mind coach

Expectations (Replay)

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By Paul Monahan, Graves Golf Mental Game Coach

Replay:

It is fascinating to me how MUCH our expectations can negatively impact our experiences…as well as our ability to perform at our best.

While watching the last round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, I heard one of the CBS announcers – I think it was Peter Kostis – comment on the challenging day that John Rahm was having.

After three solid rounds, Rahm began his final series in second place, with a chance to win another event this year after a phenomenal previous year in which he earned his first victory as well as ten top ten finishes.

But after 16 holes, Rahm was at two-over par when he probably needed to be a 3 or 4 under parto be in contention to win. Rahm’s frustration was pretty evident.

At that point, Kostis commented that he thought Rahm’s biggest challenge would be managing his expectations.

What did he mean? Simply that Rahm had such an incredible previous year, that he would have to be careful not to create expectations in his mind about the results he would be able to achieve in any given week.

We perform best when we drop our expectations when we metaphorically leave our expectations in the car. These allow us to see our reality (the game, the shots, the putts…etc.) more objectively…and not have our perspective clouded by our stories.

A little over a week ago I had the chance to attend the Graves Golf Academy 3-Day School in Orlando…

During this first day of the school, Tim Graves and his staff emphasize the importance of starting the Single Plane Swing process with the shortest of golf moves possible – the putt – by leading a putting lesson.

As I interacted with some students during the putting lesson, I noticed how many were struggling with their mental game. And I know it sounds strange…we were practicing putting.

The guidance from Tim was this: work on matching the putting stroke model and don’t worry about sinking putts. We don’t care about sinking putts; we want to make sure that we are hitting “checkpoints.” If we get good at executing the checkpoints, we will make putts, for sure.

But here’s what I saw: guys were getting frustrated because they weren’t sinking putts. (And some guys were extremely frustrated.)

These were brilliant, accomplished people. They know how to listen and follow direction. But …they were stuck in their expectations.

When we get stuck in our expectations, when we view reality through the lens of hope, the only way we can be satisfied is if those expectations are met. (Makes sense…right?)

But if our expectations are not met then what happens? You guessed it: disappointment – or even worse: apparent frustration.

The guys on the putting green were missing putts they expected to make. And so, they experienced those misses as disappointment and frustration. (They even forgot about the purpose of the practice, to begin with.)

But what if they had been able to set their expectations aside?

They likely would have been able to perform better throughout the exercise and would have:

  • Remembered the purpose of the practice session
  • Not worried about the result
  • Focused on process
  • Worked on matching the putting model
  • Enjoyed the experience
  • Learned
  • …and maybe even been a little more fun to be around

I often tell my clients, the tighter your grip on your stories or expectations about what should happen, the more difficult it is to experience your reality in productive ways…especially when things don’t go as you think they should.

If you want to get better at this game, (or anything) you must learn to drop your attachment to results and instead, stay focused on the elements that produce the desired results. Like; gripping the club correctly, starting with a proper address, and matching the swing model.

When you miss a putt or hit a ball poorly, remember: that is a neutral event. It is neither good nor bad…it is. Learn to see the things that happen in your environment as they are…and not worse than they are. Learn to see them as a chance to learn something and master a new skill. No matter what happens.

Like John Rahm or the participants of our GGA Schools, we all would benefit by loosening our grip on our expectations…or dropping them altogether.

Paul Monahan, PCC is a Peak-Performance coach, member of the International Coach Federation and a certified COR.E Performance Dynamicsä Specialist. He resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Paula and is the proud dad to three young men. He works with elite-level performers and leaders, helping them to expand their awareness so that they perform at their best more consistently.

Miss It Fast

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Moe Norman – through his brilliance, his pursuit of excellence, and his perspective on life and golf  –  said a lot of memorable things the course of his life.

One of my favorites is: “Miss it fast.”

What does it mean? And how does it relate to your golf game?

Turns out that the concept: Miss it Fast is amazingly simple, and yet rooted in the complex dynamics of the human brain. You see, even if Moe was not aware of it, the knowledge of what “Miss if Fast” yields for athletes like golfers is supported by the latest research and science in human performance.

And it has surprising implications for your mental game.

Last weekend, at the 2-Day Mental Game Playing School at Prairie Landing Golf Club in West Chicago a whole group of Single Plane Swing golfers had the opportunity to gain a much deeper understanding of what Moe meant by Miss it fast.

One of the key concepts we spent a lot of time on was this: The golf swing is a physical movement. There is a part of your brain that is dedicated to replicating the physical movements you repeat over and over again …it’s called procedural memory.

When you rely on procedural memory to execute a golf shot you give yourself the best chance of pulling off the shot the way you intend to. However, when another important part of your brain – the thinking and analytical part – gets involved, you can often struggle to create high-quality shots.

What to do?

Create routines or distractions so that you prevent too much thinking and analysis (… produced in the part of the brain associated with Working Memory.) Hitting the ball relatively quickly is a perfect example of this kind of distraction.

One super-effective portion of the instruction last weekend was dedicated to teaching a tightly-rehearsed 5-7 second pre-shot routine based on the fundamental concept that dwelling over your shot for 10-15 seconds is a sure-fire way to take you out of Procedural Memory and into Working Memory (where analysis, fear and anxiety lurk.)

Tim Graves led the group through an exercise that allowed the guys at the school to see first-hand how much a short, crisp pre-shot routine can impact the mental game.

Elite-level golfers know that a routine like this supports great shots – but they may not know exactly why.

The reason is that when you keep your pre-shot routine short and structured you prevent the over-analysis, anxiety and resulting tightness in the swing that comes from THINKING TOO MUCH about the shot you are about to hit.

When Tim talks about “playing empty” they are talking about hitting shots when you are operating from Procedural Memory…and not Working Memory. They know – as did Moe – that if you dwell and linger over shots before you hit them – your capacity to hit great shots is significantly diminished.

So if you want to enhance your mental game, consider practicing your pre-shot routine. See if you can build a deliberate – but not rushed – routine that allows you to step into the ball and pull the trigger within 5-7 seconds. I think what you will find is that you won’t get “stuck” in your thinking nearly as often as you may be getting stuck today.

Miss it fast!

-Paul

Paul Monahan, Graves Golf Mental Game Coach

Opportunities are Everywhere

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By: Paul Monahan, Graves Golf Mental Game Coach

Note: Two years ago, following a week at the Alumni Camp in Orlando, I wrote about how we have opportunities all around us to practice tuning-up our mental game. As you get back on the course in more normal settings over the next few weeks – wherever you are – keep in mind that there are LOTS of opportunities to strengthen your mental game:

Just had a great week in Orlando at the GGA 5-Day Alumni Camp.

It was a fun week of learning, instruction, growth, as well as some great conversation about what it takes to perform at a high level.

My job at the camp last week was to help the attendees to expand their awareness of the mental and emotional dynamics that allow them to show up at their best.

Said a little differently, I was there to help them learn how to tune into their energetic presence…the mix of physical, mental emotional and other elements that merge to form what I refer to as performance energy.

I believe that the key to performing at your best consistently over time is to build awareness of self… and a knowledge of how the things around you are impacting your thoughts.

How does the experience of standing on the first tee with an audience of other golfers watching you impact your ability to access your skills? Does it make you feel nervous? And if it does, can you identify the actual thinking that produces that nervousness?

If you can identify the thinking, then you are well on your way toward increased awareness. And then you can do something about thoughts that are unproductive, versus ideas that are supportive of your efforts, goals, objectives…etc.

For example, you might realize that you are nervous because you don’t want to be embarrassed by duffing your tee ball into the woods. You don’t want the harsh judgment of others. Understandable.

But what’s another way to look at that? Perhaps all the guys behind you want nothing better than to see you hit it well. They too are capable of hitting it into the woods – by in their minds, they are behind you, pulling for you to hit a great shot.

Or perhaps, they don’t care that much at all. So then you can forget about all that worry and anxiety. After all, it’s just misplaced energy.

All that is left, then is for you to step up and hit it where you want to. (And accept that you can handle the results…no matter where the ball goes.)

We talked a lot last week about increasing awareness of what is happening on the golf course to play better golf.

But here’s the interesting thing: you can practice increasing your awareness all day long, anywhere you go. In traffic. At work. In your interactions with colleagues or those closest to you. There are opportunities ALL DAY LONG to tune into the thought patterns that are driving how you interpret your experiences.

My message to the group last week is the same message I give you here: if you want to improve how you play on the golf course, practice growing your awareness of self in every moment you can. Not just on the golf course, putting green, or during play, but in every situation you experience.

Try it this week. You will be surprised at how easy it is.

The opportunities are everywhere.

Resilience Is Your Super Power

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By Paul Monahan, GGA Mental Game Coach

College football is so exciting because you never know what is going to happen. You never know how teams will respond to adversity.

A while back I was watching one of the Marquee College Football matchups of the week – and can’t help but think about how well both teams responded to challenges and setbacks.

If you watched the Penn State vs. Ohio State game, you know that the Nittany Lions scored on the first play of the game, and added another touchdown only a few minutes later to go up 14-0 early in the first quarter. And they led until just under two minutes in the game.

Penn State has an incredible team, and you could hardly blame the Ohio State players if they felt a little deflated early on. I mean, how do you get back in the game when you are dominated so thoroughly and so soon?

What you may not know however is that the Ohio State team has a unique resource: a peak performance coach by the name of Tim Kight who teaches resilience – something I believe is a real Super Power when it comes to realizing your best performances. Kight’s goal: to help the OSU football players master a new language and produce supportive self-talk to navigate through setbacks successfully.

Kight’s work is not the only thing that determines the team’s results. And it doesn’t always produce the results they want. But more often than not, his work cultivates a performance dynamic for the players to operate from a productive mindset and play their best, no matter the situation.

Mental and emotional resilience – the capacity to bounce back from challenges, disappointments, and setbacks quickly – is such an essential part of golf as well.

In today’s column, I will present some concepts that may allow you to think differently about setbacks, and help you to build your capacity to be resilient while practicing and playing.

I believe that with some intention and awareness, you can build MORE resilience into your practice and play so that this single-plane-swing journey is a lot easier and way more fun.

How?

First, we have to start with some basics.

There is only one reason why you experience adversity, but it’s probably not the reason you think.

Here’s how we often process challenges on the golf course our self-talk sounds like this:

Seems logical, but the truth is quite different.

You see, you’re not upset because you drove it into the trees, skulled a wedge across the green or missed that easy four-footer on the last green.

You’re mad for a much more fundamental reason.

That’s right. You’re upset because the REALITY you are experiencing does not align with your STORY about what you SHOULD be experiencing.

(Read that again. It’s super talented.)

You’re not mad because you drove it into the woods. You’re crazy because your STORY says you should be able to hit the fairway…or perhaps that guys like you don’t run it into the woods.

The stories you anchor in critical moments shape how you interpret each moment. And when your reality and your story are misaligned, it’s easy to understand any moment as bad, negative, disappointing, frustrating…etc.

If you played golf with me when I was 20, you’d understand why I threw my clubs all the time…or why I played the game so frustrated.

It wasn’t because I was producing terrible shots. (Though there were LOADS of those!) It was because my STORY and my reality were not aligned. My story was: “I should be able to produce great shots all the time.” And yet my fact was entirely different, and it was hard to be resilient.

So what to do?

I believe that there are three easy ways to build more resilience in your golf game.

  • Be more aware of your internal mechanics:

Awareness is both a skill and a discipline. When you bring knowledge of your own mental and emotional state to the golf course, you can improve how you play and experience the game.

But you need to work at it…and be intentional about it.

Your brain is continually monitoring your environment looking for nominal conditions. And when situations fall outside of theoretical – when reality and story are not aligned – red flags go up, and your emotional intensity rises.

But missing a four-footer just means that you lost a four-footer. The event itself is neutral. It doesn’t say anything until you – guided by your internal mechanics – decide it does.

So pay more attention to your internal mechanics…the part of your brain that signals potential danger – and that can take you out of productive thinking if you are not careful.

And when you are facing adversity ask yourself: Is this a disaster …? Or is this something more benign?

Take a few moments the next time you show up to practice or play, and try and assess your own mental and emotional state. And work to be more aware of when your internal mechanics are trying to hijack your game.

Heard It a Thousand Times … The Grip…

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By Tim Graves, PGA

From: jay@log….
Subject: The GRIP!
To: Tim Graves <timg@gravesgolf.com>

I’ve heard it more than a thousand times…

I finally figured out just how the grip ‘feels’.  And now I am able to  confirm that I have the grip correct.

Positioning on the handle…

Correct overlapping of the trail hand little finger…

Lead hand thumb comfortably in the crease of the palm pad of the trail hand…

I was amazed when I finally ‘felt’ the proper fit of my hands on the club handle.  I always fidgeted with my grip before coming to address—and thought it was correct.  But when I accidentally did it right, I ‘felt’ it immediately.

After all the hands-on instruction, I never really got it.  And I just sort of stumbled into it while fidgeting.  The result was immediate transformation and much improved direction, distance and accuracy with all clubs—especially my driver.

Thanks for harping on the importance of the Grip.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

Jay C. / Pie Town, NM

*****
Additional Grip Help / Instruction: Go to: https://gravesgolf.com/product-support/

Click on GGA Grips (2 Instruction Videos about proper grip / hold of club)

Smooth Authority

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By Tim Graves, PGA

Mark W. (East Saint Louis, MO)

To: Timg@Gravesgolf.com

Hey Tim;

I just wanted to say thank-you and to share my experience playing yesterday due to some freakishly warm weather in St. Louis.

This month I have been working on my putting, chipping and pitching (into a tarp) in the basement for a few minutes daily and tracking the time spent. It’s amazing how spending 7 to 12 minutes a day per discipline can add up – so far this month I’ve practiced my putting stroke alone for 3 hours plus (23 of 27 days). I have incorporated your teachings on ball position, shaft lean and hands down the line and continue to work to ingrain them.

Your tips during the FF <Fast Forward> presentation – specifically the single trail hand drill that Tiger used, and the short backstroke to promote acceleration – were golden. Yesterday – the first real round in over 6 weeks – I had 30 total putts with no three putts. What’s more – I had several 4-6 footers that due to your acceleration drill went in the hole with smooth authority!

Thank-you for all that you do to share your insights – very grateful for you and the GG team.

Mark

Enjoy your day – “The Best Is Yet To Come”

Fast Forward Information:

http://gravesgolf.com/fast

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