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Your Golf Score is Determined by Feel
Craig Sigl
Today, let's get down and dirty about the word "feel" and
how I apply it to golf the "Without Practice" way so you can
shave some strokes effortlessly this weekend. You know deep
down if not at the top of your head, that when you feel good,
you will perform or act your best in anything right? Most
of us struggle with our feelings because we just let them
occur based on whatever is happening in our lives at the time.
For instance, if you just get news that you got a raise at
work, you are going to have a great feeling for some time
after correct? This is a great time to get out on the course
as your bio-computer (brain) is now in the optimum condition
for performance. Nobody denies this and yet we go out on the
course and choose to say and do things that destroy our optimum
performance potential.
I am becoming more and more convinced the longer I play this
game that how we "feel" during our round determines the variation
from our average score more than anything else. What I mean
by feel is our STATE. STATE is physiology plus internal representation.
It's short for "state of being." So what if we can do things
to affect our state just the same as receiving the news that
we got a raise at work? We can!
Recently, I shot my best round of the year at 1 under par.
As I teach people to really dig into how they "felt" when
they played a great round, I took notes and after the round
really went over the things I was thinking, how my body was
responding, what did I eat, what were my eyes seeing, etc.
You need this information to help build your optimal state.
Once built, you can rebuild it in the future since you now
have the blueprint or instructions. WE need to pay far more
attention to when we play well than when we don't!
Many golfers completely dissect their rounds afterward replaying
their bad shots over and over in their minds trying to figure
out what went wrong. This only serves to implant suggestions
in our unconscious mind that that is how we play. Not good
for future rounds. Remember: "as a man thinketh, so shall
he become" and other quotes like that? It all stems from the
concept of the duality of our mind; the subconscious and the
conscious functions. Once we get this, we can do a lot toward
the mental side of our game to reach our potential.
I used to take advice from the magazines that say you have
to keep track of your Greens in regulation, how many putts
you had, how many sand saves etc. and then "identify" my weaknesses.
Again, not good since putting the focus on the negatives only
gives them power and the repetition of thinking about them
starts to solidify in your unconscious. Remember that your
unconscious doesn't know the difference between a positive
or negative thought, it just accepts that which it is most
convinced of by repetitive thought or action. And besides,
I don't need a scorecard to remind me of my weaknesses on
a given round. I know what they are after every round and
I can usually pin it down to something I did or didn't do
prior to hitting the ball in my pre-shot routine as I discuss
in my "Without Practice" system.
What you need to start doing right now, next round, is really
zero in on the things that go well. Make little celebrations
in your mind (be humble with your partners) when you hit a
great shot. Turn on the positive emotions and show a big smile
when you sink that long putt! Take mental, if not paper and
pen, notes on anything worth remembering when you do anything
that puts you into that "feel good" state. Create an anchor
that you do every time you hit a shot exactly the way you
planned it just like the ringing buzzer that Pavlov's dogs
were trained to salivate to.
When you have bad shots, immediately analyze it afterward,
see what you can learn from it and then FORGET IT! It will
do you no good whatsoever to hold onto it. You know that your
swing is different from day to day as all the pros also complain
about. So what benefit can be gained from going over bad shots
that could be gone the next day without even trying? Save
the analyzing for the range if you do have time to practice.
If not, then just keep pounding your subconscious with images
of you accomplishing the little things you had trouble with
until your next round. That is the "Without Practice" way.
Copyright 2006 Craig Sigl
Craig Sigl was an average golfer who shot scores in
the 90's for 20 years. At the age of 38, he finally achieved
his goal to score in the 70's and he did it Without Practicing.
Today, he is a Certified Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner
and he plays to a 5 handicap. Find out his methods and get
more free ebooks and articles on golf instruction at http://www.break80golf.com.
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com
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