MIND FACTOR

You may have noticed that The Mind Factor Online has been undergoing a facelift this year. The final stages have just been completed, and our web address has now changed to:

www.golf-brain-online.com

This is to bring the Mind Factor “online” – which focuses on making downloadable versions of my products available internationally – into line with my main Mind Factor website, golf-brain.com, which concentrates on offering the CD/DVD versions and live training/coaching.

Unfortunately, the move of web address means that Facebook has wiped all the blog post ‘likes’ and video comments that were on the old site, so if you are a Facebook user, please help us out if you can to rebuild our Facebook status.

I hope that you like the new site layout, and that your golfing season is going well.

Kind regards,
Karl Morris

Ps – the old golfmindfactor.com links will still work and will forward to the new address for The Mind Factor Online.

Pps – What do you think of the new site layout?

As many of you know, I’m an Ambassador for Special Olympics Great Britain – a role which is very dear to my heart.

Especially when I see how a focus on genuine ABility instead of DISability can lead to remarkable personal and sporting achievement.

In today’s blog, I want to mention Matthew Sims, who despite being born with Downs Syndrome, has gone on to play golf all over the world – from representing Wales and Great Britain in World Games to partnering Ryder Cup player, Robert Karlsson in the BMW Pro-Am at Wentworth.

Matt has a dedicated regime and focus on his golf, from practice to fitness to his mental game but also knows where and how to step back from the pressures to allow himself to enjoy his game as well as win.

Not only that, but he is a real gent, and it’s a pleasure to be in his company both on and off the course.

So you can imagine how chuffed I was the other week when I received a text message saying, “I’ve done it! It’s 5 shots lower as you promised!”

I know Matt does not mind me sharing the following information with you – he has very successfully built the routines of ’5 Shots Lower’ into his game and is now playing off 12.8!!!

Well done, Matt, you can be VERY proud of yourself, your game and for being a true Ambassador of golf!!

Please join me in congratulating Matt by leaving a comment below. And if you have a success story, why not share that too?

photo by: Bob Stapleton/Sportzpics.net

It was probably one of the most amazing examples of mental toughness in sport, let alone golf.

Louis Oosthuizen becomes the deserved 2010 Open Champion at St Andrews.

Peter Alliss made the remark on commentary how Louis appeared to look at a big red dot on his glove before EACH shot and then go into a trance-like state!

Well, he did!!

About a month before the Open, I was called up by Chubby Chandler at ISM to work with Louis on his concentration and MIND FACTOR.

We sat down for the first time in Manchester and talked. It was clear his routine was all over the place. He had all of the pieces he needed but in completely the wrong order.

Most golfers just do NOT understand how important and how vital it is that you get your routine right. You need to know HOW to put the pieces together.

Concentration is one of THE most misunderstood aspects of golf and life!

Nobody ‘loses’ their concentration they just allow themselves to put it in the wrong place.

One of the difficulties of golf is there are no outside agents which help you focus your concentration – unlike, for instance, football, where the referee’s whistle will trigger the mind to focus on the game. In golf, it is essential you create your own ‘concentration trigger‘.

With Louis, the ‘RED DOT’ became his trigger point to go into a deep zen like, almost hypnotic state.

In five hours, you need to be able to ‘switch on’ and ‘switch off’ to be able to maintain your focus at the RIGHT time.

• Did you notice how Louis actively seemed to be smiling and enjoying himself? This was a specific step we discussed. The RED DOT became the focus point to play the shot and then he would ‘come out’ of that trance in between shots.
• Do you think knowing HOW to concentrate and HOW to build a robust routine might just help YOU?

All of the SECRETS to the kind of routines that Louis worked on are in the MP3 programme ‘The SECRET to CONSISTENT GOLF with the 7 Rituals of success‘.

And if you want the full blueprint to a world class pre-shot routine, look no further than our Mind Factor Online Players Coaching Programme.

Kind regards
Karl

Ps – Do you use a concentration trigger? If so, tell us about it below!

When I started to put the Coaches Programme together, I really did wonder if there going to be enough interest from coaches in wanting to look at HOW to improve their coaching and become the ‘stand out, niche expert’.

I should have had more faith!!

I launched it to my ‘golf-brain’ list last week, and the response has been brilliant – and I really do value the feedback that coaches who bought the programme have given to me.

Bas Keder who is both a golf coach, a Certified MIND FACTOR Coach AND a piano teacher in Holland said to me, ‘You have really done your homework on this. The programme is outstanding’.

The MP3 version of the coaches programme is now available too, for those who prefer to download and get started straight away.

Kind regards
Karl

Ps – Did I mention the MP3 version has a 60 day money back guarantee?

Bad rounds in golf often have as much to do with poor behavioural chains as with bad swings or poor shot selection.

Recognise this familiar scenario?

“I had great expectations for the British champs… my golf swing had definitely improved… got too excited, too focused on the outcome… hit a bad tee shot on the first, made double bogey… got angry… wondered if I had been working on the right stuff… made a couple more bogeys… self doubts increased… started to blame my teacher… had he been telling me the right things?… Front nine a disaster… angrier and more negative… frustrated, embarrassed, doubting my ability… won’t go back to my coach… will try someone else… may even give this mental stuff a try…

This is what is known as a thought chain, whereby we attach one thought to another, then another, and before we know it, we can become a mental wreck.

Recognise (and break) your habitual thought chains and you’ll set yourself free!

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – If you are a member of my online golf coaching program, the ‘Beating Self Talk‘ topic will show you how you can improve your self talk and beat those disastrous thought chains.

In a previous post, I talked about how most golf practice is a waste of time – and how you need to simulate the pressure of real game conditions in your golf practice.

If you have already got my Golf Tips Videos, you’ll have already seen the Par 18 game.

(If you haven’t seen the Golf Tips videos – go register as they are free right now…)

This is a great way to simulate the pressure of the game, and make sure your practice time is balanced properly.

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – If you are a member of my online golf coaching program, the ‘Effective Short Game Practice ‘ topic will show you how you can take Par 18 to an even higher level.

After what must be an insane amount of media pressure, Tiger Woods issued a statement saying, “I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.”

Karl posted a video recently about the importance of developing mental toughness in golf, part of which involves developing (and keeping separate) your real self and your performer self.

Most golfers suffer because they don’t have a good distinction between who they are as a person, and what they are doing (playing golf).

So if they feel like a champion when they play well, they feel like nobody when it all falls apart – which puts them under too much pressure on the course to perform well.

Tiger’s statement recognises that he has allowed his performer self (‘Tiger’) to blend into his real/family self (‘Eldrick’). He has taken Tiger home with him and lost the sense of his ‘real self’.

And although Tiger’s blurring of real and performer self is the opposite to most people (who take their ‘real self’ on the course) – the effect is the same.

Like the rest of the golfing world, we can only hope that he can find and strengthen his real self quickly so that his performer self can come back and play more great golf.

Please leave your comments below.

Kind regards,
Rob

Rob Woodgate
Mind Factor Coach

Ps – Try the Players Coaching programme for 60 days and if for any reason during that time, you are not delighted with the results, you’ll get 100% of your money back. No Questions Asked!