Mental golf with Shirley

Well, maybe it’s time to note my golf progress. Haphazard, is all I can say!

While I have been going to my nice ladies group lessons most every Thursday morning and playing the 3 par afterwards that has not been enough. I need to get out on the 18 holes and get the practice under my belt.  The others are doing this, they have their handicap cards, they are playing 2 and 3 times a week. To put it simply they are progressing and I am not. In fact I am still hitting lots of stupid shots, over analysing my swing and rushing into it in my normal get on and do it fashion.  How silly is that? But, I havent been able to stop it, which is worse for me, a hypnotherapist.

Golf has not been my priority this year, however, I am quite competitive and don’t like to be left behind. To sort this out  I have teamed up with another hypnotherapist, Shirley, who is much the same as me. We are going to help each other with our mental golf game and are including rounds of golf with no mental pressure at all. And I am talking no pressure, no worries about who is behind, in front, watching, criticising, or even thinking about talking to us. A calm game of focused golf is what we have in mind!

For our first basic exercise was one to stimulate positive thinking with our fantastic tapping technique EFT.  We started it on Monday and today, Thursday, I played so much better.

‘Even though I am stilll rubbish after all this time, I am open to change’

‘I now choose to hit the ball well and enjoy my golf”

‘I can can hit the ball straight and accurate, straight and accurate is good’

If you are a tapper and a golfer then follow along.  If you are a golfer but haven’t learned tapping,  it is time you did.  (I do phone and skype sessions for this)

Watch this space.

Golf – fitting at Calloway today

Yes, you heard it right, I found myself at Calloway Golf in London at 8am for my special golf outfitting session, something I would never have imagined I would ever do, yet all brought about in the nicest way.

The outfitting shop at Calloway is set up with cameras and you hit at a soft wall screen.  Firstly you use your own No.6 club and your normal style is recorded.  Next your height is taken and the right shaft selected.  Different heads are screwed onto it and you hit some more  balls.

You watch the path of your ball, the height and the accuracy. The data of your entire shot is displayed on this screen,  from ball speed to carry length and many details in between.  It is so interesting and gives you a really clear view of your stroke.

Details between your own club and the new one are monitored looking for improvement, and it surely happens. The main reason is because they select and set it up right, and there is a massive sweet spot, and this selected  product is the best. (this is where you realise good equipment does help, and try to divorce yourself from the £’s)

Not only did we check irons but I trialled a hybrid and some woods.  The data  showed my present No 5 wood was more accurate than theirs and also that I am not ready for a driver yet.  My own No. 5 will do the job until I have had more lessons.

A very nice brochure was presented to me with all the details of my stroke and the recommendations from the morning.  This not only includes a full set of clubs but encompasses my idea of starting with a few and building up to a full set as I progress, and as I can afford.   There was no hard sell because they do not sell clubs at the head office.  It was suggested I go off and price these clubs to find the best deal.

All in all a really good morning and I would recommend anyone to go and do it prior to getting new clubs.

My golf, warts and all – The ladies captain

Well, I played my second ever 18 holes yesterday and do you think I can remember the golf course for next time? Well, no, and if you think I am sore today your are SO right!

Luckily the new ladies captain accompanied the two of us. Well, unluckily for her. She knew the all the ropes, I certainly didn’t. She had wipers and cloths to clean dirty balls, I didnt. She hit just about every shot really well, I certainly didn’t. She had a neat long contraption to find my balls in the water, I didnt. She had a driver, I didnt. She knew where we were supposed to be hitting, I didnt.

She had an automated buggy, we didnt. She was concerned about the people behind, I wasn’t, but was learning fast as she roared off up the hills, and we were left behind. I was buggered at the end, she wasn’t.

But it wasnt all bad. She was really helpful. She had her eye behind and infront and even to the side. She told me where to put my trolley so it wouldnt be in the way of those coming up behind. She found every ball hit. She even had time to chat to people on other fairways. She didnt say much when I found I had lost my score card, or had forgotten to bring my ball to the tee. She turned a blind eye to the balls I lost. She said ‘Well Done’ more times than were necessary and that was nice.

So thank you to the new lady captain for being so helpful. Maybe I’ll be like her one day!

Hypnosis for my golf

I spend alot of my life getting people to play better golf. I love it. They come to me knowing what they want. For example: To get a better focus on the putting, to chip like they used to, to enjoy their golf again, to deal with frustration, and to stop beating themselves up after a bad shot. There are a myriad of things that hold golfers back.

You may wonder how hypnosis really does make such a difference to golfers. This will be revealed as the blog moves along. So keep a tag on it and get some golf hints and insight.

Now it is my turn.  I am listening to a recording of myself doing hypnosis on myself to improve my own golf!  It is quite good.  As I listen to it,  every two or three days, the voice doesn’t register as mine.  It is so very relaxing and I usually go to sleep after it finishes. Its all about putting the golf lessons into practice, embedding it all.  Like learning to ride a bike, each part of  me with a job to do and each little job making up a complete new flowing habit, the golf swing.

It’s obviously working.  Chris has said some very nice things about how my swing is improving and how quick I am taking it all on board.

And back to the golf progress

Golf lessons are every 2 weeks. Chris Whitelegg at the Shire London Golf Club at Barnet is very good. He and I are working on my swing.

I am doing ok.  I see it getting better on the video. Beside other great golfers my back swing is looking ok now.  The lines placed on the screen are lining my body up with the ball in the right places.  My flapping right arm is now under control.  It’s good to see lots of my shots sending the ball high and straight.

Now the work is on to driving it further. The movement of my left side as I follow through, having my grip in front of the ball at impact, the torque in my body sending it way way out there….well hopefully!

I actually played the par 3 with the Aston ladies on Thursday. My very first proper game. There were four of us and I didn’t disgrace myself.  A few fours and only one 6. (I did hit 2 trees which didn’t help)  My major difficulty was deciding what clubs would be right for the distance.

More practice definitely needed!

Thursday’s group golf session

On Thursday I joined the ladies at Aston, Stevenage, again.  This time we were in the driving range. It was an amazingly still and hot day, for England.

We used a No 6 iron. I hadn’t touched a no. 6 yet.  My club has always been a no 8.  It wasn’t much different.  I guess you position the ball differently but the rest seemed much the same.

My hitting was ok, nice and straight.  I seem to be doing 90 to 100 yards now on the good shots so that is an improvement in a week. I did some nice shots while the coach was watching, thank goodness! Pivoting the body properly seems to get the speed up. Practice seems to be more of what I need.

I spent time on the practice green afterwards, trying out Chris’s chipping advice and practising some putting. It was glorious to be out in the sun and with no one else around.

And so to Chris and our mutual golf help

Cousins Pen and Chris stayed last weekend prior to returning to New Zealand.

When Chris mentioned he had played golf for more than 40 years, my ears pricked up! His handicap had been a 7 until his chipping had gone down the tube recently. He was not happy with it at all. He was having trouble lifting the ball and gauging the distance.  He said he was not enjoying his game much at all.

So, what did we do while he was here?  Yes, we worked on improving his golf mindset.

Firstly we did EFT, the tapping technique, to rid him of snide comments made one time he had over chipped which were continuing to make him feel he would stuff up.

Then he had some relaxing hypnotherapy, which I recorded so he can listen at home. This focused on slowing down, flowing, letting his mind remember how good he used to be and bringing that back into his present game. He played some holes in his mind putting in good scores.  This visualisation technique is brilliant.

It will be interesting to hear how it all works for him.

We went into the back garden and he taught me how to chip with a pitching wedge. I must say it feels good when you lift that ball and get it near the little tree.

I will be practicing lots now, thank you, Chris. I will remember to keep my hands well to the left, my weight on that left foot, and say ‘ladies and gentlemen’ as I slowly swing the club with my shoulders.

Golf lesson 8

Running out of balls for photos!

Now working further on my swing to get some distance.  The trick is to imagine that the ball has a nail poking out of  it at 30 degrees.  My No 8 is the hammer.

Also to remember to keep my left wrist straight, hands in front of the ball when it is hit.

Of course my hands are still a bit tight on the club, I need to free them up. It’s a bit difficult to keep a loose grip when I have small hands and am using men’s clubs!  I guess I shall have to get some women’s ones at some stage.

My practice range and gear

This is the practice range we have set up.

It is a piece of heavy shade cloth material with a hem at the top.  Rope threaded through this with  a loop to a cleat on the house. I flick the other end over a cleat on the fence and secure it to a cleat below. The remaining rope forms a tennis net, to aim the ball over with my no.8, and stops the wind blowing it.

A couple of old bricks keep it positioned straight. the old piece of carpet (fortunately green) holds it firmly on the ground allowing for the driven balls to roll back towards me.  The back door mat is my driving area. Unfortunately I cant go back any further due to step which go upwards on to the back lawn.  However, it all looks fine and is ok to practice at.

We got a pile of gear for £40 including almost new set of men’s clubs and drivers, 2 putters, bag, trolley, 2 gloves and numerous balls which you have already seen.  We got them for Kevin and I am sharing but since I am barely 5ft 2″ they are definitely too long and I do have to compensate. I will get my own when I am better, unless to be better I need them.

Golf lesson No 7

Get to grips with this, Marilyn!

Well, I am sorry to report I never practiced at all between 6 and 7… Not good!

Never the less I did have 2 realisation moments during No 7. Yes, I want to do this (learn golf), and Yes, I need to get out there and practice loads.  It is embarrassing to have to go over the same old, same old, techniques yet again. What a waste of time!

So, here was I, star of my own golf video.  Bum not shoved out enough to make my back a 90 degree angle with my arms, my sternum not behind the ball. These both affecting my up swing. Compared to the notable golfer in the other video frame I was way out! Understandable that the ball was not going easily in a nice high straight line.

So to rectify this…

Back to the foot position yet again, and the head position yet again! I tried pulling the heavy club thingy around the big metal circle to get the feel of  my shoulders pulling the golf club. That made sense.

I watched myself again on video hitting much better.  It feels so good to see the ball zooming up into the sky on the right trajectory, and going that bit further, too.

I took clear note of what I am going to put into my unconscious mind this week.  Here comes the hypnotherapy.  I can do this fine for others but what about for myself?  Self hypnosis is ok, am doing this but I have decided it is a little haphazard so I am going to do myself a recording, just for me. It will include letting all the following happen, in sequence, and form a natural pattern.

• Feet in right position so I am slightly behind the ball
• Right shoulder slightly lower
• Bum out
• Draw the club up with my shoulders
• and, yet again, keep my head in one place, letting my left shoulder go between it and the ball as the swing progresses

On a brighter note my down swing was ok,  I did hit a few very nice shots which made me feel better, and I spent time on the practice green putting.  My putting is not too bad since I have one of those indoor thingys set up in the kitchen and I putt while waiting for things to cook, or between the odd sip of wine.

I was getting cranky I wasnt hitting distance, probably why my grip was too tight.  (why I am now on baby bird alert) I have been told not to worry, get the basics right we will learn distance next.  That is a bit more comforting.

Next golf lesson in two weeks time.  Tell me, does it take others this long to get the basics?