Part I: Why working out is essential to Mental Golf

In the year 2000, I was fortunate enough to get invited to the World Team Championship of golf, played in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The invitation was courtesy of EMC, the title sponsor, and we were lucky enough to be staying at the same hotel as the players.

The morning of the first day of play, a couple of the Chilean guests went up to the gym and were very surprised to see Tiger Woods and David Duval doing a pretty intensive pre-game workout, including pumping some pretty heavy iron.

For over five years now I have been doing my own gym program, that includes aerobics, some weight lifting and a good deal of stretching. At first it was three times a week, two hour sessions, in order to progress.

My main objective, at the time, was to recuperate distance that I had lost because of my age (I am now 61). After a few months I reduced it to two sessions per week and it became, what we could call, maintenance mode.

As time has gone by, I am immensely convinced of the value of a good workout for great golf.

And, this has to do with what I have learned over the last five years about Mental Golf.

We know for sure that great golf is played, mostly, with our right brain. This is the brain that controls the unconscious mind. It takes us into the "Present Moment" and, sometimes, into that incredibly fine state for playing exceptional golf called "The Zone".

In order to access the Present Moment, and hopefully "the Zone", we need to be extremely relaxed and focused.

Now then. One of the worst things we can do in golf is to "force" (try to hit the ball too hard).

On the technical side, "forcing a shot" quickens the swing, and by trying to hit too hard we lose the natural rhythm and timing of our normal swing. The shot usually ends up being a very poor one.

On the mental side, "forcing" is all the contrary to being relaxed and hitting a shot with good rhythm, fluid motion and good timing. In fact, when forcing, our swing becomes tense and rigid, and we tend to think "technical" in order to get those extra few yards.

What happens is quite simple and logical.

When we force we get tense and rigid. We also get angry and frustrated since in all probability we hit bad shots. And, not surprisingly, our left brain, the one that controls the conscious mind, takes over. And we know for sure that we don't play our best golf when this happens.

A key part of my Mental Method is to NEVER, NEVER force.


Me at the PWCC Gym

And my workouts at the Prince of Wales Country Club (home of the Nationwide Chile Classic) gym are essential to this purpose. Thanks to my five years in the gym, I am stronger and a great deal more flexible than I used to be. I have regained my original distance and I am hitting the ball as far as I did when I was 20 years old.

This means I do not feel a need to force, and as a result, I now hit the ball with ease, good tempo and my swing is fluid. I now incur in fewer technical errors and I feel mentally more relaxed.

The process is much more "in control" and without a doubt I can "stay" in the unconscious, subconscious, automatic or intuitive mode for longer periods of time.

READ PART II OF THIS ARTICLE

Part II: Why working out is essential to Mental Golf

In part I of my article on why working out is essential to Mental Golf, the key point was that a stronger more flexible body is able to hit the golf ball further, without "forcing" the shot.

Avoiding "forcing" is key in being able to swing fluidly and without rigidization, and this allows us to remain for longer periods of time in the unconscious mode, the mode in which we play our best golf.

But, working out has other benefits for golf and our well being in general:

1. Endorphin hormones that help us feel good.

2. Neurotrophines, a family of proteins that produce and assist in the survival of neurons. Simply put, to regularly do this type of physical exercise will give us a better learning and problem solving capability.

3. It is a proven fact that during aerobic exercise there is a reduction in left brain activity, the one that controls the conscious mind, and an increase in right brain activity, the side that controls the unconscious, intuitive and "good at golf" mind. Doing it in the gym will make it easier to do it on the course.


Gary Player, winner of 18 Majors

4. Doing a regular workout routine makes us mentally strong and disciplined.
Gary Player, the South African legend, who was the first golfing great to endorse a regular fitness program, spells it out loud and clear in his recent book :  Don´t Choke: A Champions guide to winning under pressure.
Player says: " I know that at the highest level of competition, being fit leads to a stronger mind and less chance of choking".

So just how good is working out for my golf game ??????

It couldn´t be better, really.

Working out makes me feel good, I hit the ball longer and I don´t force on the golf course any more. By generating neurotrophines, I am better at planning my shots and solving on course problems.

Today, last but not least, by being disciplined and working out regularly, I´m now a mentally stronger golfer than I ever was, and I can access my unconscious mind more frequently for key mind/body synchronization and great shot making.

At golf´s summit, a "match play" scenario ends ugly

Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson are unquestionably two of golf´s "hottest" players. Both have been playing great golf and Dufner has won twice in the last three weeks.


Jason Dufner


But it got really ugly, yesterday, in the final round of the PGA Tour´s Crown Plaza Invitational, where Johnson and Dufner were in the final pairing, six and seven shots clear of their closest rival.

And, as we have seen many times in the past, it became a "match play" contest and it wasn´t pretty.

Dufner couldn´t put a tee shot in the fairway, had a double (ninth hole) and a triple (fifteenth), and carded a terrible four over par 74.

Johnson, playing tentative golf  managed to be par for the course after 17, and had a comfortable three shot lead. Then almost blew the tournament.

His first mistake was to hit his tee shot on 18 out of turn. Dufner had the honour (no penalty here). Then proceeded to hole his final putt for par without replacing his coin, which he had moved for Dufner a few minutes earlier.

He was lucky to be informed of his mistake before he signed his score card. He was assessed a two stroke penalty, shot a mediocre two over par 72, and won the tournament by one stroke.

Why is it that when two of the best golfers in the world are confronted by a "match play" situation, they play such mediocre golf, and make such dumb mistakes ?

Golf Digest called it an ugly "pillow fight" and even recalled a similar situation that occured on the final hole of the British Open 45 years ago.


Zach Johnson


My explanation, from the Mental Golf angle is quite simple:

Both players got caught up in the "match play" situation, and because of the pressure they started playing against each other instead of just playing the shots they needed in order to beat the course.

This is an extremely common situation and what happens is the following:

The golfer (especially Dufner, in this case) starts to "calculate" or "speculate" on what he needs to do to beat his opponent. This concern about the opponent and the outcome (the future), is something that is done with the conscious mind, and takes the golfer clean out of the "present moment". And his shot making becomes erratic and uncharacteristic ( i. e. : Jason Dufner´s poor tee shots). In fact, he has abandoned playing with his powerfull intuitive mind and has suddenly lost his usual body/ mind synchronization.

To prove the point, Zach Johnson admitted in his post round interview that "I got a bit ahead of myself on the final hole", when commenting on his final hole mistakes.

The key to mentally coping with these "match play" situations is to forget the opponent, do everything necessary to focus on the golf course and each shot we have to make (the present moment) and above all, don´t allow the mind to speculate on the outcome.

Why good shot planning is key in Mental Golf

Good on course shot planning is an essential part of my Mental Method for improved performance under pressure.

It´s pretty logical if you consider that 99 % of the time we play medal (stroke) play, and every single shot we hit gets added up. Furthermore, most golf courses are filled with obstacles and it only takes a couple of planning errors to ruin a round.

One of Jack Nicklaus´ strongest attributes was that he always planned rigorously and conservatively on the course. Coming down the stretch he would only go for difficult pins when he needed birdie to win. He was so good at "golf course management" that Gary Player once stated that Jack: "had the greatest mind the game has ever known".

I found an interesting article, recently, where Jack is quoted, and is a worthwhile read on this key subject of on course management.

I teach that conservative and rigorous golf shot planning is key for two reasons:

1. The first is that if we plan our shots with care we will, for sure, shoot lower scores. Period.

2, The second reason for good planning has to do with controlling our mind.

If we plan badly and the consequence is an out of bounds, the water, or an unplayable in the trees, we are going to get angry, or frustrated, at the prospect of losing valuable strokes.

When this happens we immediately switch over to thinking with our conscious mind. And as we have discussed many times, the conscious mind is bad at golf, and does not allow us to be properly synchronized in body and mind for good shot making.

If, on the other hand, we are able to plan well, we are able to "feel" in control and the process of "staying" in the Present Moment of our unconscious mind is more easily achieved.

More about the Zone (or Flow) in golf

My Mental Method for better golf under pressure gives me, and my clients, a much better chance to play golf  "in the Zone" or "in the Flow".

I recently found an excellent article on the subject, that I have adapted to golf, and that originates from an interesting website at http://www.mindtraining.net/

1. Definition:

The Zone or Flow is a peak performance mental state which produces excellent performances and winning streaks.

The golfer in the zone experiences an unusual feeling of effortless control and power. Almost as if the body was programed for the perfect performance, and swings are carried out with instinctive, automatic and fluid movement.

The performance does not feel as if it is being controlled by the actual golfer. It´s as if the body is being guided and directed by a more powerful force.

2. The powerful force:

In fact the powerful force is our unconscious, subconscious, intuitive or automatic mind. It´s the "sleeping giant" that resides in all human beings, and that happens to be one million times better at processing information than our relatively inefficient conscious mind. Furthermore, the unconscious mind happens to be the source of all bodily movement and contains all of our past golfing experiences.

3. How to access:

When "zoning" the conscious mind becomes unusually quiet. This allows the more powerful unconscious mind to run the golfing performance on autopilot, or automatic mode. Another key factor is that by not thinking conscious thoughts, this takes away the presence of expectation and allows accessing of the Zone.

"Effortless effort" is required. Since the harder we try to be in the Zone, the further away it seems to be.

When the conscious mind surrenders it´s control of our performance, it allows the subconscious to step in.

And when we feel CALM, RELAXED and IN CONTROL our performance kicks into the Zone.

My Mental Method is totally in  line with the above, as all the techniques and behaviours I recommend, for the hours before we reach the course, for hitting shots, and for the time between shots, are geared to "steer" us into thinking and performing with our powerful unconscious mind.

The only exception is when we plan shots, since I´m convinced that our conscious mind is unbeatable at this key aspect of the game, and helps us to be totally IN CONTROL.

Mentally strong at the Chilean Amateur !!!!!!

What am I, a 61 year old senior golfer, doing competing in the Chilean Amateur Match Play Championship against the kids ?????

The answer is simple. My Mental Method has kept me competitive, and I love to test myself in match play at the highest level.

The tournament format consisted of an 18 hole qualifying round, where 69 of the top Chilean amateurs participated, and the best 32 made it into the match play rounds.

Last year I had qualified in 25´th place, to win my first match against a scratch player, and then got beaten, in a great second round match, by Juan Cerda, the current junior 2011 Orange Bowl Champion, on the 21´st hole.

This year I did a better job and qualified in a tie for 15´th, with a solid 75 (+3), by planning superbly, and employing several of my on course mental techniques that allowed me to be very well synchronized, in body and mind, for superb shot making, almost the whole round.

My first round match started badly as I made a key mistake, by arriving later than I should have, and practicing too quickly. By tee off time, I had lost my rhythm, and was tense and swinging too fast. A key, but common,  mistake from the Mental Golf point of view.


Hole 3 of Club de Golf Los Leones in Santiago

I proceeded to lose my first three holes to Juan Leon B., a scratch player from the home Los Leones course, where the championship was being held, in Santiago.

But, fortunately I refocused by using a couple of breathing exercises, and started hitting great shots in the "Present Moment" and parred in, from hole seven onwards, and was able to win the match on the 17´th hole.

My second match was against Matías López, also a scratch golfer and from my home club, The Prince of Wales Country Club (home of the Nationwide Tour´s Chile Classic), and a longtime rival. Matías is on a roll, and we had both won medal play National Championship´s earlier on in the month. Matías had won the over 40´s and I had won the Senior Division (over 55´s).

I lost on the final hole (1 down), but was very pleased by the way I played, overall.

This time I practiced well, with a lot of time, and played the first nine superbly. Very relaxed and "in the zone", I was two up after seven, by planning my shots very well, and holing several key medium length and short putts. My Mental Method worked so well that I felt no pressure.

But Matías played excellent golf on the second nine (he shot par). And the difference came down to two or three of my putts that missed by millimeters.

Matías beat me on the 18´th this time


In golf sometimes we are going to lose, however well we play. It´s the nature of the game. The important lesson in Mental Golf is that in defeat we remember and enjoy our good shots, and forget our bad ones quickly.

If we make a point of "storing" only the positive shots in our powerful unconscious mind, we are setting the correct foundation for positive memories for our future rounds. On the contrary, if we dwell on our losses, and on the bad shots that caused them, we are increasing the chances of repeating poor play.

Bad shots, poor rounds and losses must be forgotten at the speed of light. Good shots, good rounds and wins must be remembered and celebrated with everything we have.

Our powerful unconscious mind works like an old fashioned tape recorder. It stays with the most recent "recordings" that are stored on top of older ones that get erased.

It is essential that we make sure that our "unconscious recorder" is always adequately fed only with positives for smart Mental Golf.

Scientific proof: The unconscious mind is better at golf

This article is an updated version of one I wrote on this subject in my spanish language blog back in August of 2009.

At the time, I was trying to find some scientific proof that our best golf is played when we are switched over to the unconscious, subconscious, automatic or intuitive mind (except when we are planning the shot).

Over the years I have found that golfers don't tend to believe that this game is more than 80 % Mental, and prefer to believe that all problems on the course are swing related.

This is not surprising if we consider that almost 100% of the teaching of golf is technical. Nobody taught me anything about on course management, or what to do when I was under pressure !!!!!!!!

The sad thing is that thousands and thousands of great young golfing talents have been lost because they don't understand Mental Golf.

The sequence goes something like this: They play great as amateurs, they go to college. Somewhere along the line they get into a slump. They think it´s their swing. They change their swing. And 8 times out of 10, they never play superb golf again.

Eight times out of ten it wasn´t a swing problem, and to change a swing is a very complex thing to engage in.

So, it was great to find some scientific evidence that our best golf is played with our unconscious mind.

Dr. Debbie Crews from Arizona University has been studying what happens to the brain when golfers putt, for over 20 years now.

She hooks her volunteers up to EEG´s and get´s a picture of what is happening in the brain when a golfer putts.

Her conclusion is crystal clear:

The best putters are those who are feel and target oriented when they hit their putts. The scans show that they are operating with the right side of their brains and are on intuitive or unconscious mode (Golf Digest Article of October 2010).

The worst putters are those that, at moment of impact, were thinking technique and were on their rational left side of their brains.

And it´s the same on all shots.

We hit our best golf shots by planning well with our rational conscious mind, then  hit the ball tuned into our incredibly powerful unconscious mind.

Remember, our unconscious mind is one million times more powerful than our conscious mind. So the trick is to learn how to "switch over", once we have finished planning the shot, and stay there until we start planning the next one.

Wasn´t Kuchar great at The Players ?

I couldn´t be happier for Matt Kuchar. He won the 2012 Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Florida, hanging tough.

Since I saw him play at the 1998 Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Championship) in Santiago, Chile,1998, I knew he was an especially nice guy and a great golfing talent.

As a Mental Golf enthusiast I followed his career and his work with Mental Coach Gio Valiante, so when, now, everybody is talking about Kooch´s mental strength, I know that he payed his dues. And he knows all about Mental Golf.

In an interesting video interview, done some years ago,Kuchar and Valiante talk about being positive on the golf course, whatever happens, about being "in the zone" and about Valiante´s fearless golf concept.

I wouldn´t be surprised if Matt Kuchar wins a Major soon.

Valiante´s Fearless Golf. A great book about Mental Golf

I´ve just finished reading Fearless Golf by Gio Valiante, the renown Mental Golf Coach (Matt Kuchar, Justin Leonard, Davis Love, Justin Rose, and many others), from Florida.

Dr Valiante wrote the book in 2005, and though some of the players who were in their prime, then.......mainly Tiger Woods.....are struggling now, I still think his principles, concepts and examples, are absolutely valid for those of us who are keen on Mental Golf.

I would like to comment on three aspects of the book:

The first, according to Valiante, is that there are two types of golfers: Ego Golfers, and Mastery golfers.

An ego golfer is more concerned with his oponents, with what he has to do to beat them, or what he has to do to shoot a certain score. He is more worried about the outcome of shots and what the rest of the world is going to think about him, if he wins or fails.

On the other hand the Mastery golfer (the type of golfer that Dr. Valiante subscribes to) understands that the real challenge is between him and the golf course, and that the key to great golf is to "let your mind get lost in the task of executing shots to the best of your knowledge and ability".

The Mastery golfer is interested in learning, improving and exelling, and not overly concerned about rankings, what the press or anybody else is saying about them, or about how much money they are making.

I liked Valiante´s description because, to me, it´s obvious that it´s easier for the Mastery golfer to play with his powerfull unconscious mind, than the Ego golfer, who, because of his tendency to be a calculator, to be very self conscious, and concerned with the outcomes, tends to play his golf with his inefficient conscious mind.

The second aspect I liked very much is the concept of self efficacy.

Self efficacy is the key to great golf: it is the doorway to confidence. Self efficacy is conformed by the beliefs that people hold about their own capacity to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage specific situations.

Simply put, for golf: "Self efficacy is belief in our ability to succeed. And that is the very essence of confidence", says Valiante.

It´s not self esteem........that is what we thing about ourselves. Rather, self efficacy is what we believe we can really perform like, on a golf course. And, if we have strong self efficacy as a golfer, in all probability, under pressure, we will have the necessary confidence to play well.


Gio Valiante and Matt Kuchar

Finally, I liked what Valiante calls golf´s three guiding questions in order to play Mastery golf.

1. Before a round:  What are my obstacles / what is my strategy today ?

2. On the tee box: What is the best strategy for this hole ?

3. At address: What is my target ?

In my opinion, in order to play great golf, it´s absolutely key to be in the "present moment". This allows us to be "switched over" to the unconscious mind by the time we need to hit the golf ball.

And by concentrating on the strategy for the day, the strategy for the hole and the actual target, we are able to access the "present moment", and in all probability we will be totally synchronized in body and mind, and for sure our golf game will tend to be "mastery".

An intelligent wounded Tiger in front of the press

Everybody knows that Tiger Woods is having trouble scoring on the golf course after his great win in Bay Hill.

After a disappointing Masters and a failure to make the cut, last week, in North Carolina, it seems like Tiger is still struggling with his swing changes, by the looks of his two over par 74 in the opening round of this week´s Players Championship.

But, one round of golf is only one round of golf.

And I think Tiger said all the right things during his press conference yesterday evening in Ponte Vedra:

Here goes a part of it:

Q. Looked like you had some trouble with some of the finesse parts of the game, maybe wedges where you have to take a little something off, chip shots and getting the ball to the hole. Has that been a little slower to kind of come along, or is that just hit and miss, depending?

TIGER WOODS: Just one of those days today. Just today.

Q. How was your warm-up?

TIGER WOODS: I hit it good. I hit it really good.

Q. It seems that bridge between coming from the range to the first tee -- what's going on there?
TIGER WOODS:

It's golf.

Q. How do you deal with it?

TIGER WOODS: Just be patient with it. Just keep plugging along. You know, obviously in the last few months, I've put together some good rounds; won a couple tournaments.

So it's there, I just need to continue doing it.

When a golfer is struggling, or has a bad day, it´s key to "re frame" the situation in the most positive way possible.

And that´s exactly what Tiger did extremely well by saying:

1. On the question about his short game, Tiger dismisses that anything is wrong by saying "Just one of those days today" and then stresses, "Just today".

2. On the question about going from the practice range to the tee, Tiger answers very positively re framing his poor play with a reference to "It´s golf", that one just has to be patient, that one has to persevere ("Just keep plugging along") and a reminder to the press (and to himself) that he has, indeed, won twice in the last six months.

Like everybody, I´m not exactly sure how far along Tiger is on automating his swing, or on controlling his anger on the course.

But from the Mental Management side, his remarks yesterday evening were impeccable.

AGOSECH, the successfull Chilean Seniors golf organization

AGOSECH, is the acronym for Asociacion de Golfistas Senior de Chile (Chilean Senior Golfer´s Association).

It´s the major organization for senior golfers (over 55 in age) in Chile, and is probably the most succesfull, and well financed sports organization in the country.

Founded in the early 80´s, it has close to five hundred members, and organizes some 15 tournaments across Chile per year.

The organization´s success was replicated across South America, and for the last 25 years, an annual South American Championship  has been played, on a rotating basis, with fields in excess of five hundred senior golfers.

As part of this Championship, four man teams from all over South America play for the main trophy, the COPA CHILE, and, obviously, it´s a big deal for us Chilean Senior Golfers.

In fact, we have won the Copa Chile, four times, over the last six years (Paraguay 2007, Brazil 2008, Colombia 2010 and Ecuador 2011), and we want to win it again in Lima 2012 (October).

We fight hard to get on the team. This year, in a ten tornament (18 holes) qualyfier that starts in March of 2012 and finishes in August. The best six scores, out of ten, are considered.

It´s fun, and we all want make the four man team.

Felipe Taverne, Chile´s best Amateur golfer ever, is guaranteed a spot, because he is the current Southamerican Champion (Ecuador ´11) and after four out of ten valid qualifying tournaments , it looks like Michi Geyger is comfortably in control, for first place, with a two under par agregate.

That leaves a single spot to be played for, competitively, plus a Captains pick.

This is golf at it´s best !!!!!!!

Here we have seven or eight senior players, playing our guts out as if we were  kids !!!!!!

Isn´t golf great ??????? We are close to, or just over sixty years old, but we play killer golf just to make a team.

Right now I have a good chance, but several of my mates, and good friends, are hot after my golfing behind  !!!!!!

In the next couple of months I will be commenting on my mental performance in trying to make the team.

I have made the team for the last five years. And I want to make the team this time too, and be a part of the action in Lima next October.

Me with Michi Geyger in Quito 2011

I have a good shot, but I can only make the team if my Mental Golf is strong.

And as a Mental Golf Coach that teaches clients how to perform under pressure, I put myself on the line to show you how it´s supposed to be done.

Be tuned to my next updates on the AGOSECH qualyfier.

TIGER v / s NICKLAUS. Only three mental factors make the difference (for now)

It really is amazing just how many similarities are shared by Jack Nicklaus (winner of 18 majors) and Tiger Woods (winner of 14), according to an interesting article, that I came across and that was written a few years ago.

In intensity, concentration, power of intimidation, strength, resilience, intelligence and tenacity, it´s virtually a dead heat.

Both, calculators, methodical, perfectionist and consistent golfers. Both, capable of generating great power based on solid fundamentals, without doubt the best long iron players ever.

They share excellent selective memory, essential for top level competitive golf. Both originate from ultra supportive families. In terms of preparation: with special emphasis on the Majors, and, always hating second places. And neither ever, ever giving up.

Both have an amazing ability to hole difficult putts for par, raise the level of their games under severe pressure and both renown "closers" once in the the lead. Polite and courteous in defeat, and both believe in their ability to perform miracles on the course.

And why do I think Nicklaus is still better than Tiger?

Because Jack was stronger than Tiger in three key mental attributes. 

1. Anger management and frustration.

Nicklaus never showed anger on the course. His colleague, David Graham, the great Australian golf professional, has said:

"I never saw Jack Nicklaus lose his composure on the golf course."

Not so Tiger, who throughout his career has continuously lost his temper, to say the least. In fact, Tiger's late father, Earl Woods put it this way:

" Inside Tiger burns a volcano. And I've seen when it erupts. And it's not nice."

One of the biggest negatives in Mental Golf Golf is anger and frustration. The reason is simple. We get angry at something that is already in the past and it takes us directly to think with our “left brain” (which dominates the conscious mind), the side of the brain that is bad at running our body and at playing golf.

2. Rigorous and conservative planning on the course.

Jack Nicklaus, throughout his career, was extraordinarily effective at rigorous and conservative planning. When he missed a drive, he always played the conservative shot and got himself back into play. He never went for the difficult pin, unless it was his only chance to win a tournament. His golf course management was simply the best of all time, and it also explains why, in addition to winning 18 Majors, he achieved an amazing 57 top five´s in these Major championships.

Tiger, on the other hand, has been much more aggressive on the course, and has often paid the price. It is also true that he has a short game that is better than Nicklaus´, which has allowed him to overcome, in part, this weakness.

However, rigorous and conservative on course planning not only allowed Nicklaus to shoot lower scores, but this strength allowed him to "stay" much longer on the “right side” of his brain (which controls the unconscious mind), which ensures playing our best golf, since this is the only formula for efficient synchronization of body and mind.

3. Changes in the golf swing.

Nicklaus did not change his swing during the bulk of his career (he only flattened his swing in 1980, for physical reasons). His lifelong teacher, Jack Grout, believed in teaching the basics well, then it was the players responsibility to "fine tune" their swing via trial and error.

In fact, Gary Player, one of Jack´s strongest competitors, has said that nobody was better than Jack at shooting a 68 by playing “junk”.

But Tiger has made ​​numerous swing changes over time. Since becoming a pro he has worked with three different swing coaches. Harmon, Haney and Foley, and he continues to seek perfection.

Unfortunately for Tiger, as we have seen recently, swing change is an ultra complicated affair.

The reason is that learning a new swing is something we have to do with the conscious mind, the mind that is bad at playing golf. It is also difficult because in order to properly "automate" the new swing, it takes thousands of "repetitions", and dozens of hours on the practice range, and that leaves little time for practice of the always key short game and putting.

At this stage of the fascinating race for the best golfer of all time crown, no one knows for certain if Tiger will be able to surpass Nicklaus´ 18 Majors.

But if Tiger does not change his attitude towards the three key factors that I have mentioned, I personally like Jack´s chances better.

Tiger will face enormous pressure in the next few Majors. He knows time is running out. If he is to do it, he will need the strongest of minds. Anger, over aggressive planning and an ever changing swing, will not cut it.But, the good news for Tiger, is that he completely controls the situation, and his future place in golf history. It´s only up to him.

THE POWER OF THE MIND

There is no question that to play our best golf we must learn to access our powerful unconscious mind........most of the time.

I will explain what I mean by “most of the time” in a couple of minutes, but, just let me briefly clarify a couple of concepts:

The human brain is divided into the “left side” and “the “right side”. The mind is the brain “in action”.

The “left side” is related and “controls” the conscious mind. The “right side” is related to and “controls” the unconscious, subconscious, automatic or intuitive mind.

For all purposes, we will consider the concepts of left side, left brain and conscious mind to be synonyms. Equally we shall consider right side, right brain, unconscious, subconscious, automatic or intuitive minds, to be synonyms.

Now, let´s get back to business.

There is no question that we play better golf when we are using our right brain, or our unconscious, subconscious, automatic or intuitive mind. This is very like driving a car. It´s not easy to learn to drive, but once the brain has automated the necessary skills, it becomes second nature, and we can drive unconsciously.............we  carry out a conversation, think about other things, and we hardly remember how we got to our destination.

We can drive so well, and effortlessly, because our unconscious mind is incredibly powerful. In fact, as we have mentioned in other articles, it is one million times more powerful than our very limited conscious mind.

It´s the same in golf. When we are relaxed, “in the zone” or “in the flow”, we are capable of playing great golf because we are hitting the ball with our powerful unconscious mind.

The problem starts when we try too hard, we are in a tournament, we are under pressure and we play as if we were beginners. This occurs, so many times, and even at the PGA TOUR level, because we start trying to play with our very limited left side, or conscious mind.

Let me go back a bit and explain why I said we must play golf with our unconscious mind...........most of the time.

The reason for this is very simple and logical. While our “left side”, or conscious mind is very limited in terms of controlling our bodies, and at swing execution, it is excellent at planning golf shots.

This is because our conscious mind is our rational mind, it´s great at calculating, it remembers consecuenses of past actions and keeps us conservative when managing our way around a golf course..

So, a key element of my Mental Method is to play golf with our unconscious mind, except for those moments when  we are planning our next shot.

In fact, in my opinion, the essential piece  of any on course Mental Method is the ability to “switch over” to the unconscious mode just before striking the ball, and until we start planning our next shot.

Rickie Fowler wins his first PGA Tour event with a great mental attitude

A great last weekend for Rickie Fowler, who won his first PGA Tour event at the Wells Fargo Champinship in North Carolina.

He beat Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points in a sudden death playoff.

Barry McDonnell, Fowlers long time swing coach, who passed away a year ago, gave a very interesting interview in August of 2009, that proves extremely relevant, in a world in which so little importance is given to teach young golfers how to manage their minds.

 McDonnell said:

 “I spent most of my time on the mental side. I keep working my kids’ minds. It’s harder to groove your mind than your golf swing,”

In his post victory press conference, Fowler let on, as he spoke, that McDonnell´s influence regarding his mental strength had been significant.

But what I liked most, was Rickie´s answer to the question on what he thought was his most improved part of the game, over the last two years:

Fowler:   "Yeah, I've played well the last two weeks. I've been hitting the ball well and swinging it well, and I feel like mentally I've been doing all the right things. But the biggest improvement has been course management and patience and kind of staying focused throughout rounds and not letting bogeys and doubles get the best of me and moving on and making the most out of the bad rounds like I did on Friday and focusing on putting together a good week".

And the piece of the interview that I really liked was his answer to the question if there was any part of his "physical" game that he had particularly concentrated on improving.

Fowler´s reply was short and simple: "My short game" (and he went on to underline that he had really improved his bunker play).

In my opinion, there are three solid mental golf lessons to be learnt from young Fowler´s win:

The first is that patience is key for a young rising star that seems to have a bit of trouble getting his first win. McDonnell´s lessons, and similar advice fom some experienced Tour players, served Rickie very well.

Second, good golf course management is essential as it turns into less strokes on the course, but, even more importantly, by avoiding stupid mistakes the golfer has a much higher probability of "staying" in his unconscious playing mode, the mode that allows our best golf, by being properly syinchronized in mind and body.

In third place, intensive practice of all aspects of the short game is vital. Not only does it allow us to "save" par, or sometimes birdie, when we miss the green, but it also allows us to
"stay" in the unconscious mode for longer periods of time, by avoiding the probable anger and frustration of an untimely missed birdie, or worse, a costly bogey or double. Anger and frustration takes us straight to the conscious mode of playing, that is bad for the swing since we are not synchronized in body and in mind.

Good on Rickie Fowler who´s promise is undeniable, and he should become one of the greatsof golf in the months and years to come.

"In the zone" to win the Chilean National Seniors Championship

Me, receiving the Trophy

I couldn´t be happier at how I performed in the Chilean Senior National Championship played at Club de Golf La Dehesa, over 36 holes, on April 30 and May 1.

I shot 145 (72-73: 145), one over par, to win by two over Hugo León B.

I concentrated very hard at doing everything at the proper pace before each round. I did everything slowly and without hurry, and was able to acheive a "mellow" mind, before I started play each day.

This is a key piece of my Mental Method that I have been using, now, for almost five years.

What I try to do, once on the course, is to plan each shot conservative and rigorously with my conscious mind, and then "switch" back to my unconscious mind to hit the shot, and for the rest of the time untill it´s time to plan the next one.

And it worked like a dream for the two days of competition, and I´m proud to have won this tournament for the third time (2008, 2009 and 2012).

I was "in the zone" for the the entire 36 holes. I feel that my "proper" pacing before each round was the key.

Once on the course I focused on a couple of my breathing exercises to keep me in the zone. It came very easily, and the fact that I planned very well the whole time, fed into this ultra positive flow, and allowed me to acheive an extremly high level of mind/body synchronization every time I hit a shot.

The result was a couple of fantastic rounds of golf, despite very bumpy greens.

My drives were longer than normal and very straight. I hit some spectacular iron shots, and my short game
was impecable, very typical of when one is "in the zone".

No double bogeys and no three putts, capped a superb couple of days of golf.

My confidence is at an all time high, not entirely surprising, though, since I have devoted a lot of time, off the course, to strengthen my mind.

It´s what I call my mental gym. As Bob Rotella says so clearly in his great book,The 15´th Club (confidence), the mind needs permanant exercise in order to strengthen our confidence level, like our body needs the physical exercise to keep it in shape.

At 61 years old, I continue playing the best golf of my life, thanks to my Mental Method, and I´m certainly looking forward to playing the Chilean Match Play Championship (top flight), in two weeks time, and the next seven qualifying, eighteen hole tournaments, that will determine the four man team that will represent Chile in the South American Seniors Championship to be played in Lima, Perú, next October.

I got tired of choking

About five years ago I started experimenting with a Mental Method that allows me to significantly improve my performance under pressure on the golf course.

The truth is that the results so far have been spectacular, and since September 2007 I have won over 50 tournaments, some of them of great significance to me. Two top flight Club Championships (I play at the Prince of Wales Country Club, home of the Nationwide Tour´s, Chile Classic) and three Chilean National Senior Championships (2008, 2009 and 2012), and many others.

Everything started with a simple observation: How our performance changes on the golf course when we are "under pressure", nervous, or forced to make a score, or a critical shot. Week after week we watch on TV how the best players in the world “choke” when the stakes are very high, or when severe pressure hits them.

In the last 30 years, a flock of sports psychologists, performance coaches and mental golf gurus have been advising leading golfers and writing a bunch of books on how to “manage” the mind on the golf course. But really, judging by the results, most have failed.

I am not, by training, a psychologist. I´m just an avid golfer who loves competing, and who put together a Mental Method to avoid “choking” under pressure.

My objective with this english language Blog is to hopefully replicate my success with my 15 month old blog in spanish. Here go my initial observations on why there is so much choking in golf.

First, 99% of the teaching of the game is technical and mechanical. From the start, we are taught the fundamentals of the golf swing but almost nothing about the mental side, or how to manage our way around a golf course. When I was a kid nobody taught me how to concentrate better or what to do when I got nervous. “Just practice your butt off and consciously think about getting your swing right”, was the only formula.

Second, it happens that the conscious mind is a pretty limited processor. It can´t retain more that six or seven items of information at a time, it´s extremely rational, critical and fearful, as it remembers many negatives from the past,and it´s very bad at processing large quantities of information, such as needed to properly execute the golf swing under pressure.

It´s the “right” brain (that controls the unconscious mind) that is powerful. In fact, a million times more powerful than the conscious mind. It´s the one that stores every golf swing we have ever done, remembers trends, patterns and manages our body movements. The unconscious mind also generates target awareness, and knows all about depth of perception. It is not fearful as it does not have critical faculties of its own.

Third, on the other hand, the unconscious mind tends to do this really well. Not surprisingly. When we are playing relaxed and loose (usually a friendly, or when we are just playing alone) we tend to play very well. Everything comes easy, our putts tend to drop and our score tends to be very good . But just let us play a tournament, and give us a card, and things change ....... "this is serious, I have to do well, I have to remember the new swing tip I was taught last week. And let´ s not do anything stupid”.

The conclusion is simple and obvious. We play better when we just “let go” and play with our “instinct”, or with our unconscious mind. But just put a card in our pockets, a few bucks on the line, or participate in a tournament, and we try “consciously” to play our best golf. And when the pressure hits, we consciously try even harder. But, as we have already mentioned, the left brain, that controls the conscious mind, is a pretty darned limited processor with which to swing a golf club. By contrast, when we're just playing for fun, calm and relaxed, what happens is that we are in the mode that best fits golf: the automatic, intuitive or unconscious mode.

So what we need to develop, therefore, is an effective Method that allows us to stay in the "unconscious" or "automatic" mind when we are under pressure. We must recognize that it is not easy and that even the best of Mental Methods will not always work all the time.

However, based on my personal experience of these past five years, I´m convinced that any disciplined and motivated golfer can significantly improve his performance under pressure by incorporating a solid Mental Method into his game.