Typically, I share with students that scrambling can happen so quickly, that at any time they are only one shot away from disaster on the course. I find that it's almost like players are waiting for the negative shot, even on the edge of their seat in anticipation of the wheels falling off, regardless of how well they are playing. It's normal to have negative emotions or anxiety on occasion; yet the greatest learning is how to shift out of negative attitudes fast -- yes even right in the middle of your round.
The power to quickly shift attitude and emotion is available to every player, regardless of their current golf level. So many players allow typical fear, worry, anxiety, frustration, anger, and blame to drain the very energy they need for confidence and better performance. Negative feelings and attitudes can run like an undercurrent and be draining your energy even while you're "trying to think positive," trying to visualize a great shot or repeat an affirmation. Then you wonder why the mental game techniques you have tried aren't working for you. It's because your internal feelings affect your shots and feeling has a direct correlation to ease of play or, as I call it. "instinctive golf." To improve your mental performance as well as your game and your well-being, it's imperative to take control of your emotions. Here's how:
You can become more aware of what your emotions are doing in the moment and how they affect your game. HeartMath techniques show how you can take control of your emotions, enabling you to make dramatic improvements in your game. You'll come to understand how it is your emotion behind tension, negative inner dialogue, or a distracting thought that creates self-judgment, lack of confidence, and an almost paralyzing fear for many.
Research shows the following consequences of negative emotions.
In the energetic aspects of golf, emotions are the key. The missing performance factor for many golfers is the ability to regain your emotional equilibrium and recover mental and physical energy when you're halfway through a round and struggling. Once insecurity and self doubt creep in, watch out. Those strong emotions cause a huge drop in energy and confidence as well as focus and coordination. This is because emotions are linked to physiology in the human bio-electrical system. Insecurity and self-doubt can immediately skew your motor skills. The fact is that mental and golf swing training is often not enough to maintain a consistent emotional balance. You have to address emotions directly. Otherwise a lack of emotional equilibrium can affect your balance, timing and swing rhythm.
Over the 35 years that I have been a golf teacher, I have been a relentless pursuer of tools for healthy mental and emotional balance. Over and over I've found it's the single most important component for successful performances. Yet it's also one of the most difficult areas to teach. Most players only catch a glimpse of what mental control feels like. This despite all the catch phrases, gurus, and tons of literature they may have studied over the years. Mental control methods are missing a most important element. As I've discovered recently, mental mastery can be a much simpler process, a process that involves the heart.
When I was first introduced to the Institute of HeartMath, I was immediately impressed with the amount of science and research that had gone into their techniques. When I find any promising tool or technique, I first test it on myself, staff, and a few hand-picked students. I needed proof that HeartMath was not just another set of mental techniques that would fail during the heat of battle. I found these techniques surprisingly effective and simple in my first tests, but in order to effectively compare data I put several students on our launch monitor equipment and took base-line averages of ball flight, swing speed and path lines. I then explained the science behind HeartMath and how HeartMath's Quick Coherence technique changes their heart rate variability pattern and emotional perception to improve performance. Doing the technique for 1 minute effectively shifts emotions and achieves heart and emotional synchronicity, which students were able to monitor and receive instant feedback using the Freeze Framer software. The technique is simple enough that most students managed some level of synchronization the first time through, as measured by the Freeze-Framer. This was an important step in understanding their heart's role in emotional control.
Returning to the launch monitor after their HeartMath practice, the results were so staggering, I was shocked. For every single student, clubhead speed increased and ball-fight control improved, and for 75 percent of the students every measure improved. Then we used the Freeze Frame software outdoors hitting real-time golf shots. Again distance and ball flight control improved with remarkable consistency. Even though the students I tested, from top-level professionals and collegians to amateurs, were astounded by their improvements, it was not until I used HeartMath with my family and friends and saw the emotional benefits outside of golf did it sink in for me that something incredible was happening.
Next, while teaching in Japan, I tested more than 65 Japanese golf teachers and professionals practicing Quick Coherence with the Freeze Framer, using our electromagnetic field testing equipment. In every area that we quantify for golfers, every professional's electromagnetic readings revealed dramatic improvements. My colleagues in Japan who specialize in these methods were surprised to see readings comparable to those of Japan's Olympic champions. You can imagine the buzz these sessions caused.
Well, after those dramatic tests, I went to the Institute of HeartMath to receive more training and read volumes of their research and related materials. I now have a better understanding of how powerful this research is, why it works, and how it can improve the game of golf and also people's lives. As a result, I am a much more effective teacher, simply because I can give players the ability to actually control the way they feel and think. Even the most timid and fearful golfers can become emotionally synchronized and able to achieve goals they never thought possible. Almost all of my players now use the Freeze Framer program: tour players, collegiate level, juniors, and all levels of amateurs. Their golf is improving as is their confidence and joy in the game. The results simply cannot be disputed.