I know I can - but still I don't do it.

It's already there, in a pill form...Beta-blockers. Nick Price was/is hopped up on them. Basically is suppresses the adrenalin. Who knows who else in on them...they are perfectly legal as forms of drugs to help hypersensitive and heart attacks. Goosen comes to mind as another possible patient. But this is just a guess...the fact that nothing excites this guy screams of something going on. When he won the US Open, I think he raised his arm...up...and might have cracked a smile. Pretty good for him!

(just being silly btw, I love Goosen.)

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

OK,

be aware of thought is continued with an idea that you are not your thoughts. You do not need to do, what you fear most. BUT you might ask you self from where that thought comes from. - And if you cannot shake it. You can but your fear in to perspective - like are you a horrible person, if you hit your ball to a water hazard.

(In Karate I do not have to think about any technique. It just happens. I might check out opponents typical moves before my match, but when in competition, I don't look for clues when to attack or what the other person might do. I'd be too late to react.

In golf I work the putting green same way. I just walk around it and let my hands work. If I set up in a wrong line when putting, I feel my hands turning my putter to a better line.)



I did some concentration exercises last winter. I think you can practice concentration with out even playing golf. It just like doing strength training, but working your mental abilities. (Just looks like I'm not "strong" enough.)

To be aware of not being strong enough and that I noticed some key faults on my swing, is a good development. Now I have something to focus on. I can start working to improve. (After a while I will notice more things to improve - and this will never end - but that is golf.)

Ian wrote about walking on a 10 feet high beam and I started to think what way would I practice that.
a) I'd start from the ground and lift the beam little by little so that eventually it would be 10 feet high.
b) I'd do easy things first - like drink half a pint and then continue to more difficult - like hole pint :-)
c) I'd learn to fall down so that I do not get insured. (Or use some protection while training.)

What would this mean in mental training in golf?
a) Start from little stress and ingress it - but the technique has to be good enough
b) I do not know if I should do a full motion swing - half 50% - or just hit the ball a shorter distance and let unconscious work things out. Often half speed leads to not hitting through - not shifting my weight or pulling a shot to left. ( "b" might mean that I need to practice with shorter clubs and move to longer ones? I'd like to get more accurate with all clubs.)
c) Making is save to fall? This would mean a very strong self image. "I am not what I do". It does not set my value. I am not a better person, if I win or loose a competition.

I have used "unconscious me" when putting. Some days it works fine, but it's very easy to break the concentration. "Zombie" might do the trick, but I think there must be some thing else. I would not go to "not feeling", but I'd like to go to feeling save to make or miss. (I accept that I can't make all my shots or puts, but yesterday I scored 111 and that's more than 20 shots too much.)

Hannu

IMO - The mind is very powerful. If you "tell" it something, then in many cases it will try to "do" what it has been told.

"Just looks like I'm not "strong" enough." This is a bad thing to tell your self, because it can lead to doubt and a lack of trust in one's self.

Tell yourself that you are great and improving in everything that you do and you will find that this will occur.

Note that you do not have to tell everyone that you are great, because that could seem arrogant.

I noticed that you used the negative form of a lot of sentences. Get the "nots" out of your vocabulary (and life), and tell yourself who you are. It is very difficult for your mind to determine who you are if you are only telling it what you are not ... I am not 3 feet tall ... this is ambiguous because it leaves and infinite number of possibilities. In a lot of cases, because it is so ambiguous the mind begins to focus only on what you are not.

Put into a golf context: If you are about to tee off and you are only thinking "don't put it out of bounds". There are zillions of other places to put the ball but the mind cannot determine which one is the correct one because it has not been told, so it focuses on the one place where you have told it not to go. What usually happens?
Great golf course designers know that this happens and sets up the course accordingly ... island greens ... tee shot over 100yds of water ... water or bunkers down the right side of the landing area.
Once you pick your target there is nothing between or around where you are now and that target, because it does not matter and the ball will fly there. 100yds of water is irrelevent when you have a 200+yd drive. Island greens don't matter because you know how far you are going to hit the ball (make sure that you remind yourself of this - "I hit my 8 iron XXyds").

Charles

Hi,

consciously I am not afraid to hit - let's say a water hazard. Most of the times I am very surprised when my ball flies somewhere I did not mean it. I register the places where not to go and aim to the "middle" - and I am very sure I'll manage - but seems like my unconscious me is doing other things.

This is why I think it's more important for me just to be aware of my thoughts - and also after a shot, evaluate what happened. I have noticed that often a bad swing is due to not swinging through - kind of being to save ( or like Ian wrote - not letting go. This does not mean that I would be thinking of swing technique. I might just be staring at the ball, very sure of making a perfect shot.)

It's good to think of positive things, but it should be based on something real. (It's very difficult to be positive when your score is more than 30 shots over your best round.) BUT this does not mean that I was angry or in a bad mood, when playing. I was disappointed AFTER the round. I don't keep score during the round.

I do not think of my self as a negative person. ( I might be expecting too much from my self.) In golf you can make a good shot as long as you are playing. I know that I am one of Finland's fastest learners in golf. (Last year I dropped my hcp from 47 to 13.) I know I am good - but this does not mean that I don't want to be better.
(BUT I do have a habit of think of "not" and "do nots" - as looks like Charles does too. My assumption from the way Charles interpered my writing. It's just a Western way of looking at the world. This is OK - and works fine. Positive thinking is also OK. It make ones life easier:-)


I tried a system of positive play for 2 months. I just "collected" positive emotions from my rounds. I did not keep score - and I had fun playing. This is not bad - but my score stayed in the same level. (I think this was an important step - as I was trying too much earlier - and that's also something to watch out for.)

BUT I think it's time for me to be critical again. - Or if not critical then more aware of my doing. I need to listen more to my body and learn from my golf so that my game will improve.

I think it's bad, if you start telling your self that you can't think this or that. That might lead in to serious problems - at least for me. I can not master my thoughts. They come and go. I just would like to be aware of my fears before a swing - not after a bad shot. Kind of "OK, I must have been careful not to hit there, as my ball seems to fly there."

"I do have a habit of think of "not" and "do nots" - as looks like Charles does too"

Ha ha. It is very hard to convince someone to not say not without using the word not.

I started to listen to my body ( or it might be IMO) about one month ago. During this thread I realized it. I have done some exercises like just feeling my hands and wrists during chipping or pitching. During an actual round I have started to notice my end position. My hands might turn the club face closed to prevent a slice - and this is not something I had programed or even thought of.

I think I will build my trust to my game by learning more to feel my swing. I think I need to move before my swing so that my shoulders feel relaxed and I need to feel my body weight as I set up for my swing. To feel me balance and to feel the club is important.

I am not sure what my swing thought should be - if any. Purpose of the swing should be to move the ball with the club face - not to do a swing. (I've been doing a swing, but when putting - my goal has been just to drop the ball in the hole. Maybe my goal from a fairway should be just to move my ball to where I want it to be for the next shot?)

BUT not thinking of where the ball will be - but concentrating on moving the ball. Not being in the future or passed - only purpose to move the ball with my club face.

I don't know if this works, but I'll start by getting a better control/feel for my swing. This will come from relaxed swings and good contact to ball. A lot of shots at the range and also easy - low stress rounds -with lots of good shots.

I also need to practice to handle stress for competition. This should be a separate exercise - but can be during a round. I need to compete against something - like against a course's par - but I need to have something important in stage to build up stress.

So receipt is:
a) easy playing to get self confidence
b) competition and stress to learn to manage it

And this can be done during the same round - I just need to separate them.

Today i did a nice birdie on a par 5 ( 551 m) that has a green on an island.
None off my golfing buddies remembered seeing a birdie done there, so one promised to buy a beer to anyone who make a birdie. AND I did.

This was a small competition for me during a practice round.
(Well two first holes were not so good - again - but I'll nail them next time.)