Play Better Golf

Archive for February, 2009

by Michael Anthony

What is positive brain washing and why does it work? Since your mind is programmed to repeat similar responses to what is on your tape, you are going to respond to certain facts with negative emotions unless you have been 100% positive during your entire life. Therefore, it is important to continually bombard your self-talk with positive goals and affirmations (brain washing) in order to minimize your past negatives from resurfacing as well as replacing them with new positive ways to respond.

The goal of positive brain washing is to program your tape to respond positively to facts, instead of repeating previous negative emotions. I have been doing my best to brain wash you to realize that process thinking is far superior to outcome thinking. If you want to improve your performance and shoot lower scores, you have to spend time programming your tape to become as positive as you can at all times regardless of the facts that Old Man Golf or life throws your way.

Not to become redundant, but positive emotions enhance your brain’s chemistry and allow your performance and creativity to flourish. Some of you are extremely positive already, but there is always room for improvement. If you have a desire to improve, positive brain washing is a great way to get even better than you presently are.

Here are several ways to brain wash yourself. Write down your goals on index cards and read them out loud to yourself at least twice a day. When you wake up and before going to sleep, are ideal times to program your tape. Use the ‘Daily Affirmation’ in “The Mental Keys to Improve Your Golf “ to monitor what goes on your tape 24/7. Listen to Part Two of my CD “Polish the Wheel” after you play golf. It will help you talk to your tape and tell it to replace any negative thoughts and actions that went on it during your round with positive ones. Affirmations, positive self-talk and visualization are great techniques to use.

Do your best to model the positive behavior and work ethic of successful individuals. Since no one is perfect, don’t model their negative behavior. Read, watch movies and sport performances, listen to audio tapes and CDs, do what ever is possible to continually inspire yourself to become the most positive and best person you can be. Above all, refuse to allow any fact to be your excuse for becoming negative.

Positive brain washing works, if you work at it. If you don’t, your tape will be doing its best (especially, when you least expect it) to keep you where you are. It’s your choice. So make it a wise one.

We at TeeGolfer.com have some of the best tips and advice from the best mental golf pros.
Michael Anthony is a regular. Check this mental golf lesson out if you are in the cold and can’t wait to begin golfing!

Mental Training and Your Life
by Michael Anthony.

For those of you that are knee deep in snow, you can do a lot to improve your mental game for golf during the off season by applying the principles of “The Mental Keys to Improve Your Golf ” to your life. Even if you live where the weather is warm and sunny, you can work on improving your mental game everyday by applying my book to your life.

The same negative emotions that upset your chemistry while playing golf are present in your daily life. The only difference is that during a round of golf the feedback is immediate and easy to see because it affects your performance and score. The negative emotions in your life may take days, weeks, months or even years to catch up with you in one way or another. As a result, you pay little attention to the negative emotions in your daily life and allow them to continue to exist.

If you have a strong desire to be in control of your emotions on the golf course in order to lower your score, make it a habit to reflect on the Daily Affirmation in my book several times a day every day. When you do, follow Shakespeare’s advice in Hamlet, “To Thine Own Self Be True.” Without being true to yourself, the Daily Affirmation of “I am always truthful, positive and helping others” will only be eight hollow words without meaning to you. Empty words will not increase your self-awareness of the negative emotions that are on your tape.

However, if you are true to yourself and make it a habit to reflect on the Daily Affirmation throughout the day, you will become very aware whenever you attach negative emotions to the facts in your life. Once your awareness of what is on your tape increases, then you can start to reprogram your tape and stop attaching negative emotions to the facts you encounter in your daily life.

Your tape wants to do its job which is to have you repeat or make similar responses to what you have done in the past. If you have fear or get angry in your daily life, you will have fear and get angry on the golf course. Your fear and anger will cost you strokes when you play golf.

However, if you take the time to mentally train yourself to reduce the fear and anger you may experience in your daily life, it will become easy to do it while you are playing golf. Once you reduce or eliminate the negative emotions from recurring on your tape, you will be amazed at how well you can play golf and how much happier and productive your life off the golf course will become.

If you are knee deep in snow, you have plenty of time to reread “The Mental Keys” several times and work on reducing or eliminating the negative emotions from your tape in your daily life. If you do, your mental game will be much improved when your golf season begins.

The same holds true for you if you are blessed with good weather. If you desire to keep improving your mental game, make the time to reread “The Mental Keys” and apply the Daily Affirmation to your life.
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