Improve your golf with hypnotherapy
Is your golfing game a bit below par?
Are you pinning your hopes on luck rather than judgement?
Golf is a fascinating sport. You alone play against yourself and the course. Even though you understand the game and may study video’s and watch the professionals it can be a challenge personally getting from tee to green without becoming frustrated and irritated, one bad shot and your confidence is gone and your whole round potentially ruined.
Do you talk to yourself when you’re playing golf? It would be most unusual if you didn’t. Self-talk, otherwise known as ‘internal dialogue’ or intrapersonal communication, is one of the main functions of our conscious mind. It allows us to make sense of our conflicting thoughts and to express our ideas and feelings to ourselves and to maybe work out the best solution to a problem. Most of the time we talk to ourselves internally and sometimes, particularly after a bad shot, with those nearest to us. We then struggle to compose ourselves, blaming ourselves for the shot we have just missed and carry that ‘feeling’ till we line up at the next hole. What a waste of energy!
Self talk really comes into its own when we are internally analysing and evaluating complex choices in our lives. A good example is when you are starting your pre-shot routine and deciding on the type of shot you’re going to play. This is where the conflict jumps in...one voice saying use a driver, the other voice challenging this decision as you chat to yourself for as long as the time you have available. This is perfectly normal and no, you are not going mad!
Whatever we consciously think about our unconscious mind does it’s best to deliver for us. Self-talk is the most powerful and influential mechanism for conscious thought. If you talk to yourself about the bunker you’re trying to avoid, rather than the green you should be aiming to hit, your unconscious is likely to put you in the bunker! It’s like the old story of ‘don’t think of a grey elephant with pink spots’ so what do you do....think of that very thing. It’s therefore key to think and talk to yourself positively about your target and your desired shot – the one you visualised earlier, perhaps.
What you say to yourself after you hit the ball is just as important as what you say when you’re hitting the shot. Internal communication has a really significant impact on your mood, attitude and effectiveness and your state, and also on those around you. Becoming angry is only going to make you feel bad and potentially sap your energy. It also means that you’re likely to relive that same feeling the next time you play a similar shot and consequently hit an equally bad shot. It’s important to learn from a bad shot, as long as you do it with a positive intention. It’s about hitting the reprogramming button and putting the recent shot behind you.
Positive self-talk is key. So talk positively to yourself about the shot you’re about to play. One of the best ways to do this is to talk to yourself about the shot you want to make, visualise your target and the shot vividly and think about your visualised shot as you hit the ball. It’s difficult to allow negative self-talk to enter your head when you’re focussing completely on something positive.This approach also works with your post shot routine, especially after you’ve hit a good shot.
Relish your good shots, feel really good about them, (anchor the feeling if possible, (this can be done via your hypnotherapy session) review them vividly in your mind and tell yourself how fab they are. This will have a powerful effect next time you approach a similar shot.
Are you pinning your hopes on luck rather than judgement?
Golf is a fascinating sport. You alone play against yourself and the course. Even though you understand the game and may study video’s and watch the professionals it can be a challenge personally getting from tee to green without becoming frustrated and irritated, one bad shot and your confidence is gone and your whole round potentially ruined.
Do you talk to yourself when you’re playing golf? It would be most unusual if you didn’t. Self-talk, otherwise known as ‘internal dialogue’ or intrapersonal communication, is one of the main functions of our conscious mind. It allows us to make sense of our conflicting thoughts and to express our ideas and feelings to ourselves and to maybe work out the best solution to a problem. Most of the time we talk to ourselves internally and sometimes, particularly after a bad shot, with those nearest to us. We then struggle to compose ourselves, blaming ourselves for the shot we have just missed and carry that ‘feeling’ till we line up at the next hole. What a waste of energy!
Self talk really comes into its own when we are internally analysing and evaluating complex choices in our lives. A good example is when you are starting your pre-shot routine and deciding on the type of shot you’re going to play. This is where the conflict jumps in...one voice saying use a driver, the other voice challenging this decision as you chat to yourself for as long as the time you have available. This is perfectly normal and no, you are not going mad!
Whatever we consciously think about our unconscious mind does it’s best to deliver for us. Self-talk is the most powerful and influential mechanism for conscious thought. If you talk to yourself about the bunker you’re trying to avoid, rather than the green you should be aiming to hit, your unconscious is likely to put you in the bunker! It’s like the old story of ‘don’t think of a grey elephant with pink spots’ so what do you do....think of that very thing. It’s therefore key to think and talk to yourself positively about your target and your desired shot – the one you visualised earlier, perhaps.
What you say to yourself after you hit the ball is just as important as what you say when you’re hitting the shot. Internal communication has a really significant impact on your mood, attitude and effectiveness and your state, and also on those around you. Becoming angry is only going to make you feel bad and potentially sap your energy. It also means that you’re likely to relive that same feeling the next time you play a similar shot and consequently hit an equally bad shot. It’s important to learn from a bad shot, as long as you do it with a positive intention. It’s about hitting the reprogramming button and putting the recent shot behind you.
Positive self-talk is key. So talk positively to yourself about the shot you’re about to play. One of the best ways to do this is to talk to yourself about the shot you want to make, visualise your target and the shot vividly and think about your visualised shot as you hit the ball. It’s difficult to allow negative self-talk to enter your head when you’re focussing completely on something positive.This approach also works with your post shot routine, especially after you’ve hit a good shot.
Relish your good shots, feel really good about them, (anchor the feeling if possible, (this can be done via your hypnotherapy session) review them vividly in your mind and tell yourself how fab they are. This will have a powerful effect next time you approach a similar shot.
