An experienced golfer approached me for help :
“I was in a competition last week and had a complete melt down on the course ………..”
By ‘melt downs’ he meant reaching the point of desperation which makes you play much worse than you are capable of, rather than a John McEnroe type melt down. You know, the downward spiral that starts with a bad shot or decision then negative emotions take hold and it goes from bad to worse. What is happening is you are responding to the last bad shot and that is fatal to performing well.
My client’s game had become so frustrating that he was on the verge of giving up completely . Who wants to make a fool of themselves week after week and never see any improvement and live in a state of dread . He also came to the conclusion that no amount of money spent on expensive clubs or even golf lessons was going to fix the problem which he recognised originated in his mind.
So he came to me as a last resort and without much hope that I could make a difference. He was wrong. Not only did he enjoy his golf again, he improved his game considerably once the mental blocks were removed.
We started by examining what was going through his mind before and during games and developed a mental strategy to cope with different situations and set-backs. He learned how to get into the best state to tee off and maintain a positive mental state throughout, regardless of what hazards he had to faceor who he was playing. After only two sessions he noticed a big improvement in the way he felt when he was playing and this translated into much better performances.
We worked on building confidence by removing the the negative beliefs and thoughts and replacing these with positive ones. We also spent time on creating a simple and highly effective pre-shot routine which again, reduced anxiety and improved results.
By the end of coaching he was playing better, thinking better and feeling better with a “can’t believe I could ever have done this” and belief that yes he can.