mind coach

Small Adjustments

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By:  Paul Monahan, Graves Golf Mental Game Coach

Sometimes inspiration comes when you least expect it.

I had a chance to spend a couple great days at the Graves Golf Academy HQ in in Edmond, OK recently. It was a great visit…full of great interactions, creative ideas, stepping outside of my comfort zone, learning from the great team at GGA, and there was even time for a little golf with Tim.

Based on feedback and interest from the GGA community, we are planning some very exciting playing schools next year focused on helping our students to tune-up their on-course mental game.  ( I am looking forward to sharing the dates for those very special schools with you in the coming weeks.)

And yes, my visit with the Graves Team was inspirational. But something happened at the very end of my trip that made my trip even more so…and I just had to share it:

I ended my second day with Tim, Todd, Chandler, Shannon, Blade…et al, and headed to the airport late in the afternoon. Because I had stayed as long as I possibly could at Rose Creek Golf Club, I had barely enough time to make my flight.

The first order of business was to drop my rental car off at the Will Rogers World Airport and hop onto the shuttle that would deliver me to the main terminal.

As I approached the shuttle bus a guy greeted me cheerfully and offered to put my golf clubs onto the bus. I noticed his name tag…so I said: “Thanks Marty.” And he said…with a big smile and lots of great energy:  “Thanks for calling me Marty.”

Marty was the shuttle bus driver. When all the passengers had boarded the bus, Marty took his seat behind the wheel and we headed to the airport. Then he picked up the microphone and began making what sounded like a pretty-routine courtesy announcement.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Marty and I will be taking you on the four-minute ride over to the main terminal here at Will Rogers World Airport. I hope that you enjoyed your stay in the Oklahoma City area.”

I was only sort-of listening. But, then it got interesting…

“And if I may, I would like you to consider this…”

Uh-oh, I thought. Where is this guy going with this…?

“In a few minutes, you will be on an airplane headed to your destination. As the pilot points the plane down the runway and throttles-up the engines, he will make lots of very small adjustments to the engine, wings and other control surfaces so that you will soon be soaring high in the sky.”

Small adjustments in your game can make you soar.

And then he went on…

“I invite you to consider that life is like that as well. If you commit to making small adjustments every day in your own life, you too can set yourself up to soar. To achieve all you want to. To be who you want to be. And to create the life you want.”

Woah.  I thought to myself: who is this guy!!??

He was articulate, polite, happy, and positive. His message was simple, thoughtful, and expertly-delivered. And he inspired me to pause and think. (Not who I expected to be driving that shuttle bus!)

It struck me that much of what I talk about with my performance clients can be thought of in exactly the same way he had described.

Small adjustments made often over time leads to profound changes. (Or as Marty would say…allows you to SOAR)

It’s the same message you have heard from Todd, Tim and others when it comes to skill development in the Single Plane Swing arena: Start slow. Feel position one. Then Feel position two. Learn what proper rotation onto your trail leg feels like. Ask for feedback on ONE thing. Then another. …etc.

Small adjustments made often over time leads to profound changes.

And it’s the same message that I offer with respect to building a more productive mental game. Learn to be a little more aware of your thoughts today. Then a little more aware tomorrow. Learn the language of Performance Energy. Then learn how to see how Performance Energy shows up for you on the course. Notice how it impacts your ability to hit the shots you desire…or how it prevents you from playing your best.  …etc.

Small adjustments made often over time lead to profound changes.

We all get impatient sometimes…and it’s easy to fall into the trap of needing BIG change NOW.

But that’s not always possible. (Or advisable)

Part of Marty’s message is to say this: take the pressure off of yourself to FIX this week what you want to  – in your swing mechanics OR your mental game skills – and just get on a path to mastery.

Commit to making small changes over a long period of time. And TRUST that you will create the change you are interested in. That’s how you improve your swing mechanics. And that’s how you raise your consciousness and performance energy (read mental game!) on the course.

So the next time you happen to be at the Oklahoma City Airport rental car facility, be sure to look for Marty driving your shuttle bus…and LISTEN carefully to his advice!

Have a great week!

-Paul

PS…What do you want to create in your life and your golf game? And what small adjustments are you willing to commit to making today, this week, this month? 

Paul Monahan, PCC is a Peak-Performance coach, member of the International Coach Federation and a certified COR.E Performance Dynamics (TM)  Specialist, and a member of the Graves Golf Academy staff, specializing in the mental game. He resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Paula and is the proud dad to three young men.

Mental Game School Follow Up

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By: Tim Graves, PGA

Last week we held one of our Mental Game (Alert Attitude of Indifference) Schools. Myself (Tim Graves) and Paul Monahan (Graves Golf Mental Game Coach) run the school with help from our great teaching staff.

Shortly after the school, Paul sends a follow up email to all the students.

It is such an AWESOME email, I want to share with all / you.

I understand, there are many points in the follow up email you will not “understand” unless you attended the school, but there is also a lot of information thought you might find interesting.

Good afternoon!

It was great working with you last week at the AAI School in Edmond. 

Thanks for “emptying your cup” so that you were ready to take on new ideas – and/or revisit the concepts you already knew.

Our goal was to create unique experiences so that important insights would emerge for you about what it takes for you to elevate your mental games skills so that golf for you is full of more higher quality shots, less struggle, and more fun.

That said, learning and exploring at the school is one thing – but applying what you learned is another – and is key to transforming your game.

So, I thought I would share a couple thoughts about how you can make the most of your time at the AAI School, now that you are back home.

First: Revisiting The Big Ideas:

  • Golf is simple. We often make it too hard.
  • Golf is an athletic endeavor, not a cognitive one.
    • Channel your inner athlete, quiet your inner thinker: 
    • Use your “athletic feels” and awareness of things like: balance, tempo, tension, visualization.
  • Use systems and processes to shut down the overthinking:
    • Red Zone, Green Zone, Gray Zone.
    • Choreographed pre-shot routine. 
  • Play faster. Practice slower.
  • Gamify your practice. Always.
  • See the outcome of every shot as feedback, not failure. 
  • Celebrate and emotionalize your functional shots. 

Next: What to do with it all?

Take a deep breath. You don’t need to “eat this elephant” in one sitting. Just go one bite at a time:

  • Reread your notes.
  • Pick one of the ideas that resonated for you and lean-in to the concept every day for a week.
    • For example, practice using the framework Red Zone, Green Zone, Gray Zone for every shot you hit. Practice or play.
  • Then pick another one and just focus on that.
  • And so on.

Within a 30 days, you will have VASTLY grown your mental game skills – you will be playing better, struggling less, and enjoying more.

Over the next few of weeks, I will continue to stay in touch with you as you playfully integrate these important ideas into your practice and on-course experiences.

In the meantime, remember this: passion has a half-life. If you are excited about your experience last week, understand that the time to do something about it is NOW. 

If you let this moment slip, you will simply not make the transformation in your game that is possible for you.

Get after it. Now.

Have a great week!!  (Have a great July 4th Weekend!)

– Paul

*****

If you would like more information about upcoming Mental Game Schools, please go to: https://singleplanegolfschools.com/schools/aai-mental-game

Can’t Break Bad Habits

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By Tim Graves, PGA

Don’t Waste Time Trying to Break Bad Habits – Instead Build New Ones

I bet I talk about this so many times in our schools, many of our students probably get “sick” of hearing it.

When it comes to dealing with bad habits, many of us attack the problem head-on, by trying to break the habit.  This tactic, of course, doesn’t work.  And we are left with the old truth – habits are tough (if not impossible) to break.  The blame lies with our brains.  While we are really good at building circuits (creating habits), we are awful at unbuilding them. Trying as you might to break a bad habit, it is still there, waiting patiently for a chance to be used.

So, what do we do?

The solution is to ignore the bad habit and put your energy toward building a new habit that will override the old/bad habit.

To build new habits, start slowly. Expect to feel stupid, clumsy, uncomfortable, and even frustrated at first…. after all, the new “wires” in your brain haven’t been built yet. Your brain still wants to follow the old “comfortable” pattern. Build the new habit by gradually increasing the difficulty, little by little. It takes time, but it’s the ONLY way new habits are created and grow.

To Learn it More Deeply, Teach It

I absolutely love this one.

Here is the issue. Every good golfer, every golfer who learns something new/reaches a goal, etc… must be their own best teacher. If you cannot teach yourself, your ability to make changes, create new habits, reach goals, etc. will occur in a much slower rate.

This is not saying you must create everything yourself, but it is saying you must take what you learn and translate into self-teaching.

Think about it – how much time to you spend practicing, and how much of that practice time is with someone teaching you?

If you are like most, 90% + of your practice time is on your own, trying to create new habits, etc. on your own. Meaning, you must be able to make sure you are doing things correct, must be able to make sure you are “going down the correct path”.

A great way to determine if you can teach yourself it ask yourself “Could I teach this (new habit I am trying to learn) to someone else?”

This works because when you communicate a skill to someone, you come to understand it more deeply yourself. Also, when you see someone struggle, and help them through it, you improve your ability to deal with your own struggles.

The saying “Those who can’t do, teach” should be rewritten as “Doers who teach do better!”

Give a New Skill a Minimum of Eight Weeks

When it comes to growing/creating/developing new skills, eight weeks seems to be an important threshold. It’s the length of many top-level training programs around the world, from the Navy Seals’ physical – conditioning program to the mission training for the Mercury astronauts. A recent study at Massachusetts General Hospital showed the practicing meditation for twenty-seven minutes a day created lasting brain changes in (you guessed it) eight weeks.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can be proficient in any skill in eight weeks. Rather, it underlines two more basic points:

1)  Constructing and honing new habits takes time, no matter who you are, and

2) Resilience and grit are vital tools, particularly in the early stages of learning. Don’t make judgements too early.

Keep at it, even if you don’t feel immediate improvement. Give your talent (your brain) the time it needs to grow and create new habits.

Please feel free to contact anytime – we are always happy to help and answer your questions.

Timg@gravesgolf.com

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.

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