March 28, 2024 • 23 mins
This episode is a raw tool that Ben started using with a golfer who was not happy with her routine. She felt like her mind was wandering too much during her rounds and the distractions were taking away from her game. At some point this will be cleaned up and polished, but sometimes it is helpful to see the behind the scenes of how you can help an athlete when they say, "I don't think my routine is good enough."
If you do not have any sort of pre shot or post shot routine I would encourage you to go back to the bonus season between Seasons 2 & 3 as this episode will assume that you already have a routine in place.
Here is a link to make a copy of the rubric sheet Ben put together to help evaluate whether her routine completed all of the steps necessary to control her mind and body and put her in the best position for success possible if you would like to use it with your own golfers:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H7vdjPPL1o9UwDtK53Ac0hYKU-LQbJR2CX1_Ls-nHYs/copy
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
mentaltrainingplan.com/athletes
Are you a COACH looking for an affordable year-round mental performance training program? Check out the MTP Academy available through our website:
mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ben (00:00):
Hey, welcome to the coaching minds podcast, the
official podcast, a mentaltraining plan.
Whether you are an athlete, acoach or a business professional
, we're giving you the tools tohelp you perform at your best in
those high pressure situations.
Today, we are going to betalking about pre shot routines
for golf 2.0.
So, if you have not listened tothe bonus season, it was
(00:24):
between season two, which endedaround like May 5th 2020.
And before we started seasonthree, which was like August
18th 2020, there were four bonusepisodes.
One was golf pre round routine,one was golf pre shot routine,
one was golf postround routine,one was golf pre-shot routine,
(00:45):
One was golf post-shot routineand then the last one was golf
post-round routine.
If you have not listened tothose, that is the starting
point that I would direct youtowards and this is kind of once
you have that foundation inplace, now what are we going to
do?
What are these next steps goingto look like?
(01:06):
As we evaluate, you know, arethere other things that we need
to add?
I fear that if you're juststarting here with no pre shot
routine already made that,there's going to be a little bit
left out and a little bit kindof left behind explanation wise.
So listen to those.
If you have your pre shotroutine and your post shot
(01:27):
routine, this is this is goingto be a little bit, you know
more more geared toward how dowe evaluate?
Is this good?
Is this complete?
Do I need more?
During one of my one on onesessions with a young lady that
I meet with on a pretty regularbasis, we were going through her
routine because she wasn'thappy with where her mind was
(01:49):
going during a round and really,as we kind of broke it down, I
think there's multiple stagesthat we need to have a plan for.
This is all.
I put this basically on aworksheet.
If you want to download a PDFversion of this, it'll be.
It'll be available for a littlewhile on our on our podcast
(02:12):
notes section.
So if you're listening to thisas it comes out or you're
listening in the next few months, you should be able to just
click right in there anddownload the worksheet.
At some point.
We will shift this over.
It'll.
It'll always live on the MTPAcademy in the resources there
the sports specific resources,but it'll certainly be available
(02:32):
for a little while if you wantto download it while we're kind
of talking through this.
So, in my mind, the first phasethat we've got to make sure we
have a plan for is kind of thatprep stage where we don't know
exactly what club we're hitting,what distance, the hazards.
There's some things that weneed to do as we prepare for
(02:55):
what club am I going to hit,what shot am I going to take?
And then at some point we needto be done with that and we're
going to dive into each of thesea little bit more detail here
in just a minute.
But at some point there needsto be done with that and we're
going to dive into each of thesea little bit more detail here
in just a minute.
But at some point there needsto be a.
Okay, I'm committed to thisshot with this club.
Now we move into this I'mconfident stage and I know what
(03:19):
I'm going to hit.
Now I'm just preparing my mindand body.
I've got some steps that I'mgoing to be going through.
And then the swing stage wherewe've left all of that behind.
We've got one, two, three, four, boom.
One, two, three, four, boom.
And sometimes that's, you know,setting up or doing something
(03:40):
with your club face or lookingat your target, glancing back
down at the ball, somethingthat's repeatable, that's
consistent, every single shot.
There's going to be differencesand nuances, to obviously like
having a driver in your handversus having a putter in your
hand, but at some point we'redone preparing and at some point
(04:02):
we're done with all thingsplanning, it's time to just let
it rip.
And then the last phase is kindof the post shot.
And in this post shot, really,we can kind of break it down
into two pieces.
There's, there's this how do wewrap up the shot that we just
just made?
And then what are we doingduring this walk to our next
(04:26):
shot?
A lot of the problems arisefrom the time that I hit this
shot until now.
You know, I've got multiple,multiple minutes where all I'm
thinking about is gosh, why didI do that?
Or, oh no, what do I havecoming up?
So what am I doing to controlmy mind and body during that
walk to the ball to hit my nextshot?
(04:48):
Looking at the sheet now,within that prep stage, because
this just kind of cycles, right,like we're preparing, we're not
sure what we're going to do.
Then we're confident okay,here's what I'm going to do,
then we let it rip and then weneed to do something afterwards,
right.
And so once this kind of cyclesback to the next shot, the
first box on there is focus onthis shot.
(05:13):
And my question that I had forthe young lady that I was
working with was like okay,point to where in your routine
does this step get accomplished?
And, to be honest, I kind ofused it almost as like a rubric,
like a grading sheet.
I try to make a big point outof not telling people what to do
(05:36):
with their pre-shot orpost-shot routine, but I do say
I want you to consider this andthen I want you to make the
decision Do I need this, do Inot need this?
And so on the left hand side,in those blanks, she has a, an
arrive at the ball kind ofroutine and then goes into her
(05:58):
pre shot routine and then hasher post shot routine and the,
the reason she likes that is thearrive at the ball, you know,
depending on, am I in the middleof the fairway, am I behind a
tree?
Do I have a short shot comingup?
Depending on the situation.
Sometimes there's differentthings that happen.
But then, once she gets into herpre shot routine, she wants it
(06:21):
to say nope, every single time Ido this, then this, then this,
and boom, and you know whatever,whatever that looks like for
you, I would encourage you, onthe left hand side, to write
down here is my pre shot routineand don't just say, well, you
know, sometimes I do this,sometimes I do that.
That's not a routine.
Let's say here's what I'mcommitting to.
(06:42):
I'm going to do this step one,and then this step two, and then
this step three.
And so you know, I asked herwhere on this do you focus on
this shot?
Where in your routine?
What step in your routine doyou have?
Here's where I'm going to turnoff all the other things going
on.
I'm going to forget about thelast shot.
(07:04):
I'm not worried about my score,I'm not worried about my
opponent, I'm not worried aboutanything else, past or future.
I am right here in this moment,this ball at my feet, right now
.
What am I doing?
And I think it's important tohave something that kind of cues
you that hey, here we go.
And she has a short littlephrase that she says to herself
(07:27):
and that kind of kicks off okay,I'm now beginning this process.
We talked about, you know, inthe previous episodes about
pre-shot routine, the whole widefocus versus narrow focus Like
where does that show up in yourroutine?
Where do you make sure thatyou're not so dialed in on the
ball that you're forgetting orleaving out?
(07:49):
Oh shoot, there's water infront of me.
I need to be short of this, butalso, at some point, you need
to be able to not be worriedabout that water.
You need to be narrowed in nowon this shot, on this ball, on
this swing.
So what's that look like foryou?
How do you accomplish that?
(08:10):
Somewhere in there, there needsto be a strategy, and she calls
it her strategy session.
Basically, we're talking whatclub are you going to hit?
What's the distance that youhave?
What shot shape are we goingfor?
What hazards are on there?
Things like that.
And you know just being surethat you have a plan for that
(08:33):
and you know when that occursduring your routine.
The next one visualization.
And these are you know, I toldher these are not necessarily in
order, because some people likefor visualization to happen now
, some people like visualizationto happen in the next stage,
but at some point I think it'simportant that you need to be
(08:55):
able to show me yes, here iswhere, in my pre-shot routine,
I'm going to make sure that Istop and I slow down and I
visualize my shot Somewhere inthere.
I like to encourage my athletesto have either go-to statement
or some kind of phrase, somekind of mantra like what are you
(09:17):
doing positive self-talk wiseon a repeated basis, so that you
know we don't want to just waituntil our mind gets in a
negative spot.
Like what if we could just be alittle bit proactive and there
could be something that I'mgoing to say to myself, maybe as
I pull my club out of the bag?
Or maybe I'm going to say mygo-to statement after I
(09:39):
visualize my shot.
I don't know.
The next one on there isphysical.
So here we're talking likebreathing and forced muscular
relaxation.
So if you are going to take adeep breath, when is that going
to happen?
Are you only going to do thatwhen you're feeling pressure?
I don't know that that's thebest solution.
(10:00):
Maybe you want to pair it upwith I'm going to visualize the
ball path and I'm going tobreathe at the same time, or I'm
going to take a breath and thensay my statement.
But I think somewhere on there,having a plan for here is where
I'm going to breathe and remindmyself to do my breathing, to
take back control, to prepare mybody physically and being
(10:22):
proactive, rather than justreacting to oh shoot, my heart
rate is out of control, shoot.
This is a really important putt.
Maybe I should take a deepbreath here.
Same with forced muscularrelaxation.
I have a lot of golfers that Iwork with that do the forced
muscular relaxation as they'retaking a club out of the bag, or
(10:44):
they'll take a club out,they'll get a real tight grip as
they take a big deep breath andthen exhale and relax and
loosen those muscles.
Rather than letting muscletension be controlled by that
lower part of the brain, we'resaying no, we're going to
intentionally take back controland we have the ability to
(11:07):
tighten or relax muscles.
And so you know just thatphysical preparation stage where
is that taking place?
And the next one assess andadjust.
So you know, you've maybe takeninto consideration wind and
you've taken into considerationyour club and you've taken into
(11:28):
consideration all these things.
What if there's, what ifthere's some adjustments that
need to be made?
Are there, is there any lastminute decision?
Are you going like step by step?
Are you going in order?
Is there time for this?
Because the next step iscommitment and at that point
we're saying there are no moresteps.
We are done.
(11:49):
We are done picking our cluband picking our shot shape, and
we are done thinking about thehazards and the distances and
all that.
Here's what we're doing I'mhitting this club at this
percentage, with this shape.
And now I'm committed to thenext phase, which is kind of
building this confidence I callit the confidence stage with her
(12:12):
.
I'm now confident in what I'mdoing, so I'm going to do
something for, like, rhythm andtempo Maybe you know she likes
to align and then stance andthen look, look, hit, and that
kind of gives her a rhythm thatshe likes.
You know, some golfers like tohave a trigger, some golfers
like to have a swing thoughtwhen does that happen?
(12:34):
Where does that happen?
Are we still behind the ball?
Where does that happen?
Are we still behind the ball?
Are we to the side of the ballright now?
You know for your routine thatif you go through those, can you
(13:08):
say, yes, my confidence is nowbuilt up.
And yes, if I do these in order, I'm staying present in this
moment, I'm not thinking aboutpast or future.
And if that's the case, thennow we're ready to enter into
that last stage, the swing stage, and it's boom, boom, boom
swing, and it's just over andover and over that same
repetitive, what you know,whether that has to do with your
alignment or your club head oryour stance or where you're
(13:31):
looking at.
At some point we just need tocommit to this shot and we need
to let it rip.
And now, what are we doing?
So, now that ball has left ourclub face and we no longer have
any control, and we're going tohave an emotional reaction and
(13:52):
we're going to have somethoughts, some feelings that
we're going to have to deal with.
How are we going to do that?
What's our strategy going to be?
Again, if you want some tools,go back and listen to the other
podcasts.
At some point we need to acceptthe outcome.
We need to say you know whatthat stunk, I'm ticked, all
(14:16):
right, we're forgetting aboutthat shot.
Now I'm moving on to the nextone.
I accept here's what happened,here's the situation Doesn't
matter anymore, can't control itanyways.
Now we are going to move on andwe're going to start thinking
about the next shot, or we'regoing to start thinking about
whatever's going to be next, butsometimes we're still worried
(14:38):
about fill in the blank.
Maybe it's overthinking aboutthe wind, or maybe it's.
I can't help but think aboutthe fact that I'm slicing all of
my long irons or, you know,duffing my chips, or I'm hitting
under the ball or on top of the, whatever that looks like.
And we've talked a lot in thepast about having a little mini
(14:59):
notebook, the permission toforget journal and basically
being able to write down okay,I'm going to fix my long irons
with my swing instructor at ournext session, or I'm going to
hit up the range afterwards andI'm going to practice 10 of this
shot or whatever.
(15:19):
But having that notebook wherewe take it from our working
memory and our brain is tryingto hold on to it and remember it
and think about it and remindourselves of it and don't forget
about it, I'd say no, we have aplan, we're going to deal with
it later.
In the meantime we've got someother things to worry about, and
so then the next phase is kindof this walk to our ball.
(15:47):
And here is where a lot ofgolfers get in trouble, because
I think, on one hand, you can betempted to be so dialed in and
so hyper focused and trying tostay locked in by the time four
hours is up.
I mean you are just mentallyand physically and emotionally
(16:08):
exhausted, like I just don'tthink that's possible to stay
completely locked in and focused, and I would encourage you, you
know, just to pay attention tostuff like this on Twitter,
instagram your favorite socialfollow some professional golfers
and listen to Rory or Max Homatalk about how they focus on
(16:31):
things that they're grateful for.
Listen to some of the guys andgals that talk about, you know,
looking at this beautiful,pristine nature that you're out
in the middle of the landscapethat's around you, somehow allow
your mind to not drift off.
Is drift off is not right, butmaybe just like, relax a little
(16:53):
bit.
Don't be so dialed in and soamped up and so locked in, but
you also, you know, can't go offinto into la la land.
So what are you going tointentionally think about and
you know we've talked on herebefore the the reason that
gratefulness or gratitude issuch a powerful tool is just
(17:16):
neurologically, when that partof your brain is active, the
part of your brain that isresponsible for processing fear,
anxiety, worry, those types ofemotions the two can't be what
we would call lit up or activeat the same time and so being
able to, you know, engage thatman I'm just, I'm so grateful
(17:37):
for.
Maybe it's something to do witha family member or a parent
that's spent all kinds of timeand effort and energy and money
on helping you develop your game.
Or maybe you're grateful forthe the other people in your
life your teammates in your life, your coaches that are helping
you out, the opportunity thatyou have, the fact that you're
(17:59):
playing a game that you love.
This is so enjoyable, this isso beautiful and wonderful and
fun out here and then now, as weget up to our next ball or our
next shot at the ball, havingsome way to flip that switch All
right, game on.
(18:19):
Or all right, here we go, orsomething that kind of starts to
lock us back in.
That starts to redirect ourfocus.
You know, we're not staring offat the clouds or the mountains
or the sunshine or the prettygrass or the flowers or whatever
.
We're not thinking about beinggrateful about our coach or how
(18:40):
much we love whatever.
Now we're coming back to golfand now we're in a better place
than if, during that walk, we'relike gosh.
I can't believe I did that.
Why did I stink and do that?
Was it in my wrist?
Am I not coming through to myclub head Start, to my club face
start to close, instead ofarriving at the ball in a more
(19:01):
negative or a more anxious state?
Now we're arriving and we're alittle bit more grateful, a
little bit more positive, alittle bit more optimistic.
A little bit more grateful, alittle bit more positive, a
little bit more optimistic, alittle bit more.
Hey, it's cool, we got this,let's go.
And then now this processstarts all over again, and so
(19:27):
that's just.
That's one of the tools thatthat I use when I'm working with
individual athletes.
I'm putting this out here justas some things for coaches or
parents or players specificallyto just have some ideas to go
through in your own mind.
Maybe make your own rubric.
Like what, what do you thinkare all the different stages,
all the different phases, allthe different times where you're
preparing for a shot, then youcommit to the shot, then you
(19:51):
make the shot, now you deal withthat shot and now we're walking
to the ball and now we'removing on to the next shot.
Like, what are all those stepsfor you?
What are those look like?
How are you going to do that?
Don't just hope that you'regoing to do this with your team.
Please don't hesitate to reachout.
(20:17):
You can go tomentaltrainingplancom slash
podcast, and there's a contactus button right there.
If you got anything out of this, please don't hesitate to share
this with another coach thatyou think might enjoy listening
to this, or a golfer that youknow that maybe wants to fine
tune or tweak their routine justa little bit.
I do think this is such apowerful tool, especially for
(20:40):
golfers who are not happy withwhat they're focused on and
instead of you know us trying tosay something like hey, just
don't worry about it, becausethat's not a thing, like what
the heck do you mean?
Don't worry about it?
How am I supposed to do that?
I think this is powerfulbecause instead we're saying
here's what we're going to thinkabout, here's the next step,
(21:02):
here's what matters right now,here's what's important, here's
our plan for dealing with wherewe're coming up short, here's
our plan for fixing things at alater time.
But I'm committing to thisright here, right now.
I'm going to be present.
I'm going to be at my best.
My body and my mind areprepared.
I have what it takes.
Let's go give it our best shot,because I mean, that's
(21:25):
ultimately where we're going toput ourselves in the best
position possible to succeed.
One last topic before we,before we close this out.
So I also sent to this younglady.
Ben Silverman needed to hole outfrom 109 yards to make the cut
and he decided to mark his ballwhen play was suspended Friday
(21:48):
night and he had a range sessionof full 56 degree wedges before
his attempt and he has theopportunity to make this shot.
And it shows him practicingthis shot, this distance, with
this club in his hand.
He knew what he was going to do.
(22:10):
He knew how he was going to doit.
I mean, here's a man who's made$1.115 million playing golf.
You know, is he the greatestall time?
Certainly not.
Has he been paid a lot moremoney than me to play golf?
Absolutely, he knew exactlywhat he was trying to do.
He practiced that shot over and, over and over and then, when
(22:34):
he had the opportunity to go dothat in a competitive setting,
he didn't even hit the green.
So we don't have thatopportunity during a round of
golf.
We can't just suspend play andthen go have a range session and
practice this shot with thisclub.
And even if we could.
We're not guaranteed that wewould hit it anyways.
(22:55):
We're not going for perfect.
We're going for can we putourselves in the best position
possible to give us the greatestchance for success?
To prepare our mind and ourbody to perform at our best and
then be able to handle theconsequences?
Find ball, hit ball, put ballin hole?
(23:16):
That's what we're trying to do,and way too many times we
overcomplicate this with so muchjunk that's going on in our
mind.
And having a routine like thisgives us some steps that we can
go through.
It gives us things to focus on,it gives us a pattern and a
plan, it increases confidence,it allows us to feel more
(23:37):
relaxed and it's one of thosetools you can use to give
yourself the best chance duringcompetition.
If you have questions, pleasedon't hesitate to reach out
Until next time.
Make your plan and put it towork.
Hey, welcome to the coaching minds podcast, the
official podcast, a mentaltraining plan.
Whether you are an athlete, acoach or a business professional
, we're giving you the tools tohelp you perform at your best in
those high pressure situations.
Today, we are going to betalking about pre shot routines
for golf 2.0.
So, if you have not listened tothe bonus season, it was
(00:24):
between season two, which endedaround like May 5th 2020.
And before we started seasonthree, which was like August
18th 2020, there were four bonusepisodes.
One was golf pre round routine,one was golf pre shot routine,
one was golf postround routine,one was golf pre-shot routine,
(00:45):
One was golf post-shot routineand then the last one was golf
post-round routine.
If you have not listened tothose, that is the starting
point that I would direct youtowards and this is kind of once
you have that foundation inplace, now what are we going to
do?
What are these next steps goingto look like?
(01:06):
As we evaluate, you know, arethere other things that we need
to add?
I fear that if you're juststarting here with no pre shot
routine already made that,there's going to be a little bit
left out and a little bit kindof left behind explanation wise.
So listen to those.
If you have your pre shotroutine and your post shot
(01:27):
routine, this is this is goingto be a little bit, you know
more more geared toward how dowe evaluate?
Is this good?
Is this complete?
Do I need more?
During one of my one on onesessions with a young lady that
I meet with on a pretty regularbasis, we were going through her
routine because she wasn'thappy with where her mind was
(01:49):
going during a round and really,as we kind of broke it down, I
think there's multiple stagesthat we need to have a plan for.
This is all.
I put this basically on aworksheet.
If you want to download a PDFversion of this, it'll be.
It'll be available for a littlewhile on our on our podcast
(02:12):
notes section.
So if you're listening to thisas it comes out or you're
listening in the next few months, you should be able to just
click right in there anddownload the worksheet.
At some point.
We will shift this over.
It'll.
It'll always live on the MTPAcademy in the resources there
the sports specific resources,but it'll certainly be available
(02:32):
for a little while if you wantto download it while we're kind
of talking through this.
So, in my mind, the first phasethat we've got to make sure we
have a plan for is kind of thatprep stage where we don't know
exactly what club we're hitting,what distance, the hazards.
There's some things that weneed to do as we prepare for
(02:55):
what club am I going to hit,what shot am I going to take?
And then at some point we needto be done with that and we're
going to dive into each of thesea little bit more detail here
in just a minute.
But at some point there needsto be done with that and we're
going to dive into each of thesea little bit more detail here
in just a minute.
But at some point there needsto be a.
Okay, I'm committed to thisshot with this club.
Now we move into this I'mconfident stage and I know what
(03:19):
I'm going to hit.
Now I'm just preparing my mindand body.
I've got some steps that I'mgoing to be going through.
And then the swing stage wherewe've left all of that behind.
We've got one, two, three, four, boom.
One, two, three, four, boom.
And sometimes that's, you know,setting up or doing something
(03:40):
with your club face or lookingat your target, glancing back
down at the ball, somethingthat's repeatable, that's
consistent, every single shot.
There's going to be differencesand nuances, to obviously like
having a driver in your handversus having a putter in your
hand, but at some point we'redone preparing and at some point
(04:02):
we're done with all thingsplanning, it's time to just let
it rip.
And then the last phase is kindof the post shot.
And in this post shot, really,we can kind of break it down
into two pieces.
There's, there's this how do wewrap up the shot that we just
just made?
And then what are we doingduring this walk to our next
(04:26):
shot?
A lot of the problems arisefrom the time that I hit this
shot until now.
You know, I've got multiple,multiple minutes where all I'm
thinking about is gosh, why didI do that?
Or, oh no, what do I havecoming up?
So what am I doing to controlmy mind and body during that
walk to the ball to hit my nextshot?
(04:48):
Looking at the sheet now,within that prep stage, because
this just kind of cycles, right,like we're preparing, we're not
sure what we're going to do.
Then we're confident okay,here's what I'm going to do,
then we let it rip and then weneed to do something afterwards,
right.
And so once this kind of cyclesback to the next shot, the
first box on there is focus onthis shot.
(05:13):
And my question that I had forthe young lady that I was
working with was like okay,point to where in your routine
does this step get accomplished?
And, to be honest, I kind ofused it almost as like a rubric,
like a grading sheet.
I try to make a big point outof not telling people what to do
(05:36):
with their pre-shot orpost-shot routine, but I do say
I want you to consider this andthen I want you to make the
decision Do I need this, do Inot need this?
And so on the left hand side,in those blanks, she has a, an
arrive at the ball kind ofroutine and then goes into her
(05:58):
pre shot routine and then hasher post shot routine and the,
the reason she likes that is thearrive at the ball, you know,
depending on, am I in the middleof the fairway, am I behind a
tree?
Do I have a short shot comingup?
Depending on the situation.
Sometimes there's differentthings that happen.
But then, once she gets into herpre shot routine, she wants it
(06:21):
to say nope, every single time Ido this, then this, then this,
and boom, and you know whatever,whatever that looks like for
you, I would encourage you, onthe left hand side, to write
down here is my pre shot routineand don't just say, well, you
know, sometimes I do this,sometimes I do that.
That's not a routine.
Let's say here's what I'mcommitting to.
(06:42):
I'm going to do this step one,and then this step two, and then
this step three.
And so you know, I asked herwhere on this do you focus on
this shot?
Where in your routine?
What step in your routine doyou have?
Here's where I'm going to turnoff all the other things going
on.
I'm going to forget about thelast shot.
(07:04):
I'm not worried about my score,I'm not worried about my
opponent, I'm not worried aboutanything else, past or future.
I am right here in this moment,this ball at my feet, right now
.
What am I doing?
And I think it's important tohave something that kind of cues
you that hey, here we go.
And she has a short littlephrase that she says to herself
(07:27):
and that kind of kicks off okay,I'm now beginning this process.
We talked about, you know, inthe previous episodes about
pre-shot routine, the whole widefocus versus narrow focus Like
where does that show up in yourroutine?
Where do you make sure thatyou're not so dialed in on the
ball that you're forgetting orleaving out?
(07:49):
Oh shoot, there's water infront of me.
I need to be short of this, butalso, at some point, you need
to be able to not be worriedabout that water.
You need to be narrowed in nowon this shot, on this ball, on
this swing.
So what's that look like foryou?
How do you accomplish that?
(08:10):
Somewhere in there, there needsto be a strategy, and she calls
it her strategy session.
Basically, we're talking whatclub are you going to hit?
What's the distance that youhave?
What shot shape are we goingfor?
What hazards are on there?
Things like that.
And you know just being surethat you have a plan for that
(08:33):
and you know when that occursduring your routine.
The next one visualization.
And these are you know, I toldher these are not necessarily in
order, because some people likefor visualization to happen now
, some people like visualizationto happen in the next stage,
but at some point I think it'simportant that you need to be
(08:55):
able to show me yes, here iswhere, in my pre-shot routine,
I'm going to make sure that Istop and I slow down and I
visualize my shot Somewhere inthere.
I like to encourage my athletesto have either go-to statement
or some kind of phrase, somekind of mantra like what are you
(09:17):
doing positive self-talk wiseon a repeated basis, so that you
know we don't want to just waituntil our mind gets in a
negative spot.
Like what if we could just be alittle bit proactive and there
could be something that I'mgoing to say to myself, maybe as
I pull my club out of the bag?
Or maybe I'm going to say mygo-to statement after I
(09:39):
visualize my shot.
I don't know.
The next one on there isphysical.
So here we're talking likebreathing and forced muscular
relaxation.
So if you are going to take adeep breath, when is that going
to happen?
Are you only going to do thatwhen you're feeling pressure?
I don't know that that's thebest solution.
(10:00):
Maybe you want to pair it upwith I'm going to visualize the
ball path and I'm going tobreathe at the same time, or I'm
going to take a breath and thensay my statement.
But I think somewhere on there,having a plan for here is where
I'm going to breathe and remindmyself to do my breathing, to
take back control, to prepare mybody physically and being
(10:22):
proactive, rather than justreacting to oh shoot, my heart
rate is out of control, shoot.
This is a really important putt.
Maybe I should take a deepbreath here.
Same with forced muscularrelaxation.
I have a lot of golfers that Iwork with that do the forced
muscular relaxation as they'retaking a club out of the bag, or
(10:44):
they'll take a club out,they'll get a real tight grip as
they take a big deep breath andthen exhale and relax and
loosen those muscles.
Rather than letting muscletension be controlled by that
lower part of the brain, we'resaying no, we're going to
intentionally take back controland we have the ability to
(11:07):
tighten or relax muscles.
And so you know just thatphysical preparation stage where
is that taking place?
And the next one assess andadjust.
So you know, you've maybe takeninto consideration wind and
you've taken into considerationyour club and you've taken into
(11:28):
consideration all these things.
What if there's, what ifthere's some adjustments that
need to be made?
Are there, is there any lastminute decision?
Are you going like step by step?
Are you going in order?
Is there time for this?
Because the next step iscommitment and at that point
we're saying there are no moresteps.
We are done.
(11:49):
We are done picking our cluband picking our shot shape, and
we are done thinking about thehazards and the distances and
all that.
Here's what we're doing I'mhitting this club at this
percentage, with this shape.
And now I'm committed to thenext phase, which is kind of
building this confidence I callit the confidence stage with her
(12:12):
.
I'm now confident in what I'mdoing, so I'm going to do
something for, like, rhythm andtempo Maybe you know she likes
to align and then stance andthen look, look, hit, and that
kind of gives her a rhythm thatshe likes.
You know, some golfers like tohave a trigger, some golfers
like to have a swing thoughtwhen does that happen?
(12:34):
Where does that happen?
Are we still behind the ball?
Where does that happen?
Are we still behind the ball?
Are we to the side of the ballright now?
You know for your routine thatif you go through those, can you
(13:08):
say, yes, my confidence is nowbuilt up.
And yes, if I do these in order, I'm staying present in this
moment, I'm not thinking aboutpast or future.
And if that's the case, thennow we're ready to enter into
that last stage, the swing stage, and it's boom, boom, boom
swing, and it's just over andover and over that same
repetitive, what you know,whether that has to do with your
alignment or your club head oryour stance or where you're
(13:31):
looking at.
At some point we just need tocommit to this shot and we need
to let it rip.
And now, what are we doing?
So, now that ball has left ourclub face and we no longer have
any control, and we're going tohave an emotional reaction and
(13:52):
we're going to have somethoughts, some feelings that
we're going to have to deal with.
How are we going to do that?
What's our strategy going to be?
Again, if you want some tools,go back and listen to the other
podcasts.
At some point we need to acceptthe outcome.
We need to say you know whatthat stunk, I'm ticked, all
(14:16):
right, we're forgetting aboutthat shot.
Now I'm moving on to the nextone.
I accept here's what happened,here's the situation Doesn't
matter anymore, can't control itanyways.
Now we are going to move on andwe're going to start thinking
about the next shot, or we'regoing to start thinking about
whatever's going to be next, butsometimes we're still worried
(14:38):
about fill in the blank.
Maybe it's overthinking aboutthe wind, or maybe it's.
I can't help but think aboutthe fact that I'm slicing all of
my long irons or, you know,duffing my chips, or I'm hitting
under the ball or on top of the, whatever that looks like.
And we've talked a lot in thepast about having a little mini
(14:59):
notebook, the permission toforget journal and basically
being able to write down okay,I'm going to fix my long irons
with my swing instructor at ournext session, or I'm going to
hit up the range afterwards andI'm going to practice 10 of this
shot or whatever.
(15:19):
But having that notebook wherewe take it from our working
memory and our brain is tryingto hold on to it and remember it
and think about it and remindourselves of it and don't forget
about it, I'd say no, we have aplan, we're going to deal with
it later.
In the meantime we've got someother things to worry about, and
so then the next phase is kindof this walk to our ball.
(15:47):
And here is where a lot ofgolfers get in trouble, because
I think, on one hand, you can betempted to be so dialed in and
so hyper focused and trying tostay locked in by the time four
hours is up.
I mean you are just mentallyand physically and emotionally
(16:08):
exhausted, like I just don'tthink that's possible to stay
completely locked in and focused, and I would encourage you, you
know, just to pay attention tostuff like this on Twitter,
instagram your favorite socialfollow some professional golfers
and listen to Rory or Max Homatalk about how they focus on
(16:31):
things that they're grateful for.
Listen to some of the guys andgals that talk about, you know,
looking at this beautiful,pristine nature that you're out
in the middle of the landscapethat's around you, somehow allow
your mind to not drift off.
Is drift off is not right, butmaybe just like, relax a little
(16:53):
bit.
Don't be so dialed in and soamped up and so locked in, but
you also, you know, can't go offinto into la la land.
So what are you going tointentionally think about and
you know we've talked on herebefore the the reason that
gratefulness or gratitude issuch a powerful tool is just
(17:16):
neurologically, when that partof your brain is active, the
part of your brain that isresponsible for processing fear,
anxiety, worry, those types ofemotions the two can't be what
we would call lit up or activeat the same time and so being
able to, you know, engage thatman I'm just, I'm so grateful
(17:37):
for.
Maybe it's something to do witha family member or a parent
that's spent all kinds of timeand effort and energy and money
on helping you develop your game.
Or maybe you're grateful forthe the other people in your
life your teammates in your life, your coaches that are helping
you out, the opportunity thatyou have, the fact that you're
(17:59):
playing a game that you love.
This is so enjoyable, this isso beautiful and wonderful and
fun out here and then now, as weget up to our next ball or our
next shot at the ball, havingsome way to flip that switch All
right, game on.
(18:19):
Or all right, here we go, orsomething that kind of starts to
lock us back in.
That starts to redirect ourfocus.
You know, we're not staring offat the clouds or the mountains
or the sunshine or the prettygrass or the flowers or whatever
.
We're not thinking about beinggrateful about our coach or how
(18:40):
much we love whatever.
Now we're coming back to golfand now we're in a better place
than if, during that walk, we'relike gosh.
I can't believe I did that.
Why did I stink and do that?
Was it in my wrist?
Am I not coming through to myclub head Start, to my club face
start to close, instead ofarriving at the ball in a more
(19:01):
negative or a more anxious state?
Now we're arriving and we're alittle bit more grateful, a
little bit more positive, alittle bit more optimistic.
A little bit more grateful, alittle bit more positive, a
little bit more optimistic, alittle bit more.
Hey, it's cool, we got this,let's go.
And then now this processstarts all over again, and so
(19:27):
that's just.
That's one of the tools thatthat I use when I'm working with
individual athletes.
I'm putting this out here justas some things for coaches or
parents or players specificallyto just have some ideas to go
through in your own mind.
Maybe make your own rubric.
Like what, what do you thinkare all the different stages,
all the different phases, allthe different times where you're
preparing for a shot, then youcommit to the shot, then you
(19:51):
make the shot, now you deal withthat shot and now we're walking
to the ball and now we'removing on to the next shot.
Like, what are all those stepsfor you?
What are those look like?
How are you going to do that?
Don't just hope that you'regoing to do this with your team.
Please don't hesitate to reachout.
(20:17):
You can go tomentaltrainingplancom slash
podcast, and there's a contactus button right there.
If you got anything out of this, please don't hesitate to share
this with another coach thatyou think might enjoy listening
to this, or a golfer that youknow that maybe wants to fine
tune or tweak their routine justa little bit.
I do think this is such apowerful tool, especially for
(20:40):
golfers who are not happy withwhat they're focused on and
instead of you know us trying tosay something like hey, just
don't worry about it, becausethat's not a thing, like what
the heck do you mean?
Don't worry about it?
How am I supposed to do that?
I think this is powerfulbecause instead we're saying
here's what we're going to thinkabout, here's the next step,
(21:02):
here's what matters right now,here's what's important, here's
our plan for dealing with wherewe're coming up short, here's
our plan for fixing things at alater time.
But I'm committing to thisright here, right now.
I'm going to be present.
I'm going to be at my best.
My body and my mind areprepared.
I have what it takes.
Let's go give it our best shot,because I mean, that's
(21:25):
ultimately where we're going toput ourselves in the best
position possible to succeed.
One last topic before we,before we close this out.
So I also sent to this younglady.
Ben Silverman needed to hole outfrom 109 yards to make the cut
and he decided to mark his ballwhen play was suspended Friday
(21:48):
night and he had a range sessionof full 56 degree wedges before
his attempt and he has theopportunity to make this shot.
And it shows him practicingthis shot, this distance, with
this club in his hand.
He knew what he was going to do.
(22:10):
He knew how he was going to doit.
I mean, here's a man who's made$1.115 million playing golf.
You know, is he the greatestall time?
Certainly not.
Has he been paid a lot moremoney than me to play golf?
Absolutely, he knew exactlywhat he was trying to do.
He practiced that shot over and, over and over and then, when
(22:34):
he had the opportunity to go dothat in a competitive setting,
he didn't even hit the green.
So we don't have thatopportunity during a round of
golf.
We can't just suspend play andthen go have a range session and
practice this shot with thisclub.
And even if we could.
We're not guaranteed that wewould hit it anyways.
(22:55):
We're not going for perfect.
We're going for can we putourselves in the best position
possible to give us the greatestchance for success?
To prepare our mind and ourbody to perform at our best and
then be able to handle theconsequences?
Find ball, hit ball, put ballin hole?
(23:16):
That's what we're trying to do,and way too many times we
overcomplicate this with so muchjunk that's going on in our
mind.
And having a routine like thisgives us some steps that we can
go through.
It gives us things to focus on,it gives us a pattern and a
plan, it increases confidence,it allows us to feel more
(23:37):
relaxed and it's one of thosetools you can use to give
yourself the best chance duringcompetition.
If you have questions, pleasedon't hesitate to reach out
Until next time.
Make your plan and put it towork.
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