NLP for golf

Incredibly Effective NLP Techniques for GOLF

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Today I’m going to share with you the Most Incredibly Effective NLP Techniques for Golf so you can master the mental side of this wonderful game!

Golf legend Phil Mickelson says “Mental rehearsal is just as important as physical rehearsal” and anyone who plays this game will know just how true this statement is!

So how do you get in the zone?

How can you train your brain to respond when the pressure is on?

Neuro Linguistic Programming, otherwise known as NLP, is all about getting you in an optimum frame of mind so you can perform to the peak of your powers on the golf course!

How exactly can this be done?

With this article today it’s my mission to give you clear, practical NLP tools and techniques which will have instant results in improving your golf game….

Sit down, buckle up and get ready to take notes!

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TRIGGERS

Whether you realized it or not, some of your favourite golfers use Anchors to get into the zone right before they take a swing! Some great examples are…

Fred Couples tugs on the right shoulder of his shirt before swinging
Tiger Woodstwo practice strokes (no more, no less) before taking a putt
Jason Dufnerwaggles his club a few times before the shot
Keegan Bradley – walks in then out, shuffles around then finally swings

(Read This Article: 10 Ridiculous Pre-Shot Routines, to see just how strange these anchors can get!)

Anchors like these act as triggers which get the brain and body working in unison thanks to this pre-shot routine which sends a strong message that “Now it’s time to focus and take the shot you’ve practiced a million times before.”

Setting an anchor is a case of associating a feeling &/or action with a visual/audio stimulus. This can often occur without you even meaning for it to. An example could be the day you had your worst round of golf EVER! You felt like crap and the song playing in the car on the way back home was “Happy” by Pharrel Williams.

Now, maybe you didn’t even realize it became an anchor for you at the time and have no idea why hearing that song ever since makes you feel like sh#t but it became a trigger because a very powerful emotional response was linked to it.

In a similar way you can create your own anchors and golfers do this all the time, whether they are aware of it or not.

TRY THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF…

When you are practicing and you find yourself hitting a great shot, the one you had envisioned before striking the ball, notice that you feel that sense of satisfaction from a shot well played….

In this moment capture that feeling by creating a powerful anchor for yourself.

You can clench your fist for example, or make an OK sign with your fingers… whatever feels right for you.

This pose could be your anchor
This pose could be your anchor

Keep setting this anchor by making the same anchor sign every time you feel satisfied with a shot.

Now, when this has been set a few times try reversing the order

Before taking the next shot make the anchor sign, feel that sense of satisfaction surge through you, as if you’ve already seen the ball going exactly where you want it to.

This will get your brain believing that this is an inevitable outcome and your body will respond in turn to make sure your brain doesn’t look like a liar!

This will significantly improve your chances of hitting a great shot now since not only is your outlook for the shot a positive and succesful one but it will also reduce that nagging self-doubt which can paralyse us and lead us to self sabotaging ourself on the course.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF THINGS START SPIRALLING DOWNWARDS???

So this advice above is all well and good while the shots go well for you and you seem to be invincible, but what happens when the inevitable bad shot comes and self-doubt creeps in again?

If you let this get out of control then the anchor you’ve created will lose any effect it had and you’ll be back to square one. What’s worse, you’ll be in a slump with no other magic trick to get you back out of it!

Here is where it’s important to possess the mind of a Zen Master!

Energy goes where attention flows
-Tony Robbins-

Having a Zen state of mind is to be fully present in the now, which in turn leads to peace of mind and a beautiful sense of calm envelops you.

A zen state of mind is perfect for golf
A zen state of mind is perfect for golf

So how do you get your attention back to the present when the past is haunting you (that terrible shot you just made) and the future is tormenting you (the negative thoughts about the next shot you have to make)???

Practice this and thank me later…

  1. Look at the fingernail on your thumb
  2. I mean really look at it!
  3. Focus on one particular point on it and don’t label it or go off on a tangent in your imagination…
  4. Breathe slowly and deeply
  5. Just look at that point you’ve chosen and focus all your attention on it until your mind starts to quiten down
  6. After about a minute your mind should be quiet and you are back in this present moment.
    This will bring you back from the mind trap of PAST/FUTURE thinking and will allow you to reset.

    focus on your thumbnail and quieten your mind
    Focus on your thumbnail and quieten your mind

    (You can also use this technique with a sound or feeling instead if you prefer. The same principal as above applies but you could focus on the sound of your breathing or how the soles of your feet feel in contact with the ground.)

RESET

Now you’ve hit that reset button, think about hitting a great next shot and when you are at the peak of feeling good during that visualisation set the anchor again.

Get the anchor associated with a positive outcome again and then before you take that next shot make that anchor sign once more.

If you’re brain starts drifting off again then use the Zen Mind trick to get centered and back on track.

“REAL” PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

I think it’s important to mention here that all these techniques, whilst being great for putting you in an optimum state to perform your best, are no substitute for actually working hard in training and going through the motions of your swings so much that they become automatic for you.

NLP is brilliant for your golf game but only after you do the following…

First, you want to be able to do the things you’re asking of yourself on the golf course when you are playing with no pressure and no competition.

Thanks to good old hard work you can prove to yourself you’re capable of pulling off these shots on the training ground first and foremost.

Real, physical practice is a necessity too
Real, physical practice is a necessity too

With this recognition that “you’ve done it before so you can do it again”, these NLP techniques I’ve mentioned above can remove the mental obstacles which stop a lot of athletes from performing to the same level when the pressure is on.

CONCLUSION

NLP is great for Golf. It can help you drown out the noise both inside and outside your head, get you thinking and feeling positively about how the next shot will go and let you get into that automatic pilot-mode known as “the zone” so you can reproduce your best shots from training when it really counts on game day!

NLP for Golf courseCLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO GET THE ULTIMATE GOLF MINDSET PACKAGE!!!

 

If you would like to learn more of these things for yourself and become an Internationally Certified NLP Master then click the link HERE to learn more about what I can honestly say is the BEST COURSE I’ve ever done not just in terms of helping others but also helping myself!

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