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