The month of May is here so I wanted to give you a fun project to take on.  Although it is fun to take on, you must take it on one bite at at time.  What you will see below is the project; one which I took on in Palm Springs last month.

I did find surprising good results however it was hard to do and hard to maintain.  So the key at first is to learn the ropes of the project, have fun with it, and take it one step at a time.  OK? 

Let's get started!

​

Deny What you see is fact

Golf is challenging and the biggest mental challenge is learning to deal with what we see happening in front of our eyes when we play.  Our golf games are changing constantly; just when you think you 'have it' the rug gets pulled out from underneath you and swoosh your next shot is in the trees, a bunker or lake.  

Things are 'appearing' in front of your eyes after every shot, either on the range or the course.  We tend to react negatively to the unwanted things we see.  Essentially a key to golf is - how not to react to the things that are seen and appear before our eyes if they are unwanted.  What I am I suggesting here?

The Suggestion:  "Deny that what you see is the hard fact and you cannot control it".

The habit of seeing only what our senses are allowing us to see and feel renders us blind to what otherwise COULD be seen!   To cultivate what is not seen is the invisible but of course possible.  Our imaginations are the key since the invisible good shot you wish to see starts with your imagination.  Your senses have not yet seen it in your reality, until they do.  You may not like what you see.  So the key is to 'Disentangle' your mind from the evidence of what you see.  Focus rather your attention on the invisible state; the imagination state.  Mentally feeling and believing it will begin to appear and be seen in your reality.

The Premise -  Our 5 senses are showing you the reality you see on the range and the course.  Golfers assign meaning to what they see.  It is time to change the meanings you gave them, disentangle them and begin anew.

Every golfer basically will have a reaction to a shot, give it a meaning to what they see.  Those meanings have beliefs and emotions.  Our senses are confirming our beliefs and our meanings we give what we see.

If golf is reflecting to us through our senses and we give these senses beliefs and emotions the question is; are what we are sensing, seeing and believing serving us?

We are giving it power by what we see.  At times you may feel a victim to what you see and thus believe in that moment.  How do you change what you see? How do you tip the scale in the opposite direction?
What would the ideal state of your golf game be? What do you want it to look like? How do you want to feel about it?

Solution - Deliberate concentration and concerted thought focused in a particular direction.

The key to the solution is to recognize you have created it and if you can shut out what you see and focus your mind in a different direction then that is the starting point to change what you are seeing in front of you.  This takes concerted effort to do but it does work!

On my trip to Palm Springs I worked diligently to fill my mind with premises - that is assertions presumed to be true, because assumptions, though unreal to my senses, if persisted on can start to become hardened into fact and thus they become visible in my reality.

My assertions (desires) were what was needed to start with.  Even when shots went wayward I could have accepted what my senses where showing me.  But because  I know my imagination was the key, I continued to Ignore what I saw and Insisted the new visions in my mind to create the better reality I wished to see on the range and the courses.

I kept telling myself; Imagination is images of the mind expressed.  I kept insisting to create a better reality, the better outcome.  I had to Ignore what I saw.  If you remember my blog I gave after my trip I hinted on what I was working on. 

In that blog I mentioned my first tee shot on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West.  My first tee shot went into the 9th fairway!  My senses showed me the result of a poor swing.  However I refused to assign that shot meaning and give it power.  Rather, I chose to imagine myself paring the hole.

The next shot I faced was hit blind from behind huge mounds and trees.  I hit the shot towards the green and it ended up in the bunker in front of the green.  My senses showed me an undesirable situation and spot to be in.  A deep 6 foot bunker.  However again I refused to give that situation meaning.  I did not Label it as a bad shot, or tough break.  I gave it no meaning and no emotion. 

When I stood over the ball in the bunker I had not had a chance to practice in any practice bunker at the course.  So I had not idea how the sand was in terms of depth of texture.  All I had was my imagination.

I imagined a good swing, I could feel the swing and I could see it in my imagination coming out high and landing softly with good trajectory out of this 6 foot deep bunker.   The shot turned out to be 3 ft from the cup and Par was the result.

Your golf game really is the messenger to you.  It is telling you (reflecting to you) the state of your mind, the state of your being, the state of your beliefs.  That may sound shocking but it is true.  

So you must try to have fun with this process at first. It is very challenging.  

The key to the month of May is to realize that there is no one and nothing to change but yourself!  You have to take responsibility for the golf game your senses are presenting in front of your eyes that also igniting thoughts, emotions and beliefs as things appear.

No matter how convincing the golf game you see from your senses is appearing, there is only the need to change yourself.

More accurately stated: 'Accept the situation you see and move on from it and begin to work in a concerted mental way to change what you are seeing'.

Accept what you see, then steadfastly  and wholeheartedly imagine the next situations you want to see.

I encourage you to read and re-read this article.  You have worked at meditation and imagination so those concepts of imagination are already firmly planted in your subconscious mind.  The first task is to comprehend what I am suggesting and start to apply it.

The easiest way to apply it at first would be putts or chips and pitches.  It could be wedges shots to 100 yards.  It could be try it on 3 holes of a course you are familiar with?  Start slow and small and work your way up.

But the key is the premise you are telling yourself, the assertions and desires you are feeding your subconscious mind.  Realize your imagination is the key and that is what unlocks the door to new creations.  But as you can see from this article, we all have the habit of shutting the door on our imaginations because of the meanings and emotions we have given situations.  
​
Work slowly at denying the unwanted of what you are seeing.  Give the unwanted no emotion, no meaning.
Imagine the new outcomes, shots!  Have fun with it.