The picture above shows our location....August is setting on us. As this month comes to a close I would say each of you is slightly wiser about yourself and certainly more Self Aware than you were 30 days ago. As each of you has seen, diving into just a pre-shot routine and what it consists of takes work and patience. The patience comes from having to first find the steps to create an efficient routine to start each shot. Does the routine really matter? Well from what I have seen ( personally and with students) it really does. One of you in the group shot 76 at Torre Pines this month and that player attested it to their ability to better focus on the shots during the round. This particular player is only 13 yrs of age. Her mother stated in a text to me "Wow, this frickin routine s**t works! Yes, it does work and it takes discipline to work at it as you know. It is hard to do every time since you are not used to it. But the reason we started to work on it is because I wanted to show you the power of your mind. You may only see a glimpse of what the mind can do for you in golf here as August comes to an end. That glimpse will get stronger and stronger, though each month brings new challenges in the program. So what happens in September? Our next step is to understand more about the mental aspect of the game and learn the ins and outs of the round. We all have good shots, we all have bad shots. Look at Rory McIlroy just this last week. He starts 6 shots back in the FedEx Playoff and then triple bogies the first hole. He said he tried to steer his first tee shot in the rain at East Lake CC in Atlanta. It did not look good for him. But at the end of the tournament he beat world number one Scotty Scheffler by a shot. He was the only player in the current format to not be in the top 4 before starting the event and win. Rory had many highs and lows, and of course champion golfers manage those really well. Golf is very mental and frankly most golfers give that phrase lip service. Mainly because they do not understand the mental game so much and they are the mental victim to their mind thinking the swing is all there is. Champions know this is not the case. As my Regional Manager has stated numerous times when reflecting on his years on the Dakota Tour; "When your back is against the wall and you need birdie to make the cut or make a check and pay your lodging you find out just who you are". As each of you has experience with creating and evolving with your pre-shot routine you now know you are expanding mentally. Congratulations on that! I basically gave you a task and some guidelines how to create and use the routine and you are evolving to appreciate it. The teacher appears when the student is ready. I think you are ready for more. Your pre-shot routine has shown you that your mental awareness and intention has much more to do with a good shot than you may have known. In the book The Kybalion it states; The ALL is MIND, the Universe is Mental. The book suggests that this phenomenal world we live in is simply a Mental Creation of those who are living it day to day. The book I suggested you start reading; Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza certainly tells you the same thing. This mental reflection of the book (The Kybalion) suggests that if everything is tied to the mind and it somehow is assisting your golf game or not. Your mind can work to help you or it can unfortunately work against you. You need the Keys to how the mind is setting the stage of what you see on the course. This program you are involved in with me is centered around understanding "Master Key" principles that assist you on the course or not. Two topics I want to start with September include basic mental principles that you have heard of probably and may have tried to work at. One is the Law of Vibration ( or Attraction) and the other is the Law of Polarity. If you have ever read the book "The Secret" or seen the movie (documentary ) about it then you are aware Vibration is everything. What is vibration? In short your vibration is your emotions and feelings you have at any time you are playing golf. Your emotions are like a magnet that 'attract' outcomes to you. Simply put, if you have just made birdie you feel great, and if you just hit a tee shot OB and took 8 on a hole you feel much less than great. I'll leave that work up to you; but we know it is not great. Thus in golf your emotions are always changing so it is up to you to observe your emotions as you play. There is that word again; OBSERVE. Yes you had to observe yourself while creating the pre-shot routine and if you were good at observing the routine on the course you also would have observed and felt your emotions for each shot! Self awareness never goes away in this program. If posture, grip and alignment are the cornerstones for a golf shot. Guess what? Self Awareness is the cornerstone to good mental golf habits. Which brings me to the next law. This one you know but probably do not realize how much it affects you on the golf course. With playing partners at your side, you IPhone going off and the slow group in front of you this next law gets lost very easily. The Law of Polarity shows us that everything is dual, everything has poles or opposites. Like and unlike are the same, opposites are identical in nature but different in degree. This principle tells us that everything has two poles. It explains that in everything there are two poles or opposite aspects and 'opposites' are really only two extremes of the same thing. To illustrate: Heat and Cold although opposites, are really the same thing, the differences consisting of merely degrees of the same thing. Look at your thermometer and see if you can determine where heat and cold begins?! The two words simply reflect varying degrees of the same thing and that 'same thing' that manifests is a variety of temperature. The same could be said about darkness and light, where does darkness start and light end in a day for you? In golf the Law of Polarity is reflected in your observation of a shot you have made or you are about to make. If you are 125 yards away from a target and one of your clubs carry's 125 yards then you would see that as a perfect distance. If you were at 131 yards and 'in between clubs' how would you label that shot and distance to yourself. Here in September we will have to become aware of how we react to distances you face. The Law of Polarity also insists you observe how you react to a score just made? As your swing improves your expectations change. Three years ago if you made bogey on one of your nemesis holes you play you might have been happy with it. Three years later you may be disgusted with it! So the Law of Polarity is there to help you navigate the good and bad shots. How does a bad shot affect your Vibration for your next shot? Would it hinder your pre-shot routine since you were rattled at the last holes poor outcome? Remember this is a journey and digging into how your react to shots, what you expect out of shots and becoming Self Aware of how you handle situations is very humbling. The good news is that the more self aware you are you then will become more empowered at overcoming obstacles in the round. I think everyone is off to a good start and this journey should be fun. It certainly will be expansive for yourself and your mind. As humans we always are seeking to expand to new levels of achievement. I reflect that to players in the illustration of your golf game sits on a shelf on a wall. If there are 10 shelves and the top one is the pinnacle of where you see yourself going (for now since you are always expanding) then you are one of the 9 shelves below it. That is fine, you are where you are and how you react to that has a lot to do with your performance on the course. You can create a pre-shot routine and we have set the baseline for the mental creation of shots. Here in September will will observe your emotions during practice and how the pendulum swings with polarity as a tuning vessel to see how you react and what you expect. The holiday weekend is coming up so I hope you all have a great holiday. If you have not read Dr. Joe Dizpenzas book, it is a must so try to slip in the first 4 chapters over this holiday weekend. As always.....'Keep it in the Short Grass'.
0 Comments
My 4 day Callaway golf event I wanted to pass on to you some personal feedback from my Callaway Golf West Coast Master Professional Tournament. This event was extremely fun and a reward for Callaway Staff professionals who perform at a high level for Callaway golf.
Personally I have not played in a multi-day tournament for over 10 years. As a coach for GOLFTEC it simply has not been in my cards. Many of the players who I played against (from 5 different states) play more competitively than I do. So I was not comfortable at first in the event; but once you thrown into the fire you quickly adjust .....or get consumed and die. The event consisted of qualifying for match play and then the match play itself. Thus I qualified for the match play and then had to play 5 different matches over two days at The Farms and Coronado Golf Course. The two courses are completely different. The Farms is a top rated course in California, very tight and very demanding. Oh and the greens stimp to 13 (stimp is a reading of how fast the greens run. Most greens in the area are 9-10. So 10 foot putts at the Farms role out 3 feet longer). I played with Will OFarrell, a fellow GOLFTEC professional. Will at the age of 19 tried to make it on the Canadian PGA tour and had a full ride scholarship to Duke for golf. So he is a very good player. But he has not played in competition much so rust is on the game for him as with me in that regard. Why am I sharing this with you? Simply put, I wanted to share with you what I experienced in the matches. Each match you are paired with other players in your bracket. If you have played in match play then you know it is very ebb and flow and if you are up for a hole it means nothing 2 holes later because you could have lost those two and now be down. So from a swing standpoint I had prepped for the event just on basics of the swing for three weeks. Posture, ball position, alignment. Before we played both Will and I looked at each others swings and gave each other one thing to get better at for the event. Once in the event I was initially paired with a few pros from Hawaii. They were good players and we as a team never seemed to take advantage of making birdie so we lost 1 down in the 9 hole match. Basically I would say that playing matches against fellow coaches at GOLFTEC is nothing like these matches. Our intentions for most shots were timid and since I have not done this in over 10 years it really showed up under real pressure. Next we played two pros from Los Angeles, one (Rory) is the head pro at Los Angeles CC, home of the US Open next June. He is a big strong Irish guy, big Irish accent and hits it a MILE! Very intimating. In that round I was indecisive on many shots and putts and my playing partner hit two tee shots out of bounds so big pressure was on me. I kept the ball in play and made pars but they made birdies and we lost 3 down. The 3rd match of the same day we played against 2 pros from Palm Springs from Indian Wells Resort. They were happy to be out of the heat of PS but The Farms was cart path only and it was our 3rd nine of the day. My phone said I had walked 5 miles to this point and by the end of the day I had walked 8 miles in tournament play on a course I had never played before. I was extremely tired and had 9 holes to go...too bad Al! However as I stood on the 7th tee, our first hole in the shotgun start I basically said ...enough is enough. I had figured out that several things kept happening:
So on that tee I told him I am taking charge and we are walking, talking thru every shot but will be quick about it. I also determined that my pre-shot routine ( which was good for the most part) had to be cleaned up and have EXACT INTENTION for EVERY shot. Next thing you know, we are up 3 after 4 holes. On the 5th tee the Head Pro from Indian Wells calls me the Terminator because I kept hitting high irons inside 5 to 15 feet. I had a very determined visual picture of shots. They varied such as seeing in my minds eye a towering high tee shot or landing on the shadow of the pin in the afternoon sun on the par threes that were 165 to 185 yards and stuck on small hills on the greens. We got a little ahead of ourselves and lost a hole but the last hole I hit a tee shot on the par three of 147 yards to 3 feet and we won 3 up. The sun was at our back and I just focused on the shadow of the flag and it fell right on it. Tom, the pro at Indian Wells walks off the tee and states 'the terminator has struck again'! So we salvaged day one and day two at Coronado we took the same recipe to our 4th match. This match was against two local pros who run the First Tee Programs so they know of me because I coach a very talented young player named Ava and we talked about her a lot on the course. The last thing I needed was for me to lose to them so I was very determined not to let that happen. On the par 3 ninth hole at Coronado it was a back right pin, 175 yards and I hit it to 12 feet and made the birdie...we were up 2 after 3. We won 3 up and we were confident but still one match to play. While on the course we run across other groups we had played and they are paired with new players. The 2 Palm Springs guys were so upset from our drubbing of them that they ran over the Irish duo from Los Angeles. Match play is very unique and your last shot once it is over means nothing. Our last pairing was against a pair of pros from Orange County and they did not have a good reputation from what every other group was telling us. It is a Callaway event to reward us for our work for Callaway, so the spirit of the competition was very good for the 1st four matches, but not these guys! Most groups had lost to them and as it turned out since the matches are so ebb and flow we were within one shot of the lead starting the final match. I certainly did not play well, basically when the pressure gets on I am not used to this so when I had a birdie putts I was timid and only made pars. We as a team did good things to keep even and the match ended tied but we should have one. When it ended we had lost by one point and the team from SD that we had drubbed got into the final shootout ( the picture above) on the 9th hole at Coronado. The first two matches when we were not focused like the last 3 had cost us a point or two and thus we placed 2nd. But I did get the the podium to accept my check and give the IRS my information....so overall I was very pleased at how I did. Hey I never play in events like this so tonight as I write this the day after it ended I am still physically and mentally exhausted. Some good side notes, since this is a networking event also. The two pros from Palm Springs just turned out to be a blessing for you and me. Last week I was trying to set up and end of the program retreat in Palm Springs. The Waldorf resort that hosts the Pete Dye Mountain and Valley course I was trying to book but had little luck. So on the 2nd hole while playing with Tom and Joe it dawns on me that this is no coincidence that I am seeing them now. I chit chat about hosting a weekend there and hosting a seminar for our group and they are all in for it. As we were winning they did say, if you want that group outing we expect you to lose to us....just kidding . So the last weekend in January will be our weekend retreat for our group at Indian Wells . Two days of golf on their two courses and I will arrange to get us staying at either their resort hotels ...plus we will have an Saturday evening seminar between rounds . So I am really excited about that! I will give you more about that in the future. To recap the Tournament for myself I found I had to dig deep at times and got mad at how I let things mentally slip. The mad feeling was not a negative one, it adjusted my lack of focus and I became sharper. I hit bad shots of course and I hit really great shots of out nowhere so that was really great to feel and experience. My pre-shot routine was extremely important during the event. It kept me on auto pilot as I stood behind the ball to pick a mowing stripe in the fairway to land my tee shot on or the shadow of the flag. That routine allowed me to have intention for every shot. Granted some intentions were stronger than others especially when you are chatting on a tee with the first four groups ( no chatting to that last two...ugh). So as you are working on your routine now just finding the basics of the routine we will evolve to intention of each shot. Belief in each shot, conviction. How to respond to a poor shot and how to not over respond to a good shot. We have lots of work to do...and your mind must be focused on the shot at hand not the swing. Your confidence will always ebb and flow as will your determination from shot to shot. But remember, this is a journey not a race. Keep working on your routine and notice what you are thinking and feeling and how visual you can be or how much you can commit to a shot. I look forward to September. I will ratchet it up so your routine should be very consistent by now after having a month to come up with what you do. When my Terminator self showed up, good things happened. But he was not there the first two matches and that cost us. Next year the Terminator will be there EVERY Match! Pre-Shot Routines have startedI have begun to meet with players to see what there current pre-shot routine looks like. I must say, my first two students have been very diligent in their preparation. Evolving to create your routine certainly is an evolution. You have to start somewhere and adjust from there. That is why I state you cannot get it wrong at first. So what has impressed me so far with the two players I have seen so far? The discipline they have in writing out what they do and the routine in which they have started. Both players have written in their journal what they are doing in the routine step by step. The player you see above here in the photo even went so far to state how he stands behind the ball. Notice his left foot is forward of the right and the club to his side. From there he steps into the shot. Tonight when I met him the steps were slightly inconsistent and he quickly decided that from where he would stand he will take 3 steps to the ball and take his stance. Each player as they take the stance is unique so I am fine with how you do it as long as it is consistent and it serves you well for setting you square into your stance ( in regards to your target line). As I meet with every player we will create a flow to how your routine works. Basically at first is a blue print for a building lets say. This initial blue print will evolve to have certain aspects that will enable your performance to be more consistent when you play. In the routine I think you will find 'ah ha' moments like both players have found so far. Each player is unique but I am trying to unlock certain doors to free your mind to see how you can create each shot. Your first steps at this really is the foundation to your mental game. As we move to September we will build from this baseline we are creating and set a solid first floor in your building of a good mental mindset to play more consistent golf. Certain words I will use in our first meeting about your routine ( I can't spoil what those are) but I can assure you each step along the way new words and phrases and CONCEPTS will be added to help make your mindset stronger and stronger. It is a slow process but each step has a purpose and you must find the value in that purpose before I can move you to the next one. Remember these are building blocks; one on top of another. So be patient but above all else at first be diligent and journal what you are doing. I am really happy with what I am seeing thus far and I look forward to seeing the rest of you very soon! The pre-shot routine is such a huge part of the game of golf. Most golfers give it lip service. However this routine is the cornerstone of the beginning of my Mental program you are part of. In my initial conversations by phone or zoom or in person with the members of this program; everyone has something in common. You are being challenged to find out more about yourself and your self-awareness in your golf game. To recap what our initial conversations are about I will list multiple ideas and topics I am wanting you to discover about yourself and how good you are at mental preparation before the shot. I will add here that this is just the first step in this journey, each month we are building on this cornerstone. So this is like mental golf 101. Our 6th month is mental golf 301. So let's review what everyone is working on starting this the first week of the program:
This is where your many swing thoughts slip in when you play. Your mind is searching for things and it knows you are worried about your swing so it is saying; "hey lets tuck that elbow in or tilt your shoulder here". When you create a pre-shot routine it is taking your mind to a good habit so you can focus on the target. Visualize the shot, create intention of the shot at hand. Find belief in the shot you are going to make, feel the right emotions before each shot. I think you can see where I am going with this? As you know you play your best golf by feel and with confidence. That is easy to say and hard to do. But the swing you have on any day is the swing you have. If you are fading the shot more on the range before a round or drawing it more you will have to take that shot to the course. So many golfers want to try to change things on the course, Your practice of the swing is where you change things and that is not done before your golf round! Practice the mechanic on the range or in a simulator . On the course you must "Swing your Swing" as Arnold Palmer has always stated. Most players on tour hit a fade not a draw. So the shape of the shot not what makes or breaks a player. It is the consistency of the shot making that makes the game. But in this program it is the consistency of what your mind is doing and is your mind working as efficiently as it could? Remember this is your journey...bumps are always in the road. Golf is never perfect. So swallow that pill with a smile. I love doing mental coaching because I want to empower you with good mental habits and teach you mental tactics to make you more powerful within yourself when you play. The big reveals are coming....but we must start at the beginning. A good golf swing starts with a good grip. A good mental golf game starts with a good pre-shot routine! I can't wait to see you on the range this month! There is an ancient book which covers mental insights to life in general. It is called The Kybalion. The Kybalion is a compilation of Hermetic teachings. These same doctrines are based on principles originally explained by Hermes Trismegistus. The Kybalion provides a Master-Key for students to unlock the fundamental and basic teachings of esoteric philosophy.
The book includes many mental laws of thought. Here are samples of what the book is trying to suggest to the reader:
As a golf instructor it is one thing to suggest mechanics of the swing and changes that are needed in a players swing to improve their ball striking. However after I became very comfortable with how the body is in charge of the swing I found frustration in coaching because a student gets too wrapped up in the swing. There is a fine line from swing mechanic to mental fortitude that can improve a player. Most golfers who wish to really improve are obsessed with the swing and they literally think that once the swing is fixed all will flow as needed. As you read the above paragraph you know the swing is never conquered and it is a journey to create a better swing and better on course performance. But to play better golf a player must get out of their own way. You (reading this) need to understand the your subconscious mind works to create habits in the motion which it knows can improve your performance. But the mind has many folders to it and it is not interested in looking to new folders to add to its data base unless it has proof that a new idea/concept will indeed benefit you. Golf is very mental. The first principle in the book The Kabalion is called the universe (the All) is mind. It suggests that everything you see is mental. Your mind is setting the stage for how you see things, what perceptions you have about what you see(The Law of Polarity) and how you react to things you see and experience (The Law of Rhythm) . Most golfers are not interested in these deep subjects because the swing itself is so deep and hard to learn and if you add more ingredients to the knowledge needed; then it can become too much to handle. Observation is always needed when you golf. What did that shot feel like? Did you have an intention of the shot you were about to make? Did you feel and believe you could create the shot? How did you react to a shot just made? Most golfers do not reflect on the ideas that The Kybalion suggests. The pendulum of how you feel when you are playing is ALWAYS swinging. It swings in both directions....I feel great, awesome shot. I feel horrible since that was a bad shot. Golfers are making decisions on past habits on how they react to shots. Those past habits have an electrical charge to the mind and your mind becomes accustomed to it. Your mind needs its fix on past habitual feelings and reactions because it has been programmed that way for many many years. So overcoming past conditioning needs two things. First, the understanding that you are a creature of habit. And the habit has its arms around you and it creates triggers in emotions. Second these past habits can be changed. But they would only be changed if you were able to recognize them. However golfers recognize the swing and what is happening with it. They know the mind is doing its job to help learn the swing. But the mind has many more duties that can create faster rates of improvement in the swing. To accomplish this, first you must understand the mentality of life and how everything you create is starting with your mind. My Player Development Mental Program is set up to open doors to understanding of how you are creating your reality on the golf course. You need a good swing that if for sure. But there is no perfect swing and tour players do not win all the time. With 156 players in each tournament only one player wins. The major winners may not totally understand The Kybalion but they have come to mold their mind to allow them to win. It is time to mold your mind to create better outcomes for your golf game. The only way to start is for you to see what your mind is thinking and telling yourself? Such as with a pre-shot routine. That routine is very mental....so this is where we are going to start. I want to know what your routine is and what you are telling yourself or thinking before and during shots. During practice, or when you drive home from the course. Everything is mental.....the world you see is a reflection of what you are thinking, feeling, believing and expecting. I am looking forward to our journey together....and I am looking forward to the expansion of understanding of who you are when you play. So let's get started! |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2023
Categories |