golf psychology
 

How does a player know which method to follow when it comes to golf psychology and the mental game?

-Rotella
-Valente
-GolfPsych
-Mumford's ClearKey
-Neil Smith
-Bob Winters
-Patrick Cohn

There are so many great tools out there that I guess its finding the one that is right for you.

I have read as many books on the subject that amazon can offer and I found that GolfPsych (golfpsych.com) was the first to identify why I do things based on my personality. Dr. Graham has amazing insight into how a player can train and prepare for competition based on their own personality traits.

I have recently been put onto ClearKey with Carey Mumford and have found amazing tools for the 'in the shot' style of thought.

From spending hundred$ of dollar$ on books, I found that its very high level, almost lecture style approach to the mental game. Do you really need ot know why Phil hit that drive WAY offline at the 06 USopen? Probably not.

I guess its similar to finding a swing coach... but I think we've seen that swing coach that we wished we avoided.

How have you guys found a mental philosophy that has worked for you?

Bare Bones of The Mental Game
 

The Golfing Machine: Chapter 3 (translating Mechanics to Feels) and Chapter 14 (the Computer and its Five Programming Routines).

For all golfers . . .

For all time.

:salut:

I have heard that before his untimely death Mr Kelley was planning to do more work on the computer section of The Golfing Machine with Dr Mumford.

Make of that what you will.

I have read many of the names on your list above and some more you haven't mentioned.

Beyond Mumford, I would recommend the books by Pia Neilsson (Annika's coach)

!
 

I can only 2. the Pia Nilsson books "All shots must have a purpose" and the complementary book on practice

At the moment I'm reading a new book by a very young canadian: William L. Oliver, who wrote "Law of Focus for Golfers". The concepts in the book are based on the "Universal Law of Attraction", which holds a couple of interesting thoughts.

Homer's Solo Act
 

Homer Kelley never met or considered working with Carey Mumford. Long after Homer's death, Sally Kelley was approached and asked to consider expanding Chapter 14 with Carey's material, but the plan never materialized.

Homer knew that his book identified only the "bare-boned identities" of the subject matter. In fact, his intention to deliver a "one volume Handbook" dictated its extreme brevity. That being the case, he also knew that, "because of questions of all kinds, reams of additional details must be made available -- but separately and probably endlessly" (1-H). [Bold emphasis mine.]

I, for one, am glad Sally decided to respect Homer's wishes.

:salut:

I left Golf54 off the list... I'm almost embarrased. I have worked with a HeartMath provider for a couple years with regards to breathing and how it can help slow heart rate.

I am intrigued by this side of the game and I think it reaches further than TGM (did i say that?).

If I could consider 3 imperatives to playing well from a mental view:

1. accepting the outcome prior to contact (carefree attitude)
2. clear & precise visualization (creative analysis attitude)
3. constant thought checks with the ability to redirect to the positive if needed (internally focused attitude - when needed)

I think most players on sunday are okay with where the ball ends up because they know they can still "be good" from that spot. They are "seeing" the shot before they hit it, whether they consciously recognize it or not. Sometimes you can see it with their eyes (see nick watney on #16 a few weeks back). They are also able to maintain their thoughts and not let a negative or disruptive thought allow it to get emotional and affect their performance. From most of this, it could be broken down to having the right attitude.

30 Second Swing
 

T.J. Tomasi's The 30-Second Golf Swing is a worthwhile read in my opinion! I think he is also well-versed in TGM

Golfers mind
 

I would strongly recomend Rotellas "Golfer's Mind". It is written in a hnadbook fashion and much more instructional then many other mental books. I was really not a fan of putting out of your mind or golf is not a game of perfect, however I think the golfers mind is by far the best mental game book I have ever read

Golf Psychology
 

Hi everyone,

long time reader, first time poster. This is truley one of the best forums on the net for golfers, fans, students, and teachers alike. Thought its about time i put my 10 cents in. On the subject of golf psychology. I've had a long time passion for the mental aspect of golf. Its a mysterious thing the brain, in relation the to golf stroke.

In a physical world if you rush, in invariably leads to less efficiency.:naughty: The same thing is true in the mental world. Stay in the present. Its all gonna get done. Your out to play 18 holes, its gonna happen, so stay in the present. Increase efficiency, increase potential.:happy3:

The classic statement of Performance = potential - interference.

If you keep interference to a minimum, your true potential can shine through.

All this off course is relevant to all things GOLF also, TGM is all about slow deliberate and heavy in the golf stroke. Same thing applies to the computer, but possibly rephrased as be clear, be focussed and trust the programming, for want of better phrasing.

Kieran

Kieran's Komin'
 

Thanks, Kieran, for this first post. Despite the groundwork laid in Homer Kelley's Chapter 3 and Chapter 14, we've barely scratched the surface in the Mental aspect of the Game.

Please . . .

Keep your posts comin'!

:salut:

About 12 years ago I purchased the book 'Mental Management for Great Golf' by Dr. Bee Epstein-Shepherd.

It pretty much blew away the stuff I've read from other books on the mental sde of the golf, giving a lot of *techniques* on mental focus, calming one's self down, and other goodies.

I've forgotten a bit of it since I only read it once and then lost the book in the move, but it was really good. In fact, I use some of the techniques today in order to help lower my high blood pressure.

It's really a book that should be talked about a lot more when it comes to the game.


3JACK

This is one heck of a first post. Love the last paragraph.

OB

A great book 3Jack, I agree. If you can get it, pick it up, there are some great self hypnosis scripts. If nothing else you will learn the classic technique to achieve sleep quickly! However, there are some great things in there that will make you a better player as well.

Thanks for the recommendation. It's in the Queens, New York library system.

"The Inner Game of Tennis," by W. Timothy Gallwey informs readers about Self 1 and Self 2. Please note that this is NOT Mr. Gallwey's other book "The Inner Game of Golf.

Anyway, Mr. Gallwey explains that everyone has a Self 1 and a Self 2. Self 1 loves to tells Self 2 what to do. Self 1 is like a back-seat driver telling you how to drive. Self 2 is the doer and it does everything naturally without any thought on how to do it. For example, if you reach to grab something you don't tell you hands how to extend the arm out to reach for it, you just do it without much thought or effort.

However, when playing golf, Self 1 loves being that back seat driver and it wants to tell Self 2 how to do it. When this happens, Self 1 can be just like Trouble; and you know how Trouble is--always waiting for you around every corner.

Nevertheless, if you pull over, stop and put Self 1 out so that he can no longer be a back-seat driver, Self 2 will be able to do what it does naturally.

The Inner Game of Tennis is a very good read and I recommend it to all who are working on their mental game--please check it out.

Galwey talks about self 1 & 2 in IGOG as well.

LBG Library Addition
 

Ordered my copy today, Richie. Thanks for the idea!

For those similarly inclined, the book is available on Amazon as low as a penny (plus $3.95 S & H). http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...ef=ed_oe_h_olp

:salut:

The inner game of _______ where all excellent reads. Problem is that self 1 gets bored with "see the ball hit the ball" and then does a coupe to take back control.

Just a story that happened to me with "See the ball hit the ball". After reading the Inner game of Tennis. I had first row box seats behind home plate in Yankees stadium. Usually like to keep score during a game, but this time decided to repeat "See the ball hit ball" before every pitch. As the night progressed the ball got BIGGER and also slowed down, even for relief ptichers.

A good friend uses the technique of "I'm going into my private room now, will see you a few moments".

I remember watching "For the love of the game" in which Kevin Costner was a baseball pitcher. He used "turn on the machine" as his mantra to block out external noise. It was his pre pitch/shot routine!

I agree that IGOG is only part way there. Saying back and hit is still a command to 'hit'. Dr Mumford explains that we need self 1 completely distracted so self 2 can execute freely.

Back Hit
 

The only execution of "hit" is in the execution of saying the word. It could easily be replaced by anything else in the english language. My thoughts are the point of that exercise was merely to occupy your gremlins while the body (self 2, computer, etc) takes care of the shot, while increasing awareness.

The whole point is not to put any importance on impact, to merely be aware of when you believe it to happen, or just b4 or just after when it happens, which could also be construed as clubhead blur, could it not???

Awareness exercises here i think help, especially monitoring all things TGM, the brain as well as the golf swing is a complex being, but its runs more efficient when concentrating on one thing at once.

K

I disagree Kieran.

I think the mind functions best when concentrating on one thing but the body works best when it is left to the subconcious.

If you think back to the four stages in learning a new skill you will see where I am going.

Stage 1 - Subconciously incompetent or 'you're s**t and don't even know it'

Stage 2 - Conciously incompetent - 'you know you're s**t!'

Stage 3 - Conciously Competent - 'You know how to do a thing'

Stage 4 - Subconciously Competent - 'You do a thing well without thinking about it'

If we take the example of person learning to drive a car, it is very easy to see the 4 stages in action. When I first learned to drive I had to take quick looks at the gearbox when selecting a gear, now I don't look at all. Ditto with music. A top musician isn't thinking of where their fingers go, they read the note and let their fingers go where they need to go.

It is a common misconception that in golf or other sports one must concentrate hard to achieve optimal performance. Think back to when you played at your very best - either a drive, or a long putt for example. The most common response when someone is asked what they were thinking was 'nothing'. If you have ever been 'in the zone' you will know that is the absence of thought or anxiety that 'gets' you in the zone.

This is why I firmly believe that clear keys are the simplest way to achieve optimal performance on a consistent basis. A clear key should be unrelated to the matter in hand so there should be no instructional aspect to it at all because it gives the concious mind an opportunity to try and steal control.

Me too!
 

Exactly my point GP. That is pretty much what i said also.

k

Apologies Kieran, I thought you felt that you needed to concentrate harder during a golf shot rather than switch off the mental chatter with a distraction.

Are you familiar with Dr Carey Mumford?

Np
 

No problem....

Yeah i came across him a while ago when I was reading some NLP stuff and found his research very interesting. I think we've got similar thoughts on how the brain swings while the body swings, but prob both agree it'd be better if we only swung one! :golf:

:laughing9

No matter how many books I read or specialist I speak with, I always seem to find my way back to NLP. This is really great stuff.

This is the 2. time. Spamming or something even worse?

The space you want to access has been removed, if in doubt please contact the administrator based on my extensive knowledge of chinese.

We prefer english particularly if it makes sense

i've played some ok golf thinking of nothing much & also plenty of rubbish, & i've played some ok golf when grinding like a madman & also plenty of rubbish. I think concentrating hard is preferable to trusting the subconscious for all but the elite. If we have become intensely familiar with a good sound swing motion then we might be able to go auto pilot, but the challenge to my mind is that most of us don't have sound technique & don't know our motions well enough & so concentrating hard becomes thinking about one or two elements of the motion & hoping the rest falls into place, sometimes it does & more often not, but the poor result is not necessarily the fault of the focus.

how we focus might be important, to my mind visualisation is probably the big skill to do with high quality focus & is something that can be worked on & improved, visualisation is subtle & fluid & may be the best way for the conscious mind to direct the subconscious ?