, huh.

Seriously, any other business that produced numbers like these for their customers would be out of business. But the golfing public has an insatiable appetite that an ever growing horde of manufacturers and marketers are more than willing to feed.

As golfers, we are bombarded with instruction tips, training options, and product offerings that will have your head spinning faster than a shanking streak.

Where’s the moral you ask?

We all need to fulfill that important human craving of getting better at what we love. Yet where we place our attention to achieve this goal is what has to change. Our core beliefs about what causes improvement should be based on reality, not myths. They should empower us, not encourage wishful thinking and needlessly empty our wallets.

“So if it isn’t gear that makes us better maybe it’s lessons,” did I hear you say? Certainly lessons are an asset and obviously accelerate your skill development, but they’re not absolutely essential either. Ask Lee Trevino, Jim Furyk, Chris Dimarco and countless others who are self taught. And I think we can all agree that there isn’t much robot “pretty” about any of their swings, however, they work! Golf ain’t a beauty contest.

In the final analysis, there is only one area that promotes the quickest and most lasting change in any golfers game. And what’s interesting about it is this is the only area that doesn’t cost a penny to use, yet almost no-one uses it.

That area is the often quoted 6 inches between your ears! Your mind. The mental game of golf. Using your mind in a strategic, methodical and focused way is the surest method of lowering your scores. Period.

If you want to run out and spend $500 on a new driver and another $1000 or more on irons to make you play better, go for it. You might be that one in a million that changes the statistics. I realize we’ll all buy nice gear once in a while but we can’t buy it with a belief that this will seriously lower our scores.

After my recent experience with Wade Pearse’s, Golf Mental Game, I’m discovering that he probably won’t be sponsored by Taylor Made or Nike any time soon. You see, he doesn’t help sell much golf equipment… His approach to lowering your handicap, improving your swing, and increasing your satisfaction leans towards inner change before outer gains. Ahhh… now we’re talking the mental side.

True improvement only begins when we first assess where we are in relation to our goal. Then we must take an inventory of all the things that have actually produced measurable results. Which means no denial! We can’t hope to move our game to the next level by hanging on to a lie. If you do then that’s what Wade calls a real “hanging lie”. And that is the worst lie in golf.

Each and every one of us has the innate ability to tap our own potential and transform any part of our lives, including golf. We just require the right road map and a good compass to keep us on target.

It’s time to wake up and smell the Bent-grass or the myths that cloud our brains will keep us believing we can buy a better game.

Wade Pearse is a Peak Performance Golf Coach. Having spent 7 years researching and applying the most advanced mental game techniques available he identified what actually produces lower scores and increases overall performance. Using these strategies he lowered his own handicap from a 26 to a 3 without any golf lessons. He walks his talk.

Check out his Golf Mental Game for more mental golf tips and tricks and a complimentary self assessment.

Btw… be sure to grab your free eBook on “Stepping Up To The Ball With Confidence” and also receive other insightful golfs tips as part of being in the eClub.

Your partner in pursuit of a better game of golf…
Michael Lofton

http://thementalgolfpsychologyreview.com

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Review: Amazing Golf Mind

2010-12-31T01:41:06Z

As most of my subscribers and customers know, I don’t just recommend Golf products to line my pockets. It’s very important to me that I provide you with objective reviews so that you can truly make the best decision for improving your golf game.

This week’s review is on a new mental golf training product called Amazing Golf Mind.

As you know, I’m always interested in taking a look at sites that deal with mental golf.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Amazing Golf Mind mental audio program does something that, in my opinion, all golfers who want to lower their score need.

Basically it does the following:

1) Puts you into a relaxed stated using brain wave techniques

2) Programs your subconscious mind with the affirmations required to improve your full swing, short game, putting or success in tournaments.Your Golf game is put on autopilot without thinking.

3) Is easy to use and required only 20 minutes three times a week to listening to a relaxing sound

4) The bonus visualization software allows to improve your swing thoughts while working on your computer.

This concept makes a lot of sense because it is used by Tiger and the top tour pros. Tiger is said to use subliminal messages since he was 13.

Ok lets talk about the audios.

Amazing golf mind comes with four subliminal mental audios: Full Swing, Short Game, Putting and Tournament Success. The audios are in MP3 format and can be downloaded within minutes to your PC. You can transfer them to your MP3 player, burn a CD or listen to them on your PC.

The bonus software runs on Windows PCs and is easy to install.

Overall the mental audio program is very good and does just what it says it does. Very relaxing and easy to use. Once again you need to have the discipline to listen to the audios 3-4 times a week. If you do it you will see results very quickly. And for me it’s much more convenient to listen to 20 minutes of relaxing music than reading 100 pages of a mental golf book.

So in conclusion if you want to automate your Golf game and put it on autopilot without thinking, give the Amazing Golf Mind a look see. It is a very effective system to lower your score and feeling more relaxed.
Check out Andrew’s free video describing his Golf Mental System here…

Happy Golf Days!
-Michael

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Tip: #1 way to deal with nerves in golf

2010-12-31T01:44:36Z

If you’ve golfed competitively you’ve no doubt felt nerves affect your game. When I say competitively I don’t just mean competing on a professional or mini-tour. If you have a $5 bet with a colleague or friend it’s still competitive! Whether you’re a 27 handicap or scratch you are likely to feel at least some nerves during your round.

For many people it doesn’t even have to involve golf competition at all. Just stepping to the first tee can cause a serious case of nerves. Maybe it’s when you must make a put to tie a hole or to win on the 18th green. If you’re standing on the 17th hole in a match and you’re 1 down then you have to deliver. Period. If you can’t channel your nerves you had better hope that swing you’ve been grooving for the past 6 months holds up now!

Interview with Wade Pearse

Regardless of skill level and/or on course scenario there will be times when you’ll require some way to calm your nerves so they don’t adversely affect your stroke/swing.

Have you made any conscious attempts to reduce your experience of nerves in your game? What did you try? What have been your results? Did they work and if so was it immediate? Or did you, like most every golfer alive, simply fill your head full of self talk saying things like, “ok, calm down. Just breathe…there’s nothing to be nervous about…hey, maybe he’ll miss his putt….yeah…miss-miss-miss!…”

Does this sound familiar?! Have you noticed that this doesn’t really do all that much to reduce your nervousness? Unless of course your playing partner does miss the putt!

Seriously though, you must have a means of noticing the onset of nerves and a method for not only calming them but using them to your advantage…

Wade does a great job of showing you how to transform nerves into actually playing your best golf under pressure. He provides a few excellent methods you can use right away that will improve your performance on the golf course.

Breath is a very powerful state enhancer. What I mean is that your breathing provides deep physiological links to your internal states. So when you’re nervous the last thing you want to do is take short, shallow breaths. Quick breaths actually instruct the brain to respond in a “fight or flight” manner. The brain is hard-wired to respond to fast breathing by being on the lookout for an emergency. This is not the most effective place from which to make a smooth putting stroke on that 10 footer.

Tip #1
1) While waiting for your turn to hit stand aside and follow this breathing pattern:
Inhale – 4 counts
Hold – 5 counts
Exhale – 6 counts

Long, deep, slow breaths. This process interrupts the breath influenced aspect of your state and directly instructs the brain to become still. Another adverse affect of nerves is a noticeable loss of feel in your hands. Sometimes you may even wonder if you’re even holding the club!

Tip #2
2) Simply hold a golf ball in your hands. Now squeeze it gently and hold for a few seconds. Then release. Then squeeze once again but this time do so very firmly and hold for a couple seconds then release. Roll the ball around in your hand and make a note of how the dimples feel.

Repeat this sequence 2 or 3 times and you will immediately increase the feel in your hands. Nervousness and shallow breathing directs extra blood to the brain, diverting it from your extremities. By doing applying this simple technique blood will flow back into your hands and improve your feel.

These 2 exercises work quickly. Self talk alone can’t compete with the psycho-physiological intensity of nervousness. Many more inside this Development Training program.

I only endorse something and put my name behind it if I am completely confident that the product lives up to, and/or exceeds, its stated values. So what does that mean to you? It means I’ll share my honest opinion with my readers so they can make an informed decision.

What if there was a way to transform nervousness into a calm, inner confidence? To actually have the onset of nerves “trigger” an inner calm. How powerful would that be in improving your performance?

Check out Wade’s Golf Mental Game Coaching Development Training here…

Enjoy Your Game!
-Michael

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Tip: Free Golf Do-Over

2010-12-31T01:51:46Z

In review of the Mental Keys system, here is a brilliant technique that Michael picked up from one of his newsletter subscribers and why it works. I’ll let you hear it directly from him…

“I was addressing my ball on the back nine this weekend and a group on the hole next to us started their cart and were yelling to each other just as I started my takeaway. I stopped and watched as they continued to behave like they were at a circus with no regard for anyone else and I felt myself becoming angry. As I stepped up to address my ball again, I noticed that I was still thinking about that other foursome instead of the task at hand.

“I put my club back in the bag, took a drink of water, took a few moments to try and calm down, but I couldn’t. Then, for some reason, I visualized the bad shot I would have hit, felt the anger, and even went through the self deprecating event of berating myself for not stopping.

“Then, something just ‘hit me’. I put myself in the mindset of a ‘do-over’. I realized that I had just imagined a bad shot, felt the anger, went through all of the emotions…and realized that it was just imaginary. I had a free do-over. I felt this immediate sense of calm.

“Almost miraculously, I was able to concentrate and get back in my rhythm. I went through my whole routine and stuck the 8 iron to within 2 feet for birdie. What a great technique… I had never done this before, but it sure worked this time. It’s certainly a technique I will use in the future. Maybe it’s something you can use…you probably already know it, but I thought I’d let you know anyway”.

His do-over technique is brilliant and I’m currently applying it for myself. In Chapter 8 of the Mental Keys
“Transforming Emotions” it will help you understand why it is so effective. It will allow you to immediately transform your negative emotional/chemical state into a positive one by changing your focus. It’s amazing how fast you can change your chemistry and increase your ability to perform better at golf by merely changing your focus from a negative situation to a positive one, like the free do-over.

The Mental Keys Golf Improvement System…
by Dr. Michael Anthony
www.mentalkeys.com

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Welcome to The Mental Golf Psychology Review Site

2010-12-31T02:19:51Z

“ Golf is a game that is played on a 5 inch course – the distance between your ears.” Bobby Jones

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Taylor Made

2010-04-24T16:25:50Z

Pinemeadow Excel Hybrid Iron Set

$219.95

Pinemeadow’s hottest hybrids and irons our now available in a complete hybrid set configuration….. The Excel Hybrid Set! Another well-considered collection of clubs made available as a package offer for both hybrid club enthusiasts and players who struggle hitting the lower irons. Building upon the ultra-playable set we have replaced the 3 and 4 (option to include the 5) irons with Excel Strong Hybrids so that you may benefit from the forgiving design of hybrid clubs as well as the feel and control of our popular Excel Mid Launch Plus Irons. Set Features: 3 and 4 (option to include the 5) Excel Strong Hybrid Irons The Pinemeadow Excel Strong Hybrids feature a low profile club face that allows you to generate a higher launch on your shot without having to sacrifice distance. As golf courses get longer and greens get harder the Excel’s put the advantage back in your hands. Read more or purchase separately on the Pinemeadow Excel Strong Hybrids product page. 5-SW or 6-SW Excel Mid Launch Plus Irons: The Excel Mid Launch Plus irons are the next generation of ultra forgiving irons from Pinemeadow Golf. The irons are designed with precision offsets for greater forgiveness and refined with a rounded toe and a large notched cavity. These features allow players to gain control of the iron making it easier to shape shots and improve iron play. Read more or purchase separately on the Pinemeadow Excel Mid Launch Plus Irons product page. This club is available in custom lengths and flexes. Click for more info.

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Golf Shoes

2010-12-31T01:59:02Z

What are the best golf shoes?

What brand and style would be best?

It really depends on your preferences. Ecco is probably the most comfortable, but prices are about $ 160 AVG and go to their high-end shoe, which is the World Class GTX (U.S. $ 400 dollars). FJ is not bad, but their styles were pretty lame over the years 1 / 2 dozen or so. HiTec has decent shoes, but they are not really considered as a brand name as FJ, Adidas, Callaway, Ecco, Nike, etc. It all depends on your price range: – $ 100 or less, go with Callaway, because they have shoes all have good quality guarantee one year waterproof 2, which is usually strong enough important for a golfer – $ 150 or less, go with FootJoy. They are the # 1 shoe in golf and you can get a good waterproof shoe in 2 years this price range, as the model or DryJoy ReelFit (reg price $ 200, but sales are $ 150) depending on its sense of style, Nike also pretty comfortable shoes too – while Tiger Woods (TW) models are large and are guaranteed for 2 years. – Over $ 150, Ecco the whole way. 3 year waterproof warranty and are the best shoes there if you have the dough. I hope this helps! Golf Pro-10 + years

Basic Golf Equipment : Golf Shoe Benefits

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