Society is beating the drum of the new norms we all must adhere to ...or else.  Is there a new norm for golf too and if so, what will that look like? The best golf that you have ever played has always been a reflection of what you are thinking and telling yourself.  You have been and will be responsible for what you see when you play each time you tee it up.  The new norm for your golf game can be just a new way to perceive yourself.

Many of my students are emailing me these days giving me feedback on the first days back to the range or the course.  Here is one from this afternoon; "Started playing some and going through our previous lessons has been very helpful.  Amazing how much I have forgotten, especially the basics of set up.  The old swing analysis videos are an eye-opener."

I put that in there just as a reminder that the 'basics of set up as my student Nithin wrote today, never go away.  I will add that most players who send me their swings are using proper camera angles and alignment stations when practicing...so congrats to all who are doing that as we return to golf.

Other comments I get from players is how happy they are to be back out and the appreciation they have for their golf game.  Everyone is having issues no matter who they are after an 8 week lay off from golf.  So if the basics of set up are sound, and your swing a little more back on track, what else can you do?

One of the great reads about how reality is unveiled in front of people (in life or golf) is a book called The Kybalion.  It speaks about 7 Hermetic principles that account for how the universe works.  Almost every religion or mental guru touches on some aspects of this book.   Maybe not directly, but in an indirect way they all do. One of the key aspects  in the book is called The Principle of Correspondence.  This is a huge topic especially for golfers.

Much of what I write about on this blog is based on how the mind works in relationship to golf.  The first Fundamental in The Kybalion is that everything is mental or of one mind. In golf you hear about professionals 'visualizing the shot' they are about to attempt.  Basically they are using their imagination to help the Subconscious mind create a map of what they are trying to accomplish at any given moment.

Thus if you are consumed by fear or doubt or indecision when you are returning to the range or golf course you basically are projecting negative outcomes that will fall your way.  Why is this?

Simply put, the reality you see is a reflection of what you are thinking.  The above picture is a sample of this concept.   The concept is 'As above, so below'.  This is the Principle of Correspondence. The outer world you see when you play golf is a reflection of the inner world of thought that you have.

As a golfer you create mental images of shots that you will attempt.  You may not do it as deliberately as a tour professional like Jason Day or Nick Faldo who I personally saw do this nearly 30 years ago when he was the number one player in the world.  But in some way you do create some image of what you are going to see.  The same concept can be viewed as to what you are 'saying' to yourself before each shot or after I shot you just created.  Here your subconscious is listening again to what you are programming it to do.  But that is a whole other topic.

In golf you have an idea of what you want to create in the reality you see on the course or the range or even how others will view yourself as you talk to them about your own golf game.  The principle of Correspondence is showing each golfer that if they do not like what they are seeing in front of their eyes they are going to have to find out internally what is it that they are telling themselves?  Remember; As above so below! If you are thinking poor thoughts above in your mind, or fear an outcome of a bogey on the next hole or a tee shot putting you in a terrible position for your next shot then this thought pattern will be reflected to you in the reality you will see.  As above so below!

The Principle of Correspondence in many ways is reflecting the 'identity you are' when you play golf.
This may seem odd, how do you explain the tremendous amount of long hitters now and low scorers now who are fearless at age 14-30?  How has that become so popular now and players hitting the ball so far and breaking records all the time for scoring?

What one golfer has led golf to this new horizon?  Simple answer.....Tiger Woods!  No doubt about it, so many golfers of today in their teens to thirties grew up wanting to BE the NEXT Tiger Woods.  What has happened?  An enormous amount of new people playing golf, and golfers who are very fit.  I played today with a student of mine and two others for recreation.  The two others about 30 years old, Extremely fit, one hits it 300-320 yards off the tee constantly.  I asked him what inspired him to hit the ball so far?  He said , of course...Tiger Woods.  He had never thought much of golf until when he was 15 he saw Tiger Woods and his friends were playing golf.  I asked has he always been so fit and buff and he said fitness was always big for him but Tiger made it the norm for him.  

Thus as you can see many of these younger golfers have seen themselves in some way like a Tiger Woods.
Tiger became a beacon for golfers to emulate.  They wanted to hit it further, be stronger, have an extremely strong mind to win!  These golfers have trained their mind to be the next Tiger Woods.  They probably could care less about the Principle of Correspondence but they have figured out that if the 'imitate' Tiger then they may hit if further, be stronger with their WILL to succeed or win.  

These players are consciously projecting onto the their Subconscious mind that they will hit it further, straighter, make more birdies, create new record scores for themselves.  As I have mentioned before your Subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is imagined or what is seen.  It is all a mental program that each golfer has reflected to them.

As a younger golfer how many times did you imagine you were particular pro yourself?  Growing up I used to imagine being Jack Nicklaus.  Every golfer has 'imagined ' their opportunity to sink a winning putt for The US Open or The Masters .  It may seem fickle...but I guarantee you every golfer who strives to be better is imagining something.

Now the task at hand is to determine what to imagine when you return to the golf course this weekend?  
As above, so below.  What your mind visions or imagines and what you tell yourself while you play has a tremendous impact on what you see when you play.

So the basics of the swing are a must yes, BUT the basics of how your mind shapes your reality on the course or range is just as important.    This is why it is great to take lessons and improve your swing but many golfers still do not see the progress they seem to want even though they take lessons and their swing is better.

But is their mind better?  Probably not or at least not as good as it could start to be.  So you need to start this weekend to get your mind to work in your favor.  As above, so below.  What will you tell yourself before each shot?  Will your mind imagine a good outcome or fear a dreaded past poor outcome arising again?

As above, so below.  Could you imagine yourself like a professional golfer when you play? Sure.
Could you imagine you are returning to your old home course where you knew every corner of it and even with a slice you still shot your best scores?  Sure.
Can you imagine new and better outcomes for yourself starting this weekend?  Sure.

Now the question is; "will you imagine new outcomes that are better and more thrilling or desirable"?
Your better....or the old outcomes will still keep on coming at you.  Working the imagination at first is a little odd so have fun with it.  It is exhausting too, especially when playing with other friends.  You literally will be in a type of play on the stage of life.  You will have to 'act as if' you are someone different.  Or act like a more successful player on the course.  Fake it until you make it is a phrase you have probably heard before?

The point to all of this is simple.  What you imagine or think of is being reflected when you play.  Notice what you do think and tell yourself .  Then take on a new role as a New player.  Hey if society can tell you the new norm is to wear a face mask near a golf shop as you check in, then certainly you can create the New Norm for how you mind will lead you to greater outcomes.

Have fun with this. Make your new norm on the course a reflection of your new mind and how it looks at golf.
If you keep looking at your golf game in old ways....old things continue to happen.  So the new norm for you must start to operate as if you are a new person!  What you see on the course is a reflection of beliefs and thoughts you have.  If you have to use your imagination to the most extreme way then give it a try.  Have fun with new norms .... and now in golf really have fun with this new norm of the New You.

Finally courses here in California are opened again! My students are writing and texting me saying they are happy to be back on the links but seeing mixed results as they return to the links.

Those mixed results are basically across the board from fellow pros I play with (though the more reps they get in the faster they improve) to an average 5-25 handicap.  So if you are finding mixed results, you are not alone.  So lighten up and let's not get too down on ourselves, ok?

With that being said, there are the basic checkpoints to look at.  

• Have you had a chance to practice yet?
• Did you practice efficiently  ?
• How focused were you when you played?  If you were half focused you will see half results.
• Do you use a good pre-shot routine for every shot you attempt?
• Do you visualize and believe you will make those 6 foot and in putts?
• Do old past failures of past shots still haunt you in some way on the course?

That last item; 'past failures that haunt you' is a really big one.  As a mental coach at this time of the year normally I am working on these mental areas of players games by May.  However the Covid-19 shutdown of society has put this topic on hold.  But if you played recently you know those old ghosts are still there.

Frankly I am amazed by how many golfers easily skirt by and around this topic.  They assume that past issues, results or traumas you faced before in golf really have no bearing on you today.  Or if so, they have little affect on you.  They have a huge amount of affect on you, more than you know.

As I coach Alchemy of Golf to players on an individual level what I first move these players into understanding of 'self realization'.  This simply is the player understanding how and why they think and react to certain areas.  I then go through a detailed process to break down old habits of belief and thought that clog your mind.  Your subconscious mind runs on habitual programs of reaction then action. Beliefs and emotions feed off each other and golfers spiral into the same action/reaction most of the time.

I provide assignments and exercises at home and on the range/course to assist them to see their past tendencies and then we create a new action plan to overcome past habits.

Any external manifestation of reality has an internal origin, meaning that an idea or life process does not occur without an inner creative force molding and shaping it into its intended external outcome.  

Thus as you are playing now and seeing past events or old shot patterns show up again this season...those external manifestations have an internal origin.  If they keep showing up in your physical reality (no matter how much you practice or how many lessons you take) then your inner creative force is not molding and shaping things to the best that you can.

How we respond to our external environment is a choice of balance between the inner and the outer world, between cause and effect.  As you are returning to the course and you see an external environment you do not wish to continue to, then we have some work to do.

Digging deep to find the cause of these past mental thoughts and habits is challenging.  It is not easy for anyone to look within themselves to see how past programs of thought effect you today.  Those programs were nurtured at a very young age and are hard to break unless you know how to find them, break them down and dissolve them.  Then you can create new more powerful one.

If you are interested in that, write me back here and let me know and I can work with you on that.

Be easy on yourself when you return to the course but be vigilant to see and sense when old habits of fear of an outcome or shot shape you do not wish to appear occur.  When they appeared, what were you thinking?
What was your intention?  Did you have any intention for a shot at hand?

The outer reality you see is a reflection of the inner world you sense and feel and envision.  Tour players do not Visualize a shot for no reason at all you know.  Jack Nicklaus always stated "I never hit a putt I did not think and SEE going into the hole".

Golfers are funny, they think it is all swing mechanics, but there are more spokes on the wheel that turns to make the wheel move.  You are the hub, but the spokes to your golf wheel are many.  Be open to this idea, because if you want change this year....you will have to change mentally also.

Improving your golf swing does come from practice, but proper practice basics are always needed.  I went to the range today to hit a bucket of balls.  Things really look different there due to the Covid-19 situation.  While at the Stadium Practice Range here in San Diego, they took my temperature before I was allowed further in.  Only sold one size of bucket...80 balls.  Required a mask in the shop area, only credit card purchases and the range ball had just been disinfected. 

We are returning to golf but as I have been stating recently, things are not as they were.    Times are changing.  However good golf comes from good practice basics and that NEVER changes.  So as I ventured to hit my medium bucket of balls I noticed a few things while walking to me hitting station with my mask on ( I am allowed to take it off while hitting).

First of all I viewed 8 golfers practicing.  Of those on my side of the range only 3 (including me of course) were using alignment aids (sticks or clubs) to help with proper alignment to the target and ball position in relation to that.  Thus 5 golfers used no aid, they just winged it, perhaps they assume they are always good with alignment?  In my 30 years of coaching watching tour players or well advanced amateur players, EVERY one of them use alignment aids.    I remember asking a European tour player many years ago if he always used alignment aids when practicing?  He inquisitively answer; "Aye, do ya use a key to start your car mate"? My alignment sticks are a must....only a stupid bloke would not use them!"  Ok...point well taken.

The reason alignment aids are so important is that you will swing your club along the direction of where your body is aimed.  As a matter of basic fact, most right handed players are right eye dominant, thus they see things skewed to the right more (they have to see their target line over the bridge of their nose).  For this simple reason, if you are inconsistent on how you align your body to an intended target, you literally are swinging a different direction EVERY TIME you swing the club.  

When you align incorrectly you then look up to see the target and it will be in an inconsistent position each time unless your alignment is consistent.  For example today as I hit some shots getting back to the proper look of where the target is I felt a  little odd when using my clubs on the ground for alignment aids.  I am a left handed player with a dominant left eye so I always see my target further left than is actually the case.  As I go about my diligent work of simple alignment ( so I will not be that bloke the European Tour players suggested) I once again felt uncomfortable.  The alignment clubs made me 'feel' like I was pointed too far right.  

Now over years of this simple conundrum I know that this is the correct feeling, but my mind tells me something else.  When I was in AZ last month playing I had a very good round one day of below par and two more near par.  My play was inconsistent so when I went to practice the first thing I noticed was my old habit of poor alignment too far left had slipped in AGAIN.  This is a recurring theme for me and almost any golfer I know.

​Back to today, I had to adjust the sight line and my feeling of the target line.  In the above picture is my intended target line.  Thus I added another club parallel to that line along my foot line to insure I was aligned parallel to me target line.  The most important step in the set up of the alignment station is setting your intention of hitting the ball on a specific line toward your target.  There are hundreds of videos on YouTube about alignment so Ill leave you to find one you like.   My point here is when you practice make sure you to it efficiently. If you do not, like those 5 players who were not today, then you are certainly wasting part of your effort.  You get a good grade to exercise but you get an F in efficiency.

As I said in my last Blog, the time you will have on the range will be reduced so it is a must to make the most of it.  As I went about my time on the practice mat I then had to insure my ball position was consistent with my irons.   Once again, if you assume it is always correct....that European Tour player should be ringing in your head about how much of a 'bloke' you are.

Finally because getting to see an instructor may be more difficult now with limited space and even many golf training centers closed for now, each golfer may have to film themselves and send this film to their coach.
In my case many of my students here in the San Diego and Southern California area will have the ability send me their swings on video beginning this week.

So here is a simple link from two coaches I know who own Me and My Golf.  Pierce and Andy are great coaches and have a huge following on line and this video link HERE will give you a basic starting point of how to film yourself from face on to a camera or down the target line.

As Jack Nicklaus used to say; "you practice with a purpose and then get away from it".  This meant you practice with purpose, go to the range with a plan of action.  Use the plan, take action and commence and finish it.  Then you are done.  Hitting hundreds of balls is normally useless because you get sloppy, tired, and then way too many poor things can occur.

Get to the range this week or weekend and be diligent with your approach.  If you are a 'bloke' about how your prepare and practice,  then the consequences are your fault.
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Finally the shut down of golf is beginning to see less restrictions and the availability to play golf again is appearing.  However if you have made it to the course this last week you are seeing many changes.  Here in California, facial coverings are required in common areas, carts are not allowed, range availability is reduced or restricted totally.  In time the hope is that things will return to normal......but the days of the old normal are probably gone for the foreseeable future and through the summer and fall.

What does this mean?   It certainly means that you are going to have to make the most of your practice time when you get it.  The demand for golf will be extremely high and for practice facilities also.  But there is only so much to go around.  In the grand scheme of things, everyone is being directed to see life differently.
The Covid-19 situation has restricted many areas of our lives.  These restrictions for many reasons ( I will not go into more opinion) simply have forced every person to review life, how they handle it, and what reactions they have seen, felt and been a part of as a result of this pandemic.

As you are well aware, the restrictions placed upon people have created mental turmoil for family members, co-workers, friends and basically everyone living through this.  So how we have reacted mentally each day has certainly directed the emotions we have toward our daily situation.  Your mind is the fulcrum of how you view and react to the situations you have faced.  

Now with limited practice space and tee slots available, your mind will have to adopt once again.  What does this mean?

Simply put, the old ways of practicing and trying to improve will not be the same.  You have been stretched mentally to accept many new realities.  Some you probably do not like and some you respect.  With golf you will need to find new ways of making substantial change with limited time.  How can that be done?
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I coach many players and some practice more than others, for some the practice time is like a therapy of sorts.  Those players will be hardest hit in the immediate future because of limited space. Others practice but do not make the most of their practice time.  I see many players on there phones talking business while in our training center or on a practice range.  Those days are over!

Then there are the players who do not practice much and they hope things will get better or they thought if the took a lesson it will magically appear on their score card and things improve.  These players see limited success (certainly more limited than possible).

As we have all seen our minds and lives have been programmed to do certain things in certain ways and at certain times.  Habits of action and thought were easily allowed....until lately.  Thus, just as your old habit of going to work, or keeping your job or being free to travel to your favorite pub have vanished, the old habits of golf instruction and preparation and performance will have to drastically change very quickly.

I know this sounds a little harsh, but it really is not.  It is different, just like our stay at home to stay safe for the last 7 weeks has been.  So 'different' is YOUR chance to get ahead of the curve and improve your game in new ways so you can create the improvement you desire.

As you know, your golf swing is a habit, like a computer program that works really on automatic pilot.  Your brain has mental files for your driver shot, your approach shots, wedges and a file on putting.  Literally your mind pulls the file to create each new swing performance.  These are all mental programs that you have a habit for. These habits are Subconscious thought patterns and they occupy most of your mind and daily routines you take for granted (or took for granted until now). How much do these Subconscious patterns take up in your mental computer bank which you call your mind?  The answer is an very high 95%! That's right, 95% of what you have done daily is a mental program, from how you shower , get your morning coffee, go to work (or work from home now) and of course your golf swing.

What is alarming about the fact of the subconscious programs that you have been running is that they were not only thought and action patterns but they also have an emotional reaction to them.  In golf when you hit an errant tee shot off line and into a bunker you will have an emotional reaction to that shot, and circumstance (outcome). This reaction will include fear of not getting the ball out of the bunker, or if you have to pitch out because the lip of the bunker is so high, then you are left with just as long a shot for your next shot.   Your mind tells you that this may lead to a limited outcome potential based on past performance perhaps?  Your past loops of thought and actions will hurl themselves in front of you, which will no doubt have an affect on your next shot.  Especially if you have had less time to practice and prepare due to the current reality we all face.

As you can see you are where you are today based on past emotions, beliefs and thought patterns.  Overall your swing is your swing and with limited availability to override past situations with practice, something UNIQUE will have to start to be used or tried to insure you continue to improve.  Here is where your mind comes in to take the pressure off of you.  Nothing can be created without thought first!  You must first have the thought of what you wish to create and then action can follow.  

Because 95% of your life you see if from past subconscious programming, this means you have 5% now available to use.  This 5% is critical to improving at an advanced rate.....and now you cannot go run to the range and insist change has to come from the swing.  To make significant change to your golf game with your mind there is a great book I suggest you buy ...TODAY.  No it is not mine, it is from a former LaJolla CA native and chiropractor who was in a terrible accident when he was hit by a car while cycling in an event here.

His spine was severed and he was told that a certain low percentage surgery was needed for him to have any chance to walk again.  Even all of his friends in the medical profession told him, you must have the surgery.
But he knew the mind is the key to how the body works so with consulting many mental gurus he figured out how to heal himself and now walks and is a best selling author on how your mind can transform you to create rapid change and improvement in any area of life.....yes golf too!

The book is called Becoming Supernatural, by Dr. Joe Dispenza.  I have read hundreds of books on how the mind can help any being create a greater life or golf game too.  This ONE book is the only one you need to read to learn how to accelerate your improving of golf this year.

I will be elaborating on how to use the principles from the book further these next few months, but for now...with less time to play and practice you have enough time to read this book.  The book ties science to the mental ideas gurus have suggested to people for centuries.  Dr. Joe knew most would doubt his word in the book so he has worked for 20 years on research the science to prove to the nay sayers that indeed you can bridge the two together.

Get this book, and start to learn how the mind can accelerate the change needed that you wish to see in your reality (golf game).  You must first ACT and get the book to understand it, then I will instruct you on further methods I utilize with players.  

The normal you are used to seeing with golf is gone for now, thus you have limited resources to rely on.  Basically the old ways of doing things will not work as they used to. So it is time to change....you have adapted for these last 2 months.  Please continue to stay positive and let us keep adapting because your success depends on it.