Practice In Your Mind With Hypnosis for Better Golf

Now I'm confused about golf practice and just how much leads to better golf. More importantly, just how much is good for golf improvement? I'm confused because I keep getting contradictory advice from the books I'm reading, TV programs I'm viewing and the stuff I'm browsing on the web.

As a low handicap golfer for over 40 years, I've done a fair bit of work on the practice ground and had lots of golf lessons from lots of good coaches - some of the best in the world in their day. However, I know that much of the technical advice I received left me confused and inconsistent.

Since qualifying as a Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner, I now know that much of that old advice led me to play golf almost completely in my conscious mind. And that's about as far from being in the zone as you can get! A bit like having a driving instructor sitting next to you for the rest of your life, reminding you exactly what to do - when to indicate, change gear, look in the mirror, etc.

So what's confused me now - I read about Muhammad Ali

Well, for starters, here I am reading an article about Muhammad Ali and in between saying, "I am the Greatest", he slips in this very sincere quote:

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last- minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." Muhammad Ali

Now I have to agree with this as when Ali talks about being in the ring, it's clear that he was in an extremely altered state. I cant remember the exact quote, but one of my favourite recollections was of him talking about how he felt like he was watching his own fights from above each of the four corners of the ring and it was like he could "see" his opponents back muscles move long before any signs from the front that punch was on its way. After that, "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" seemed quite mundane.

Then what happened - I read about Tiger's Practice Routine

A short while later, I'm reading about how Hank Haney told viewers on the Golf Channel about a typical golf practice day for one of his pupils. Yes, you've guessed it he's talking about Tiger Woods. Now according to Haney, here's Tiger's schedule.

06:00-07:30   Lifting weights in the Gym

07:30-09:00   Breakfast

09:00-11:00   Hitting balls on the range

11:00-11:30   Putting practice

11:30-12:30   Playing 9 holes of golf

12:30-13:00   Lunch

13:00-15:00   Hitting more balls on the range

15:00-16:00   Working on his short game

16:00-17:00   Play another 9 holes of golf

17:00-17:30   Hitting yet more balls on the range

17:30-18:00   More putting practice

So when does Tiger he do all his work with Jay Brunza, his Golf Psychologist? I suspect he's there with Tiger when he's practicing. And I bet he's helping him to build his unconscious resources at the same time. Why didn't somebody tell me about all this golf psychology stuff 40 years ago?

What do I think about Practice?

I'm going into this in a lot of detail in my forthcoming book, "The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf." For now, I can say that I've come down on the side of "Better Golf Without Practice." Alex Morrison published a book with that title in 1940 and its messages are still true today.

So who's Alex Morrison? Well, he was rated as the greatest golf teacher of his day by far and had his own golf school in New York. He coached many great golfers like Henry Picard, 26-time winner on the PGA Tour and winner of the Masters in 1938 and The PGA Championships in 1939. He also taught many famous celebrities, including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Are any of you old enough to have seen Bing's wonderfully smooth and slow swing? It was effortless right through to his death, playing golf at the age of 73.

Oh yes, there's one other important link between Alex Morrison and my world of golf in the mind - perhaps his greatest contribution to golf. He coached a certain Charlie Nicklaus, father of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus…