PRE-SHOT ROUTINE Learn to create a better starting routine before every shot, resulting in more consistency when you play.

Transcription

1 PRE-SHOT ROUTINE Learn to create a better starting routine before every shot, resulting in more consistency when you play. Al Owens 7 Items You Must Consider Before Your Next Shot

2 7 Items You Must Consider Before Your Next Shot A Step By Step Guide for Your Pre-Shot Routine to Make You A more Consistent Golfer Author Al Owens

3 About the Author Al Owens has been coaching golf since he joined the PGA of America in In that time he has taught over 15,000 lessons and worked with every level of player from beginner to advanced golfer, from amateur to touring professionals. Al has always loved the idea of inspiring and enabling golfers to play better. As a published best-selling author his goal has been to empower golfers to play to their greatest potential. His book Awakening to Golf was designed to introduce golfers to the idea that golf is just not about the golf swing. All players must be able to utilize their conscious mind in an effective way to assist them find the confidence needed before they attempt any shot. Through his years of work with sport psychologists, inner awareness experts, other top 100 teachers and touring professionals he has combined his knowledge to help any golfer change their focus from lack belief and outcomes to more desired outcomes when players play their shots thus resulting in lower scores, better play. As Al works with golfers he helps them: Get over their past excuses for poor results and help them play to the level they believe they are capable of. Increase their consistency when they play each shot. Say goodbye to feeling frustrated when they play and embarrassed at times in front of others. Learn to play with more confidence knowing they will perform better each time they tee the ball up. Look at their scorecard and feel proud and think, Yes, I am finally shooting lower consistent scores. Golfers who have personally worked with Al or used his methods he coaches in books or his DVD series are able to: Be able to tee it up with confidence knowing you have the right mental skills and mindset to hit a successful shot. Be able to overcome intimidating shots that you face or courses you play. Be able to embrace with confidence the rounds you have with other golfers whether it be a casual weekend round or club tournament. It is that simple.

4 Introduction Every shot you attempt in golf is a new opportunity for your success on the golf course. This is a simple statement and one that is taken for granted by most as they walk up to their next shot and then stand over it; usually with many thoughts that are not totally focused on the right items to insure their next shot is successful. This book has been written to give perhaps a new series of things to consider before you make that next swing. Most of all it is designed to show you that EVERYTHING that you are thinking before any shot, will then greatly affect that shot that you see. In this book you will learn: How to create a proper level of intent and focus for any shot you will attempt. How past thought patterns you have used from the previous shot can greatly affect your next shot you attempt; for good or bad. A certain level of belief in yourself and the shot selection you choose is needed to assist your shot making so you see success with a shot rather than failure. The emotions you have while you play greatly affect the outcomes you will see on the course or the practice range. What you focus on or put your attention towards while preparing a shot and making it will have an impact on any shot you face. The reality you see when you play is always reflecting back at you your previous thoughts and beliefs, what you see during any shot is like looking into a mirror of what your mind tells you before and during any shot. Many golfers I know have many swing thoughts about the mechanic of the swing, and because those thoughts are not focused on the outcome of what you desire to see, they generally see inconsistent results. Consistent golf does not solely come from a good swing. A good mindset is needed also and this book is here to help you with basic information around that mindset and what you can possibly do before you attempt your next shot.

5 Chapter One Every Shot Starts With This Wouldn t it be great if you could create a routine before you attempt any golf shot that was tailored to you and your personality that you knew would help you hit a better shot? One which could empower you to play more consistently and with less fear of embarrassing yourself in front of others. If you are an avid golfer I am sure you answered YES to the question above. If you are an avid golfer you may believe you have been doing all the right things for your golf game, like taking lessons and purchasing all the latest gadgets and clubs or watching the latest video instruction tip on line. However you still do not find consistent results or the low scores you think you deserve. What gives? What s up with that? Perhaps then you are missing a piece of the golf game puzzle? Maybe there are some obvious things you could improve on that are simple and can be created to fit just your needs? As I tell all of my students, your conscious mind is the gateway to consistent play. Using conscious thought and awareness correctly, will empower your play on the course to be the best you have ever seen. One of the most fundamental aspects of golf, and seldom talked about ones to a large degree is the implementation of a Pre-Shot Routine for any golfer, used then for any shot they are about to take. I have been coaching golf for 25 years and I can tell you without a doubt that from my time working with touring professionals, they ALL KNOW one basic thing that can assist them to play more consistently and more confidently. That one thing is using a Pre-Shot Routine before the attempt any shot. By using a pre-shot routine they then allow themselves to create confidence in what they are about to do and a flow of thought, belief and habit that they can rely on when they are playing under pressure. The simple truth about golfers is that one good shot inspires us to produce another good one every time. A seed of belief is planted within ourselves when we see the result of a good shot. We then feel the emotion of pleasure within us as the good shot falls near or

6 on the intended target. It is such a rush for all of us, and this emotional rush needs to be used again and again to continue to assist us in producing desired shots. As you should be able to surmise as an avid golfer, your emotions play a huge part in our golf games. Many times our emotions get the best of us, and we lose focus or perhaps become very negative about our game as we play after hitting a poor shot or two. The emotional journey continues as our emotions build desires for greater and greater results. However it is at this point in our emotional journey that many golfers fall away, poor results begin to occur and the production of good shots ceases. That is because sometimes golfers do not resonate, or believe in the possibility of better results in their shot making. Basically before they even attempted a shot, they had what I call Lack Belief about a potential outcome or shot they are facing. Lack beliefs before shots can come from not being committed to a certain distance of a shot before you attempt it. Not being confident in the club selection you are about to make. Not believing in your ability to create a certain type of shape shot or distance of a shot. Lack beliefs are very active in most any golfer's mind! A good pre-shot routine will create a solid mental base for you that prevent these lack beliefs from entering your mind when you play and preventing you from playing consistent golf. This book is designed to rid you of those Lack Beliefs and empower you to use better thoughts and mindsets that will help you hit more consistent shots with confidence. Often Lack Beliefs start because a golfer will choose a shot that they think they SHOULD be able to make, rather than one they BELIEVE they can make. Many players see other golfers create shots that they think they should be able to also, based on their age, ability or experience in golf. This is where a golfers Ego mind jumps in and tries to point a golfer in a direction it thinks it should go. But you as a conscious golfer must not let these areas take over in your game. Your Ego mind and peer pressure or pressure you put on yourself can really disarm your game and lead you down a path of little reward. Good pre-shot routines are not built around your ego, they are built around your belief in yourself, not what other golfers think you should be able to do with a certain shot you face.

7 Chapter Two Your Emotional Barometer You must be firm in your stand and learn to sense how you feel about particular shots that you are about to attempt on the course and build off that feeling and resonate with the possibility of creating the shot you desire. You may have been playing the game for 10 years and think someone like yourself should be able to hit certain shots. But just because you think you should hit it a certain way does not mean you will. You must feel, believe, or resonate with possible shots! Any golfer must resonate with the desired outcome of the shot at hand! It is easy to be inspired to hit better shots all the time, but do you really believe in the desired outcome of the shot you are about to attempt? This is a classic point that every golfer must understand and be aligned with before they attempt ANY shot on the golf course. This point is a must to be considered for a good pre-shot routine. In order to create the desired outcome of particular shots you must believe in the possibility of that shot before you attempt it. This belief cannot just be a small emotion within you stating I feel pretty good about that shot I am wanting to make. You will need conviction for any shot you are about to attempt! This is where you start to take your own power back with your conscious mind and allow you to create a pre-shot routine that fits your needs, desires and beliefs. Not someone else s! One of the keys to good mental focus starts right here. If you dig deep within yourself you must feel the emotion behind the desired outcome you wish to see when you play. On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being totally committed with belief) some shots probably come off as a five or six before you attempt them. Not too convincing to say the least! The emotional belief you have with shots need to be at least above a seven or eight on this 1 to 10 scale to really assist you in believing you can create the shot you desire. This emotional scale helps you determine whether or not you resonate, or believe, with the possible shot at hand. So this concept is a biggie for anyone to consider as part of their pre-shot routine.

8 Emotional Barometer As you can see it is as if you have an emotional barometer measuring your every shot. Acknowledging that barometer is very important with your inner journey of your conscious mind of your game. If you understand how you are feeling towards a particular shot then you can evaluate the situation to determine if this particular shot you are desiring is a good decision or not? In order to awaken to yourself as I suggest in my book Awaking to Golf you must feel the barometer speaking to you and make your decision as to what shot to take. Obtain your barometer reading of each shot option and commit to the club selection and the shot at hand that feels best. Observe, Do Not Judge The shot is then created and you watch to see the outcome. You cannot judge the outcome here though. You simply need to observe what you committed to and then analyze how you felt before, during and after the shot. A key point golfers need to remember is that they need to be the observer of shots or situations created by themselves on the course and not be too judgmental about situations. Finding judgment upon yourself puts blame on you, make you feel bad and can only create more bad outcomes for you. When committing to shots you wish to make you need to ask yourself did you resonate with the chosen shot all the way through. Were you committed to your decision? These are decisions you have to come up with and be completely honest with yourself with how you felt about the possibility of the shot. After any shot you hit you may conclude that the club you selected was completely wrong and that your intuition was suggesting or said something completely different to you. This is very common and many golfers drop their intuitive thoughts and listen to their Ego mind speaking to them. To be able to tell which was speaking to you, listen to your emotional barometer to determine which was which. Your emotional barometer is connected to your intuitive side of consciousness. By being tapped into your emotional side you increase your chances of success because you feel or resonate with the emotion that feels best to you.

9 Why is resonating so important? Because by resonating with a desired shot you are confirming to yourself that you have what it takes to put the ball where you want to. That is very important because your Ego mind now is less likely to insist that you do not have what it takes to pull off the shot. Doubt and fear are not going to creep in and take over if you resonate or believe in the shot you are trying to create. Resonating with the outcomes of particular shots is a very positive aspect of your game. It assists you in the inspirational stage of your golf game. You need to always bring about the most positive circumstances to assist you in creating what you want on the course. Any negative emotion works against you while you are playing and thus drops your chances of creating the shots you desire.

10 Chapter Three The Thought Behind The Swing As an experienced golf performance coach for several decades my golf instruction has evolved from just looking at someone s swing on a practice tee to using video to film individual swings and break them down to look at different positions the club was in at different stages of the swing. Today I can break down a student's swing by measuring the spine angle that is created at address, the degree of tilt the golfer has at address and even so far as to try illustrate the angles the V s in a golfer's grip are at while the club is in their hands at address. All these parts are were very important in assisting someone to teach and learn the game of golf. However although we can gather thousands of points of data during the swing, and along with a complete player history and health analysis, it is a player s mind that finally creates the shot that they face. When touring professionals work on their game they look at detailed information from a team of experts as we work together to find the best path for improvement for each touring pro who comes to us. Just as I had been empowered and awakened to be a better teacher through many avenues of coaching, you too can be a better player by finding new and better ways of using a proper mindset on the golf course by using your conscious mind in more empowering ways! The Thought Behind The Swing The creative process for each individual shot is tremendously tied into the mechanics, sequencing and balance an individual has in their swing. However another part of the creative process that is involved with each and every shot is the thought that is put behind each swing. When you are on the course and playing, how many thoughts are racing through your head as you walk from one shot to the next? How many thoughts do you go through as you arrive at the ball and try to decide what club to choose and what shot to hit? How many thoughts do you go through when you start your pre-shot routine and address the ball? How many thoughts do you have while standing over the ball getting ready to hit the ball? How many thoughts do you have as you swing the club? How many thoughts do you have as you watch the ball take off and land on the course? Wow, those were a lot of thoughts weren t they? Did you even have any idea how many times you were thinking about your game before you read that? A golfers mind plays a tremendous large part in their golf game. If you read any golf psychology book you will notice a common theme to them which is; think positive to get positive results.

11 Now that is a little simplified from what others have wrote or taught, however I always have thought that some will take it in that simplest of ways. If someone took it that simple, would it really work? Do they really know what power or force is behind a simple picture or thought in their mind? Besides my love for the game of golf I also have had the opportunity to read and study hundreds of books on desire, life, abundance, intention and fear. The books that resonate with me the most are the ones that have led me to feel and believe that I am more of the creator of my situation, rather than the victim of circumstances which some had tried to get me to believe. Law of Attraction Among other things, these books have suggested that the thoughts you put behind your energy go a long way in assisting you in creating things. Among the many great things these books point is one area called the Law of Attraction. Every thought projection is answered by a similar energy, or that which is like unto itself is drawn. To break this down further is to see that every thought we have attracts situations that are like that thought. Science has been working a lot in the last few decades to prove this concept through study of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Entanglement. Thus if you have a great thought of something and put it out to the universe then a universal force begins to work immediately toward that thought, regardless of what it is. So if you have a positive thought then it is attracting a positive energy or outcome. However if you have negative thought, then that is attracting a negative energy! The measurement of the attracting thought is made simply by the energy or emotion you put behind the thought. The higher the emotion (vibrational energy that quantum science describes) to a particular outcome the greater amount of energy is put towards it. That is why some things seem to come to us faster than others when it comes to the desires we have for our lives. But you must remember that you are the creator of your own experience and your thoughts go a long way in assisting the creation of what you have in your life. What Are Your Thoughts? So what is the thought behind each of your swings? As I illustrated earlier, you have many different opportunities for thought with each individual shot. Probably way too many, so one thing to do should be to notice what it is you are thinking about while on the course. Are you constantly thinking about the outcome of a particular shot? Are you re-living the shots you just made? Do the mechanics of your swing consume you while on the course? Are you listening to your playing partners advice to keep your arm straight or keep your head down through the shot?

12 Where is the focus for each of your shots and where is your mind leading you? These are answers you must begin to find in order to analyze where your mind is while on the course. These concepts must be considered when creating your perfect pre-shot routine. Chances are you are going to find that the thoughts you have while approaching the ball in the fairway, or addressing it before you swing or hitting the ball while it sits there are not all positive! In fact, you are immediately going to see how many negative thoughts you have out there on the course. These negative thoughts must be abandoned in order for you to move forward to create a better game for yourself. Your inner conscious journey with your golf game must become aware of this, and begin to live by it. Assessing your swing thought process will take some time, and the practice range is a great place to start that. You can even begin the process by simply analyzing your thoughts while you practice your putting in your house. This information is invaluable in assisting you with a new creation for your game. Because you have so much opportunity to fill your mind with clutter about your game while on the course, it is also a great idea to find places to clear your memory bank in your computer so you can start fresh with each shot. That is why I suggested to golfers that they try to simply take in the surroundings that are around them and let go of all the extra thoughts they have about their swing or situations they face as they play. As you can see, you have a lot to let go of! Rather than walk from one shot to the next and think of what just happened and why and how it just occurred, let go of that shot and turn your focus to the course around you. Enjoy the beauty of the color of the trees, the green grass, the water or mountains that surround you. Even if you have to change your focus to something that excites you which is away from golf, you can do that because it will help your emotions, keep you positive and prevent you from focusing on poor past shots. You don t need to badger yourself or analyze every shot you make. Use your senses while out there to notice the beauty of the course and clear your mind of all negative thoughts. You need to teach yourself how to think on the course. Others have pointed this out in many books, watch what you think, think positive thoughts, be happy while on the course, etc. Those are all good points, but the reason behind those is the Law of Attraction, bringing you the results of what you are thinking. This law is a very simple one and very powerful and consistent. Your thoughts are deliberately creating the situations you are encountering while on the course. In other words, they are reflecting to you the reality you see when you play.

13 Your thoughts are deliberately creating the situations you are encountering while on the course. In other words, they are reflecting to you the reality you see when you play. You are the creator of your environment on the course. You are creating each shot while out there and your thoughts behind each shot are the basis for success or failure. So now when you read or hear someone say; see the ball land where you want it to, you should understand that and also add where do I believe the ball will go? That is the thought behind your visual picture, and that thought goes a long way towards creating what you desire while on the course. Do you see and believe your tee shot will be in the fairway or in the trees? Do you see and believe the ball will land on the green or in the bunker? Do you see and believe the ball going in the cup when you putt? Your thoughts associated with every shot are directly associated with the success or failure of the shot at hand or the reality you are about to see. The thought behind the swing is foundation to a successful shot. Be aware of what you are thinking while out there and always try to move towards a more positive thought for a better outcome. Like attracts like, that is what the Law of Attraction is, so try to attract the best possible shot for your round of golf while on the course.

14 Chapter Four What Are You Trying To Accomplish? Let s start to build the foundation for your pre-shot routine. In short, a pre-shot routine is short time period of thought and consideration a golfer should utilize to focus their mind on what they want to create with the next shot they face. When playing a round of golf I m sure you have noticed from time to time how you have had a hard time just keeping your mind on the game. Your mind wanders off to thoughts about tomorrow or you are remembering what you forgot to do the previous day. This additional clutter of thoughts along with any negative thought interferes even more with the creation of the shots you desire. So golfers need to try to stay mentally focused on each shot at hand before they attempt it. It is not always easy of course, but it is something you should consider. Concentrating on your golf game can be a challenge in itself for golfers of every ability level. When you see golfers on TV they seem zeroed in, their face stern and steady with little emotion. Television commentators state that the player is in the zone. Are they really that wrapped up in the golf game? Do you have to be the same way in order to better your game while on the course? Well let s hope not, after all we are supposed to Lighten up and enjoy the game you know. So how do you accomplish this while on the course? How do you keep your mind focused on the best possible outcome for yourself with each shot? Well, accomplish is the key word here.what are you trying to accomplish each time you swing and play a shot? To find this you must determine what you are trying to create each time you step up on the tee of a hole you are going to play. Par, birdie, perhaps a bogey is all you wish. Next, is the shot in front of you, where do you want it to go? This is considered focusing intentionally on a specific shot or creation that you are trying to produce. You are deliberately placing a thought of where you want the ball to go. When you address the ball, do you really know where you want the ball to go or are you so wrapped up in swing thoughts that you have no idea of what your target is?

15 In the over 1,800 playing lessons I have given on the golf course, this last point is one of the largest mistakes I see all golfers make. They get too wrapped up in swing mechanics as they stand over a ball about to hit a shot. Simply put, this is a very disarming thing to do and will greatly limit your ability to create the best possible outcome for the shot you are attempting to make. So let s consider some things that you can think about and assess before you make any shot. If you start at the beginning of any hole you will be on the tee box. When standing on that tee box you really must first assess the hole and the possibilities it has for you. With any shot you will face you will need to stay as positive as possible in your possible outcome of the hole. Next, you need to determine in your mind if you believe you will have par or fear you will see bogey? Make sure you commit yourself to the positive thought here in order to greatly increase your chance for a good outcome on the hole. Any fear here slips into your mind and starts to eat away at the best possible outcome for yourself. Good Feeling Emotions Good pre-shot routines include using visual imagery in your mind so you can have a clear picture in your mind of where you want the ball to go and you feel good about the possible outcome. Visual imagery (your imagination) starts on the tee box for any hole you are about to play. This emotion you are feeling that accompanies your visual imagery of the shots you will attempt must be positive because that emotion is attaching itself to your thoughts which in turn is drawing a like result from the universe as quantum science is suggesting to people, and sages of the world have been saying for hundreds of years. If fear and doubt drop in as you consider attempting any shot on a tee box, or in the fairway or on the putting green, then your chances diminish for success, so you need to consider this point when creating your perfect pre-shot approach before any shot you take on. This is not to suggest that you must try to put yourself in some zone of thought that you are oblivious to the rest of the world. On the contrary, you should just be trying to be as positive as possible and realistic as possible towards your intended outcome. Let s consider some things as you are approaching a shot your will attempt. As you approach the shot and take your address, make sure you get comfortable with your set-up and stance and then commit to your target. This is not the time to be wrapped up in the position of your arm in the backswing or where your weight is at the top of your swing. Those thoughts are for practice or the range, not your round on the

16 course. I m sure you have heard others say you need to leave your practice on the range and that is very true. Get a Good Picture in your mind before any shot Look down the fairway at your target and put that picture in your mind (your target area) and keep it there. When you go about hitting a shot you need to really have the picture in your mind of where you want to have the ball land. I will normally look for a stripe from a mower in the fairway or maybe a brown patch that is easily identified and can become an easy picture for me to transfer to my mind. Try to sense and see the ball landing where you want it to. You may need to give the target a final look to before you attempt any shot to put it in your mind and feel comfortable about your chances for success for a shot. That is fine, find that comfortable feeling and really get tapped into your shot you desire, where you want it to land, then let your swing go and hit the shot. Because you have painted a better picture for yourself here and felt comfortable while making the shot, the chances are you will have made a good shot and you have landed the ball near your intended target. If you did not pull off the shot you wanted, try to reflect on the thought pattern, belief or comfort level you had before, during and after the shot. Some reflection here may be able to assist you with what happened. I am not however asking you to analyze the mechanics of the swing. That is to be taken care of at the range either by yourself or with someone such as a local PGA Professional. Process Continues With Each New Shot As you move along from shot to shot you will arrive at any new shot and you have to again determine what do you want to create here with your next shot?. The process continues again and you go through analysis of the lie, length, conditions of the course and then determine where you want the ball to land. Remember you must have a clear picture of what you want to create and put that picture in your mind before each shot. As you can see the process of any pre-shot routine that you personally are going to tailor make to you and who you are will have to include your ability to commit to the shot and target at hand and let go of any fear of what may happen to the shot. You really need to anxiously anticipate the ball landing where you want it to. This feeling of anticipation is an emotion that can really assist you in creating the shots you desire. Golf is a game of opportunities, each shot is an opportunity to create something really special. Touring professionals I work with have great Expectation before they hit shots.

17 In fact, the expectation of touring professionals before they hit any shot is one of the special keys or secrets of success that they know are paramount to playing their absolute best. You are not going to create the shot you want every time, but each opportunity you should embrace as a chance to show off to the world your golf game. Remember, the attraction you have towards any possible outcome or thought can be increased by the emotion you attach to it. As you walk up to or approach the any shot you are about to hit, you will need to pay attention to the circumstances that are around you when you will hit your next shot. Identify in your mind at the beginning of each hole what it is you are trying to accomplish. You then commit to each shot that is in front of you and place positive thoughts and outcomes in your mind when making the shots. Determine what your target is and visualize the ball landing there. When you identify what it is you are trying to accomplish, you greatly increase the chances of a successful outcome of any shot you have.

18 Chapter Five Find The Now It is easy to bring the rest of your life with you to the golf course and have your mind be entangled in the web of other thoughts that can distract your game. Keeping yourself in the present moment is an art that some people can do better than others. The one main thing to consider here is that if you have had a bad day prior to your arrival at the course, that bad day is probably following you onto the tee. You will need to learn how to release negative energy and emotions because it is going to affect how you play. That is a certainty. Let Go and Find the Now As you learn to let yourself go between shots you will begin to feel more and more in the present moment with each step you take on the course. You will become very aware of many things around you, and rather than having a driving brisk walk to the next shot, you can begin to slow down your walking in almost an involuntary way. As that walking slows down, so too will your anxiety level as you approach any shots. A new found association with the course can really assist you to feel your flow with you much more and allow you to be less mechanical when playing and help to reduce the abundance of mechanical swing thoughts you have when you play. Golfers and other athletes usually are playing by feel when they re at their best. When they re enjoying peak performance, concentration is one part of the 3-C recipe: if you play with Composure, Confidence, and Concentration, the rest will follow. When you are able to feel more of what is around you then you are also able to really feel your swing and your concentration improves at the time it is needed on the course. Avoid Your Mental Cocoon From the experiences I have encountered with many students I coach I would have to say that it is very difficult to put oneself in a mental cocoon for the entire round. The actual time needed to get really focused on the shot in front of you can be from seconds during the actual shot. However, also realize that the observations you make up to that point concerning type of shot, feeling the target, and selecting the proper club are all a very important part of the swing. Try not to get too wrapped up in that area and definitely make sure that you have fun while you play. Conversation and time with friends is priceless when you are playing golf. Make sure to enjoy all the aspects that are associated with your round of golf. Another characteristic of being in the present on the course is having the right pictures in your mind of what you are trying to create. I will get more specific on the need for visualization in the next chapter, however some people really prevent a present moment experience because the picture they are creating is an old failure that they had

19 experienced before. Preceding events on the course are very likely to creep into your mind, and if these are not positive pictures, you are setting the stage for a poor shot before you ever take the club back. Find your Present Moment Thoughts As you begin to reflect on your thoughts it immediately puts you in the present moment. As you return to your thoughts on the course, notice if they are full of possible problems you may encounter while you play. This process of finding the present moment awakens you out of your dream time into the now and allows for the present moment to fit in. When you are more in the moment or the present on the golf course this allows for your intuitions to leap in and assist your play. Your intuition is part of your soul or higher aspects of your consciousness and conscious mind that are a natural part of you that allows for a more creative swing to take place. Judgments about previous shots are blocked when your intuition is heightened and your feelings are also increased. The feel you have in your game is a positive part of your game because it prevents you from playing so mechanical or analyzing your swing so much. Finding the present moment in any part of your round can really assist you and reflecting on where you are on the course all the time assists in bringing you into the present. Don t get caught up in poor thought patterns, but do begin to realize where your thoughts have been taking you when you play. Erase any old pictures of failures you have in your mind, let go of fear and doubt about the shot in front of you and simply feel the awesome present moment.

20 Chapter Six Create the Picture Golf can become such a technical game where the mechanics of the swing can really interfere with the desired outcome of shots for players. I see this all too often when players are on the range and hitting shot after shot from their pile of balls, with no regard to a target or where they want the ball to go. Players have left work early, gotten to the range and are determined to work on one or a few different parts of their swing. The practice range is the perfect place to do that of course. Jack Nicklaus stated in his book Golf My Way you practice with a purpose, then get away from it. That is one of the greatest suggestions I ever read and I tell it to my students all the time. However on the range I am always watching players hit shots with no real purpose or picture of what they are trying to do or where they want the ball to go. Clear Your Mind of Mechanical Thoughts Students of the game have the huge tendency of really getting stuck on the mechanics of a swing technique while on the range and placing all of their effort into that one position they want the club, body, arms or hands to be in. When they are working on this and hitting shot after shot off of that pile of balls they purchased from the range machine, they are leaving out a vital part of the shot, the target. As I mentioned throughout this book, you must have a clear picture of where you intend the ball to end up on the course after you have hit it. This picture is an absolute must for every shot you are attempting to create either on the range or the course. How can you attract a target in your mind with your shots if you have no idea of what you are trying to create? With all of the possible mechanical swing thoughts in your mind, you can really see how these can get in the way of creating the desired outcome of a shot for individuals. Where do you want the ball to go? In my years of coaching I have certainly come to realize that visualization is a huge part of golf. I am always working on creating new methods of visualization to get across to my students. When applying new methods to students I have learned it is easiest for me to teach my new insights to students while on the putting green. One area of golf needed is that of using your imagination to help you create shots. Imagination and visualization for any shot you wish to attempt are huge items to work on with your golf game. A good place to learn visualization is on the putting green. This is because when you are on the putting green, seeing a picture of where you want the ball to go, the cup, is right in front of you. The closest your target is ever going to be to you is on the putting green!

21 Over the years I have given many lessons but the most fun I have had with some of my lessons was when I was teaching three or five day golf schools with couples or husbands and wives attending the school together. It was a chance for them to get away to a resort, enjoy the beautiful scenery, get some instruction, play some golf and relax for a few days. Many of my schools I have taught have been attended by groups of couples and they are there to have a good time in all areas of their trip. Skills Challenge One of the things I like to do with these couples is to teach them the simplicity of putting and picturing where they want the ball to go. Generally speaking, one person in the couple is more advanced in golf than the other. Usually it is the man who has been playing longer. So because they were away from home for a little R and R I would suggest a tournament or skills challenge between the two. The winner would get to decide what the couple will do that night! You can imagine that one of the two is standing there thinking they don t have a chance in a skills challenge. But I assure them it is totally fair and generally the one who thinks they are the underdog really has the upper hand in the challenge. So I get both to agree and the challenge begins! The challenge is based on the idea of building the picture in your mind of where you intend the ball to go. I ll start the process with short putts from three and five feet with the couple's looking at the cups only, not the ball that they will hit. I stress to both players that this is solely about them concentrating on the cup, getting a good picture in their mind of that cup, and putting the ball into it. Some find it easier actually to zero in on a specific speck of grass at the back of the cup, and they simple look at that and stroke the ball in. Generally both find it easy to accomplish this and instantly they are amazed at how effortlessly the ball goes in. Normal reactions include comments such as I am not thinking of my stroke but the ball is going in or I can t believe it is this easy! Besides seeing a better picture of where they want the ball to go, the couples are dropping any swing thoughts or fears they have. After the five footers are done I move back to three feet and this time the couples putt with their eyes closed. They have closed their eyes, but I am encouraging them to keep a good visual picture in their mind of the cup they are attempting to roll their putt into. Again the putts go in at an astonishing rate, however one of the players is usually having a hard time with the process. That person is usually the one who has the MOST experience in golf. Many golfers who have a lot of experience also have many swing thoughts or mechanical thoughts and those can derail your golf game if too numerous. A more experienced golfer has some walls to tear down in their mind because they have a hard time letting go of fear and doubt or their built in swing thoughts while they are trying to putt to a cup using visualization only has their key. The other, less experienced player has less clutter in their mind and the process is easier for them to just picture the ball rolling into the cup.

22 Finally I move the couples to the challenge. Up to this point, the whole process has not taken long and I see quite a bit of reaction from both individuals. The challenge is from 10 feet and they each get 10 putts. The one who makes the most putts is the winner and the night is up to them! The challenge can be quite a test for one or both players and if the more experienced one is having a hard time, their anguish multiplies rapidly due to the pre-conceived thoughts they have about their game. They can t believe they could lose such a simple contest. But it shows the clutter that they have in their mind and game. A less experienced player finds it easy to see the target, plant that picture in their mind, and let the putt go. Those golf schools were fun and I tried to find many different ways to keep the students happy and on their toes. As for the winner of these challenges, well let s just say that the next morning at breakfast I get a lot of women who come up and thank me for the contest and thank me for contributing to such a great experience.

23 Chapter Seven Infinite Possibilities The creation of shots you desire has many possible scenarios on the course and it is important to take each and every shot one at a time with an open mind. By that I mean you must look at different possibilities of shots that you can attempt. There is no one perfect shot for every circumstance. Your shots can get there in more ways than one, and many times it is a very good idea to get out of your box and open your mind to new shots you have never tried before. Looking at many different types of shots is not only good for your game, because the larger the arsenal you have in your bag the greater the chance you have of getting out of odd lies and such. Another great reason to look at different types of shots is because it begins to pull you away and detach from pre-determined outcomes of shots you are making. It is common for golfers to rely on certain types of shots while on the course, and in the same breath that type of shot usually only has a few possible outcomes, you are limiting your chance for success. Welcome New Challenges In order to expand your creativity of your game you must be able to expand your possibilities on the course and look at different ways to create shots. Many golfers have a hard time with this because they are so attached to the outcome and if they fear it will not work, they just simply will not try it. There is a playing companion I have who is what I would say up for the challenge of any situation confronting him on the course. These challenges are so enticing to him, that he sometimes makes it a point to call me after one of his rounds to tell me of the unbelievable shot he faced and the solution he came up with that particular time. He does not always pull these off, but I will say the more he is faced with these shots, the more he tries and the more he succeeds. He is not attached so much to pulling off the miracle shot, rather he welcomes these new challenges every time. His philosophy I recall started quite a few years ago and I noticed it one day when we were playing a course in the Chicago area. We were on a par five and he had missed his second shot to the green to the right. He was actually near another green on the course, and though he was only about 40 yards away, in between him and the green was a large oak tree, cart path and sand bunker. The pin was just on the green near the bunker. The shot he faced prevented him from going over the tree since it was over 100 feet tall. As I looked at his shot the first time I figured he would hit to the side of the tree, landing the ball to the right of the tree and bunker and having it stop on the back of the green for a long birdie putt. Upon reflection now, he could have done the same thing to

24 the left of the green and probably been left with a short chip shot to the pin near the bunker. Well he looked over this shot and then as if we were playing a game of pool he called the shot he was about to make, just as you would call a shot on a pool table. He announced to me that he would hit the ball under the oak, onto the cart path, skip off of the path, land in the bunker (which had a shallow lip to it) and the ball roll out of the bunker and onto the green. I looked at him in disbelief thinking there is no way he can pull it off. Well I was wrong, he stepped up to the shot and he had a great picture of what he wanted to create as he made that shot. As he predicted, he hit the ball low under the tree, bounded off the cart path, into and through the bunker and onto the green. It ended up only about 6 feet from the cup and he made that putt to birdie the hole! It was one of the most amazing shots I had ever personally seen and we joke about that shot all the time. He was not attached to the outcome of that shot at all. He certainly found that shot as a fun challenge and most of the times when I get a call today from him about these challenges he faces on the course they are fun to listen to. Allow Yourself to Try New Shots Allow yourself to be open to new shots on the course. All shot making is such a challenge, but you must not be so wrapped up in the outcome of these shots. How often on the course do you fall prey to having to attempt a certain shot a certain way because others think you should? How often to you succumb to your mind telling you a shot you would like to attempt would never happen? Why do you care what others think or your mind is telling you? Allow yourself to try new shots, get out of your comfort box to try new ones and detach yourself from the outcome. Embrace the new shots in front of you and think of them as a fun challenge. Open your mind and spirit to new possibilities and allow yourself the freedom to attempt these shots. When you commit to these new shots, do not worry about the outcome. You may or may not pull it off. Visually create the shot in your mind and feel the shot before you attempt it, see it ending up where you want it to go. If it does not make it to your intended target, detach from that outcome and allow yourself to enjoy the shot you just attempted. Don t Take it Personally Too many golfers get caught up in the results of what they are trying to accomplish, and they take these too personally. Fear of the outcome of potential new shots prevents us from embracing new opportunities and shots while on the course. Too many golfers judge themselves with shots they attempted and extend that to the point where they feel they are the victim of their golf game. This judge and victim routine is really a path that needs to be avoided.

25 You need to feel more appreciation for the shots you create and embrace those and learn to love those and love yourself for trying them. These are much more positive energies to be bringing to your game rather that the all too familiar fear or judgment and punishment of yourself if you don t create what you want to all the time. Creation of new shots is what we do every time we address the ball on the course. Allow yourself to try those shots, detach from the outcome, embrace the opportunity and don t take things so personally if they don t end up the way you envisioned them. The simple fact that you try these new shots is the first step to allowing new energy into your game. This new energy helps to elevate your game to the next level of possibilities, So many times in golf players think the swing has to be accomplished a certain way. Golfers also believe their round of golf should follow a particular path. Think of one of your favorite par5 s you play for example. You have hit that green in regulation many times and even got home a few times in two. Your mind has this preconceived thought, on in three, two putt at worst for par. Then you play the hole and slice the tee shot into the bunker and your vision of the easy hole escapes your sight. You see trouble and difficulty in the sand and this was not the way it is supposed to go. You were wanting to control the hole, and have the outcome of the hole (a par- 5) occur in a certain way. You lose that control and thus you lose the belief in yourself and your game. Let Go of Controlling Thoughts By letting go of these pre-conceived or controlled thoughts of how any golf hole should have played, as you see your ball in the bunker, your round of golf can still have tremendous wonderful results. Your ball in the bunker is merely a path to the final desired destination of par. Accept the shot and go on from there. Jump into the bunker and make your next swing and follow the ball to the green with the desire to make par. Be anxiously anticipating a good outcome of the hole as you play it. Your shot out of the bunker may not have gone as far as you wished, so your fourth shot may be the one that launches your ball on to the green. That still leaves one stroke left for your par 5. It is a shame that you think the game has to occur in certain ways or outcomes. If you normally shoot around 85 or so, and I offered you that 85 score before you teed off, would you take it? That s around your potential and average, so why not? Your score of 85 can come in so many ways. You need to relax and let go and let the round come to you. What if you missed that one putt for par and ended up with a bogey on your hole. It was not the outcome you had hoped for, but you must not let that get you down or get in the way of your round of golf. Leave that hole behind you and anxiously anticipate the next hole in front of you. If you concentrate your energy on negative situations while on the course, chances are, more negatives situations will come your way and your round of golf will deteriorate

26 right in front of your eyes. Placing your energy on positive outcomes is much more beneficial to your round of golf. The key here is to break down the game hole by hole and really shot by shot. You can have a desire for a score for a hole when you stand on the tee. It is great to have a vision of what you want to have happen. But you have to let it happen and unfold in different ways. How you react to those outcomes sets the tone for your round every time you play. A good way to keep your mind open to positive outcomes on the course is to revert back to past experiences either on a particular hole you have played before or particular situations with the game while on the course, such as remembering the success you have had in a similar situation you now face. When visualizing shots, PGA Tour players assist their games by associating a shot in front of them with a positive outcome from a shot like that in the past. When you see a group of 2 or 3 in a playoff, usually the players with more experience perform better because they have more situations to draw from and associate at that moment. That association with success is very positive for any ones round they are playing. The pre-conceived outcomes you take in to the round can destroy you. Be open to all possibilities. Welcome different shots. They are not obstacles in front of you, rather a path to the final destination. If that desired destination is not met on a particular hole, it doesn t mean it won t occur on the next hole. In fact the next hole could produce a birdie where you generally are happy to par it. The time to work on your game or the different shots you may face on the course is at the practice range. Take time to practice these situations as if they are real situations on the course. Simply hitting shot after shot on the range with no purpose has no value to your game really. When on the range put yourself in on-course situations to practice before you find them on the course. If you are having problems with your swing, consult your local golf professional, they will be happy to assist you. Take it one swing at a time, drop the pre-conceived notions of how the round has to go. Be open to all shots and welcome them. Most importantly- lighten up and enjoy the game! As you can see it is imperative that you first go within yourself to see what you actually desire to manifest. Go within to then experience without. Your Field of Possibilities is infinite in its capacity to bring you what you desire.

27 Chapter Eight Your Pre-Shot Approach Tying the inner power you have to play your best golf streams to the reality you see when you play from the inception process of any golf shot you are about to partake in. This inception or beginning process is referred to generally from the masses as your preshot approach or pre-shot routine. If you are any type of avid golfer you probably have heard about this aspect of each shot before you actually made your shot, but may not have understood it and just went through some motion of it. Your pre-shot approach or routine is designed to set an energetic and mental stage to assist you to consciously create what you will physically see next on the golf course. This is an extremely dynamic aspect of your golf game with great potential to influence the outcome you see when you play, good or bad. The basic mindset of a pre-shot routine for most golfers is that they should get ready to hit the ball in some consistent manner allowing them to more easily hit each shot they face. A series of steps is suggested to golfers, which I am sure you have read or heard about to some degree before and you may have tried to incorporate this idea into you game. What is suggested to golfers is that the routine be relatively short (to keep play moving) and be repeating so any golfer has a repeating pattern of what they do. To some small extent this is true, but in each moment of the routine any thought, emotion and belief that accompanies it is drastically affecting that routine and the subsequent reality they then see when a golfer plays. Thus, caution is needed here because many golfers use this routine in a very disempowering fashion although that was not there intent. I refer to this as playing golf from default rather than from deliberate intent of what you will create. This is why it is important for golfers to take responsibility for their actions when playing. Each action players make has an equal reaction that they see when they hit a shot and play. In the next chapter I will suggest my seven secrets of the pre-shot routine that will greatly enhance the creation of what you desire to see when you play. For now I wish to set the stage of this pre-shot routine and why it is needed and the reason it is so powerful when you play.

28 Setting the Stage Before you step into any shot you need to have what I call deliberate intent on what you are seeking to do with your next shot. This intent needs to be specific, yet also needs your personal stamp on it. This means that a pre-shot approach would be your version of it and does not have to match exactly what someone else is suggesting. The time frame for any pre-shot routine can be seconds from start to finish as you stand behind the ball and then actually step into the shot-at-hand and make your swing. But this final seconds did involve your recognizing the surroundings and conditions of each possible shot before you began this actual pre-shot routine. Beginning any new shot basically relies on you having just ended a previous shot (unless it was your first shot on the first tee). Thus, as you set the stage for any new shot, it begins the moment you leave your previous shot. When you leave a previous shot you should reflect on that shot, identify what went well and what could be improved on and try to see what aspects of it that were a positive part of it. If the shot landed exactly where you wanted, this will not be difficult. However if it has landed where you did not desire it to, your reflection of that shot cannot get caught up in all that just went wrong with that shot. If you are looking at the negative situation from the previous shot, you are dragging this negative energy or feeling with you like a ball and chain with you down the fairway to your next shot. Even if the ball ended up in the rough, try to see what part of your shot that did go well. If you know your old habit of a push or slice came in to your swing which you have created before, simply identify that, let it go, and look towards your next shot.

29 Arriving to the Shot As you proceed towards this new shot you are facing it is important to find your zero point balance as you walk towards this next shot. This means you need to find your NOW moment which I described earlier in this book as you are arriving to your shot. Center and calm yourself, feel the ground underneath your feet, balance your emotions the best that you can and as you arrive to the shot take in the conditions of distance, terrain and wind around it and assess that which you see as you approach your ball. Upon approaching the shot, identify the yardage to your possible target and begin to see if this next shot is up-hill, down-hill, into the wind or down wind and what type of lie is the ball resting in if you can. At this stage in the process you are assessing the situation and taking in all that you can. If you are playing with others it is still very easy to notice these things while you chat with other players. With the proper data gathered on your approach to your ball you now are assisting the pace of play at the golf course and club selection process as you have arrived to the shot at hand. The more efficient you become at this small aspect of the pre-shot routine the more empowered you will be to make a sound decision when you attempt your shot because you have knowledge of the situation, and knowledge is power. Once you arrive upon the area of your shot, controlling your thoughts, emotions and feelings begin to become very important. Remember here that the reflection of the reality you will see when you play is set by the energies you have and sit within you before attempting any shot! This is why it is imperative that even if your round is not going as planned or hoped, you realize that EVERY shot is a NEW shot for you. With each shot you have unlimited possibilities and potentials of how you can create your next shot. With my Player Performance coaching sessions I have with players this is where I suggest to them that sitting behind any possible shot you are about to make is like choosing from a wall of infinite possibilities. Think of a wall filled with numerous television screens and with each television screen is a shot potential that can be created by you with any shot you are facing. The old adage is careful what you wish for is true, and in golf it is careful what you think or see before any shot because what you are thinking as a possible outcome or envisioning, good or bad, is being pre-programmed into your virtual reality you are about to see. The power of your conscious mind and your emotions are extremely strong and any suggestions or thoughts you have prior to and during any shot is sending these signals to universal source to be reflected in the reality you see. If you fear shots going left into a bunker on a hole you play, that is the program you are pre-writing as you prepare for any shot on the course. From these numerous television situations you could choose from, you can begin to see possibilities that you are comfortable with and hopefully see more opportunities to create

30 par, birdie or a desired number on the hole, and not just one from point A to point B. When you arrive at any shot, be open to the many possibilities that await you and choose the one that best fits you at that moment. Decision Time Next in your pre-shot routine is the decision of the shot you wish to make and create. With the many possibilities that sit beside you and recognized by you, a decision is needed with regard to which one to select or attempt? This decision is your conscious choice of the shot you will make. Many times in the past this choice was probably made from a dis-connected perspective of you and your potential. You possibly previously relied on your Ego mind to allow you to see limited outcomes, rather than look to your expanded conscious mind and feel the instincts of possible new ones. Golfers are habitual in nature all throughout their games. You only need to become aware of past habits and look within yourself a little more for new possible potentials that you have. The assessment of the situation takes practice at using these simple ideas and methods, and once you find your own version of this, you place your own stamp on it and allow more of you to be who you truly are. The decision for that shot you wish to create will need an unwavering belief of what can be accomplished with the shot you are considering. I will go into this more in the next chapter, but for now I wish you to recognize that when you have played before you may not have always thought of the entire process of a shot. Perhaps you just selected a club that matched the distance you faced and you made your swing and took the outcome as it turned out. Your decision needs to involve the club you select in regards to the conditions you face as you determined those as you approached the ball walking up to it from your previous shot. Vision Your decision also needs to include your vision you have of that possible shot, how do you see it launching with a particular ball flight you would see (fade or draw, high or low) and where do you see the ball landing at or near your target and any accompanying roll out the shot would have after it hits the ground and releases towards your target. The vision you have is an integral part of your creative shot process. Your vision you have of the outcome is also sending a signal to the universal creative source of what you desire to see. Many times when you have played before you may have hoped your ball would arrive on the green but you also had a slight vision of it landing in the green side bunker. You may have said I do not wish to hit it in the bunker but your thought, word and vision of it arriving there was just as strong of a vision of placing it on the middle of the green.

31 As you can see, many parts of your golf game when you play in your pre-shot approach have mixed signals or emotions and beliefs of what you perceive you will see or create. Thus, how does one outcome overpower the other? Belief The dynamic part of any golf pre-shot routine that so many golfers are unaware of is the belief they have in any shot they are about to attempt. To simply look at this I tell my students that their belief toward any shot our outcome they are about to see is steering them to the direction of what they will see. Your belief is like a magnet attracting to you the outcome you will see. Your magnetic belief can attract good or bad outcomes, desired or non-desired too. You may ask; Why would I attract a non-desired outcome? The simple answer is.you did not know you were. Many times a golfers attention to a possible outcome is more on what they do not wish to see, or what they fear seeing, and thus they attract that fear based thought and emotion into the reality they see with that next shot. Your magnetic thoughts and pictures of what you possibly see occurring are setting your stage for the reality you see. The good news is that the reality you see is set by you, and it can easily begin to be changed to bring you more of what you truly desire to see, rather than what you fear seeing. This is why it is important for you to allow yourself to see several possibilities with your realty of any new shot, because some new shots you will have a better belief of achieving before you attempt it. Your higher conscious mind is downloading more possibilities to you, all you need to do is begin to learn how to acknowledge to recognize them as you move on with these ideas. As you expand on more of your inner self and awareness you become more advanced in acknowledging your possible belief you have toward any particular shot you will create. You will begin to see that many shots you attempted before you may have not totally believed were possible at that particular moment. Emotions Guide You To tap into more of your inner self you need to open to understand and feel your emotions that accompany you when you play. In your pre-shot approach your emotions can be an aspect that greatly enhances your play, and your emotions can be felt and used at different points in the pre-shot routine to empower you even more than you ever dreamed possible. For example, when facing a new shot you can go through the process mentioned here and assess the conditions of the shot, select the best club, visualized the shot pattern and outcome of the shot and associated a positive belief with what you have chosen. If doubt has come in during this process, step back and re-evaluate your selection of club or possible shot and find the combination that includes the magnetic belief to attract that outcome you wish to see to you on the course. To find greater association with your belief tap into the emotions you have in regard to any shot you face. Specifically speaking, use your Emotional Barometer I previously

32 suggested to feel your way through your pre-shot routine. On your emotional barometer if your emotions towards the shot you believe to be correct is around 7 or higher on your scale of 1-10 with 10 being your highest emotional positive feeling, then the energy you are using towards your desired outcome is pretty positive. Your emotions can be a great guide for you and can enhance your process from a different point in your pre-shot routine. The other part of the process is as you are selecting the shot you face and you are about to step into and attempt it, you use your emotions to associate how you will feel AFTER the shot you will attempt. Your emotions are feelings and these feelings can be used to infuse greater positive potential to your desired outcome. How you will feel after any shot can greatly assist you before you make any shot. To explain this further, as you move through your pre-shot approach and have selected the club, envisioned the shot and found belief in the outcome you now can add an extra energy towards your desired reality you will see. For example as you stood behind your ball and use these aspects and now take a practice swing during your routine you can incorporate how you will feel after your ball arrives at your desired destination or target. You can go one step further and find the emotion you would feel when the ball sits 15 feet left of the flagstick at the completion of your shot! This, or any other powerful emotional feeling you can associate after the outcome of your shot greatly enhances the positive experience you desire to see in front of you. You basically are letting the universe know how you will feel after the shot. This is also known as being that player you desire to be. You empower yourself to be that player who has just hit any shot and feel how that player feels after a shot. Seeing is believing is now transformed to Believing is Seeing. Great golfers can place themselves on the 18 th green after the final round feeling the trophy in their hand with victory at their side. They use believing is seeing as the platform to create they reality they see when they play. You can do the same thing each day you play golf! This approach may seem different to you, but if you look at your past habits you will probably see that an emotional outcome has been used before by you some of the time. Previously almost all of my students have told me that they have dreaded how they would feel with a poor shot while behind that shot before they even attempted it. The approach I encourage them and you to undertake now is to find the feeling you would like to have after the shot is accomplished. This dynamic approach is also like using your magnet of attraction to assist you when you play, only now it can be used deliberately by you to your benefit. Truly stated, believing empowers what you see when you play! Deliberate Intent Your pre-shot routine or approach needs to be recognized as a dynamic, powerful and creative part of your golf game. You are an integral part of all of what you see manifested in front of you when you play.

33 The results you see when you have played may have come to you from what I call default, meaning you were just not aware of how your actions prior to any shot were part of the reaction that you then would visually see when playing. Thus it is extremely important for you to identify those aspects that you can and do control, and take responsibility through your conscious choice as you set out to deliberately play better golf. In the next chapter I will expand on these ideas to see how you could implement them in your golf game and awaken more to the power within you that can assist you when you play. The physical characteristics of your golf game are always looked to for better performance, mechanics and rhythm when you play. However, balancing all aspects of your game is needed for you to play your best golf ever beyond your wildest dreams, which as you can see revolves around your thoughts, visions, beliefs and emotions also when you play.

34 Chapter Nine The Seven Secrets As was referenced in the last chapter, the pre-shot routine is a fundamental part of any golf swing which you do not really hear much about. Instead, your hear about other fundamentals of golf like your grip, proper posture, the plane of the golf swing, etc. which constantly come to you from other sources trying to give you information on ways to improve your golf game. In this chapter I will unveil to you some very strong conscious mindset fundamentals of golf which include several aspects of any pre-shot routine which I believe are imperative that you begin to incorporate in your golf game. Even if you left this chapter starting to utilize a few of these aspects effectively rather than all 7, you will be well on your way to becoming a powerful creator when you play golf. Every pre-shot routine is just that, a routine. A routine is something people do with consistency in their lives, like stopping by a Starbucks for a morning mocha every day as they head to work. This routine in golf becomes automatic and if used efficiently it can attract some new great outcomes to your golf game. The thing that some people interpret incorrectly in regard to this pre-shot routine or preshot approach is that it must be done a certain way. I would certainly not suggest that to you, in fact I would encourage you to put your own spin on your routine, placing your own energetic stamp on it. After all, you are the individual creating the reality you see when you play, and so you should be the one to set the stage before you see each shot take off before you. What follows are seven essential steps, or secrets which I feel are needed for you to use in your routine before you hit any shot. These seven steps are intentionally brought up for you to consider because each one of these have a purpose and attractive energy designed to more easily allow you to see the shot you prefer to see when you play. These seven secrets are Identify, Visualize, Choose, Believe, Feel, Breathe and Commit. What follows is an examination of these secrets for you and your golf game. As was suggested earlier, I do not expect you to utilize them all at first, however my goal is for you to consider these possibilities and to associate the positive aspects they can have for your golf game if used correctly. As was mentioned in the previous chapter, your intentional approach is an absolute part of a dynamic ingredient that is assisting you in manifesting what you are about to see when you make any shot. This approach can work either way for you such as, attracting that which you do not wish to see in your next shot, or that which you do desire to see when you play any next shot!

35 To clearly understand a pre-shot routine I will use the following example of conditions for a particular shot that you can associate with when you play. The situation is as follows: A right handed male player (Tom) has just hit his tee shot onto the 14th fairway, which is a par 4, slight dog leg right approximately 390 yards in length. For this example, I will state that the tee shot that was hit by Tom was designed to be a straight shot over the corner of the fairway bending right and was possible for Tom to carry successfully most of the time. However for this particular tee shot Tom hooked it some to the left and ended up in the first cut of rough near the left side of the fairway. Tom has played this hole before, and he is used to carrying the corner of the dog leg and being about 140yards out from the pin. However after Tom's tee shot he now is 165 yards out, which brings a small emotion of doubt and anxiety with this next shot since it is out of his comfort zone of distance that he is used to when he plays this particular hole. One further point for Tom is that up to this point he had played pretty well during this round, was playing around his average score for the first 13 holes and he had witnessed some good shots and some not so good ones while he played. So he was about even with his emotions with this particular round. Also, when he gets a little under pressure when he plays his tendency is to fade the ball to his right in regard to whatever target he is playing toward. Now Tom has begun his walk from the 14th tee toward his ball, there is only a slight wind from left to right as he walks towards the green,when arriving at his ball the temperature is in the mid 70's and the sun is peaking in and out of the clouds. Identify When you approach any shot you are about to make on the golf course one of the most critical things that must be accomplished is to Identify where you are going to hit this next shot. In the thousands of lessons I have given this is perhaps one of the most dramatic things I do not see golfers do efficiently. To begin with, if you do not have a road map in your mind of where you are going, how can you effectively get there? Golfers many times fall into the trap of not determining what they want to do with each shot or what I call what do they want to create and this part of your pre-shot routine I am referencing is where do you wish the next shot you hit to land? Why this is so challenging for so many golfers involves many possible scenarios including but not limited to: Talking to much with their playing partners while playing a hole and not being focused on the task ahead when they get to their golf ball (such as hit the ball on the green to a specific area of the green). Thinking too much about a previous shot they just had (which was probably a poor one). Bringing a swing mechanic into the process of hitting their next shot (again not focusing on what they are trying to create).

36 Seeing all of the trouble on the hole in front of them, thus disregarding the task or goal at hand which is hit the ball on the green (rather than the bunker left or water right). As you can see, you could keep going and this could be a pretty long list! Learning to identify what you are trying to do or create with each shot and where you wish to land the shot is an absolute must as you begin any new shot on the course. Many players I know are so immersed in a certain mechanic of a swing before they hit a shot that they have no focus of where they wish the ball to land. When identifying your target several factors are coming into play. So it is important that as any player approaches the next shot they are about to make, they are aware of the surroundings of where the ball currently lays, and what the conditions are around them such as wind, temperature and terrain. In Tom's instance as he was walking to his ball he should have been noting the terrain of where his ball now sits and looking down the fairway toward his target (the green) in order to properly get a feel of the shot that he will face. As a side note, as I have suggested throughout this book, the emotions and beliefs you carry from one shot to the next have a direct impact on the next shot you face. In Tom's case, although he did not end up at the 140yard area in the fairway from the green that he is used to, he should not be looking at this as a negative situation. Just the reverse is true, his ball is in play, only in the first cut of rough and he has a direct shot to the green with nothing in between his ball and the green. This is a good situation and should be looked at from that perspective also. Remember, positive emotions and thoughts are attracting more positive results into the reality you are about to create. From 165 yards out Tom sees the flagstick is on the right middle part of the green which is slightly elevated from the fairway about 5 feet. Near the green there is a slope to the left of the green going downhill with just grass, and two bunkers to the right of the green. The green is open in the front of it with no obstacle, though it is sloping uphill from fairway to green. Tom sees his ball is sitting in a nice position up in the first cut of rough grass and should be easy to hit successfully without any long grass impeding the outcome. Normally from 140 yards Tom is used to hitting his 8 iron into this green, and now he is back 25 yards further to a slightly elevated pin. Tom is a little hesitant as to how to proceed. Identifying what Tom desires to manifest here as he plays the hole is what is needed now, and taking into consideration possible situations is needed here also. Should Tom hit this 165 yard shot at the pin? Land it just short of the pin and allow for it to roll up to the pin, or expect for it to stop quickly when he hits it or even lay up short of the green in the fairway relying on another shot to get him on the green? As a golfer, you will know there are many possibilities here and I will not cover all of them, I will leave those thoughts to you.

37 For now Tom has Identified that with the flagstick sitting on the right side of the green, he feels it is safer for him to hit to the middle of the green and allow for his fade to the right (which he sees when he is under pressure or out of his comfort zone ). With this plan of action in his mind, next a target line for his shot is needed. He is not overly confident of hitting his shot at directly at the flagstick, and likes another possible shot selection to work for him at this time from this particular spot. Notice here Tom is getting specific about many aspects of this shot that he faces, he is not just picking a club out of his bag and stepping up and hitting a shot. He is intentionally working at creating this next shot! His target line will Identify where he would like to hit this next shot towards and allow for his natural fade into the target. He determines that because he has the slight extra cross wind from left to right that he will need to hit the ball at the left edge of the green allowing for the wind to drift the ball naturally toward the middle of the green. He notes that even if he fades it more than he is used to, the ball would just end up closer to the pin or perhaps to the right of it on the green. Overall, he feels this is a pretty safe shot for the most part. Visualize In the process of determining your target you are hitting to you should notice that you are utilizing an aspect of golf which is very powerful which is visualization. As you identify where you are hitting the ball to, your imagination is taking part in your golf game. If you make a simple evaluation of this procedure you will notice that your imagination is assisting you see where you wish the ball to go when you hit it. Imagination is images of the mind, expressed. This means the images you have in your mind will then be expressed for you in the reality you see in physical form. Visualization is something that gets overlooked by so many players, however it is one of the most powerful inner awareness tools you have when playing great golf. Currently on the PGA Tour Jason Day is one of the most famous players who uses visualization before each shot. If you observe him you will see that he closes his eyes while standing behind each shot he is about to hit. When he does that, he is visualizing in his imagination where his next shot will go and what the shape of that shot will look like. Jason knows his imagination is a key ingredient to his success. Back to Tom, in Tom's situation here he has determined that the best shot for him is to hit a shot toward the left side of the green and fade it toward the flagstick, meaning he can actually preconceive how this next shot will look when he hits it. This pre-conceived thought is really powerful and if used more effectively can catapult any player s golf game to a new level. Tom is visualizing where he wishes his shot to carry toward when he hits it. He is giving deliberate intent on where he wishes the ball to go AND accompanying it with visualization of that shot. Meaning he is sending a deliberate message out to the universe and accompanying it with the visual picture of what he desires to see. These are two very powerful aspects of any creative process! Both of these deliberate energies are assisting him in manifesting what he wishes to create.

38 While in this process it is important to point out to you that as Tom has determined where he wishes the ball to take off and carry to and land, he HAS NOT brought in the overall picture of him missing the green either to the left or the right. He is using positive aspects and possible outcomes as he determines what he wants to create. It should be noted that many golfers get caught at this very point of looking left of the green to the downhill slope or at the bunkers right and saying to themselves I do not wish to hit it there. Those eight words just mentioned are extremely dis-empowering words that can and will wreck any shot you are attempting. Why? Because rather than focus on the desired outcome, you are changing your focus to a possible outcome you do not wish to see. However if you place your focus on a shot or an area on the course you do not wish to see or hit to, you are actually attracting that outcome to you. In reality you are now setting up another possible scenario that may occur, and this is where so many golfers get lost in a preparation of a golf shot. They consider the poor shot here, and you must not. Stay positive with your thoughts and words when you play. Keep your energy and positive thoughts towards the area you wish to hit a ball to. As Tom is in the process of deciding what shot he wishes to make here he is using visual imagery to assist him in this process. These visual pictures are intent filled energies that are assisting in creating aspects of his golf game. I am sure many times you have heard golf commentators on television mention that touring professionals will stand behind a particular shot and visualize the shape, height and overall look of a shot they are about to make. Sports psychologists will suggest these are positive mental aspects that need to be incorporated when a golfer plays. These visual images are assisting any player see a desired outcome. I will add that my over fifteen years of research on this topic suggests that any thought or visual image you have about a golf shot is like sending a telegram to the universe stating this is what I see about to happen in this situation. The pictures you send will be answered because as the Law of Attraction suggests, what you put your energy, thought, or vision toward will then be reflected back to you in the reality you see. You may already use visual imagery in a powerful way and not know it. Some golfers I know are great around at chipping a ball on the green, seeing it land on a specific spot then roll out toward the cup. They do this often and you may too, with these further explanations given here you may now realize you use visual imagery in parts of your golf game now, but not in all of your game. This is why having what I call deliberate intent is paramount in importance in creating any part of your golf game. Your thoughts and visions you have about any part of your golf game are like a magnet attracting it into your reality! In Tom's case he has Visualized his shot carrying toward the left side of the green and fading in toward the middle of the green. An excellent pre-shot approach to his next shot. Next Tom needs to choose a club he wishes to use for this next shot.

39 Choose The selection of a club can be an empowering part of your golf game, though many get lost at this point and listen to their Ego mind suggest certain clubs that you as a golfer should be able to hit toward a target based on your experience in golf, age, macho distance capability and the Ego minds need to have you step up and play like the other players in your group. Many students I know feel overwhelmed with temptation to succumb to their perceived ability of what the other players around them think about them when they play and thus pull out a club that they think someone else believes they should be able to hit. Many players become fear based in their approach here giving into a temptation to not be themselves and end up not hitting the shot they believe is best for them. They give their inner power and awareness away at this point, which can de-rail any situation in golf. Tom now stands at 165 yards out from his target and this would equal an extremely well hit six iron for him. The point to note here as that each time you face a new shot you will have new feelings that are flowing through you, and those feelings will affect your belief in any possible outcome you may see. So it is imperative to assess each shot separately in each instance and review how you feel about each shot you face. In Tom s case he is a little unsettled at being 165 yards out on this hole since he is used to his comfort zone distance of 140 yards. He assesses his emotions and feelings and finds that a well struck 6 iron is not likely to occur at this particular moment. He reviewed his emotional barometer when looking at that possible club and felt some doubt of him pulling that shot off giving him a reading on his Emotional Barometer of about 5. He knows he needs a higher vibration number than that to likely be successful. Now he is reviewing his bag of clubs for other options. His five iron is next as he reaches to touch it and feel if this club may work at this time. He notes that he tends to fade some shots under pressure or when he is not in his comfort zone, and since his normal five iron would travel 170 to 175 yards, a fade with this shot allows him to see the ball landing a little shorter than those distances, such as about 165 to 170 yards. Since the green is elevated 5 feet, that also allows him to assess that his 165 yard shot is in reality a 170 yard shot, exactly matching this possible five iron shot, his emotional barometer reflects an 8! Tom has reviewed his options quickly and felt that the five iron is the better choice and will proceed with that club to the left side of the green and allow his natural fade to drop the ball in near the flagstick. He has made his choice and moves on in the pre-shot routine and looks to make a final check to see if he has the belief in this possible shot he will attempt? Believe The energy of belief in any part of what we desire to create in life is an extremely powerful aspect of life. Belief is faith, and if faith can move mountains then it certainly should not be overlooked in golf!

40 This aspect of golf, belief, is powerful and illuminating with all shots that you will try to create. Simply put, if you do not believe in a shot you are about to create, why would you think the shot will be successful? I would invite you to sit back in your chair for a moment and think about those words and reflect on the times you have hit shots with no real belief in what you tried. You had doubt, probably made a poor shot and may have noticed this happens to you often. Many times before you may have seen yourself as a victim to the game of golf, when in reality you are the creator and need to use all energies in golf that can assist you towards you desired outcomes. When golfers begin to look at belief they always want to look at creating a shot towards a target that perhaps that day just does not feel right and does not seem like they believe in any way their shot would arrive where they hope it will. Your ego needs to be checked at times to then find a spot that you do believe your next shot can be hit to, even if it is not on a green or carrying a long dog leg. As a golfer you have been groomed by the commercialized business to look outside of yourself towards equipment, tips of techniques and swing methods. But the bottom line is, even with the greatest irons in the world in your golf bag the wisdom of belief is needed for any golfer to create a good shot. Though golfers tend to think at times a shot could be pulled off randomly somehow, the reality is always.you are creating that shot. If you do not belief it possible, you probably will not see that possible outcome. The faith needed to move on and succeed in your everyday life is needed also when you play any day. Golfers must find the confidence and belief in shots they are going to attempt and believe what they have seen visually through their imagination will then be transferred into the physical reality when they play. Some days this faith or belief is easier than others to find and have so you should never be too hard on yourself in this process. Golf ebbs and flows and you need to go with that flow, but try to find steadfast belief when you attempt shots or go into tournaments. Even if you lay up short of a target such as a green, you can still hit the next shot on that green and one putt. Remember, golf is a game of endless possibilities. If you currently do not see those endless possibilities, you probably do not have the faith or belief that you have access to them. However, the world you live in is about endless possibilities and to see more of them, just open yourself up to expect them to appear for you. This expectation is belief or faith in of itself, believe in those and you will see them.believing is seeing! As Tom now makes a final examination of the club he has chosen and the path of the ball towards the left side of the green he feels confident in his possibility of creating this shot. Creating any shot is always your opportunity to show off to the world. As he finds belief in this next shot he is not concerned with what others think of his club selection, etc. He realizes that this shot is HIS creation and finds excitement with the possibility of the shot. The idea of showing off to the world with every next shot you make is something I invite you to embrace and make part of your game. Better golfers, low handicap and touring professionals I work with LOVE the idea of showing off to others what they can do. Even

41 if they do not pull a shot off perfectly, that EXPECTATION by them is empowering them to play better golf every day! By inviting this aspect into your game you empower yourself much more when you play, you do not proceed from fear of what may occur, you proceed from a perspective of what you believe will occur. Your faith is a positive energy steering your shot towards your desired outcome or target, before you ever hit it! If at this point if Tom did not find total belief in the club or shot selected he would need to reevaluate his situation and find connecting comfort to these ideas mentioned above with a different possible club or type of shot. This process can be taken back to visualizing something new perhaps, choosing a different club, etc. All parts of the pre-shot routine have been done from behind the ball from walking up to it and arriving behind it and assessing his situation and options that were available to him. In a pre-shot routine decisions are made prior to stepping into the shot itself, and this process mentioned above would not take very long actually and the more you do it the more efficient you become at it. Remember this routine is yours and different variations of it can be used. To this point Tom has Identified the shot he wishes to make, Visualized the flight of the ball and where it would land, Chose a club that he recognizes as being the best possible one for him and found he does Believe he can accomplish. These four aspects of his routine were accomplished from behind the ball a few yards with his golf bag next to him. Stepping into the next part of the routine is what you may have seen professional golfers do just before they hit their next shot. The items mentioned here in these seven secrets can be used in your own order if you wish, my goal here is for you to see that the energies, emotions and beliefs and visions you have before any shot will have a direct effect on the shot you will see after you hit it. My intent is for you to be a more powerful deliberate creator of your golf game which is controlled by your Conscious Mind. Feel As Tom is ready to step into his shot he is calm and confident and he stands behind his ball about 5 yards with his golf bag at his right side. He takes a deep breath from his abdomen which begins to calm himself. Tom has an intentional starting point in his routine which is something you may have heard or read about before. Many sports psychologist suggest to players that they have a starting point or trigger as they step into the shot and begin their total commitment and concentration. Some players will open their golf glove and re-attach the velcro as a starting point in the shot, meaning once they adjust their golf glove they start their routine and will proceed in a routine comfortable quick and efficient manner until they hit the shot.

42 This actual starting point for you can be anything really, something that you find comfortable or natural for you. It is simply a signal to your conscious mind that you are stepping into your shot with total commitment and positive attitude, belief and concentration towards the shot that faces you. In Tom s case his start to this process is his placing his hand on his club selected (his 5 iron) and pulling it out from his bag. His process is engaged. Tom takes his five iron and stands behind the ball and makes a few small half swings as he grips his club. He next looks toward his target and feels his shot that he is about to make. He associates his target and can Feel the his ball landing on the left side of the green. He has used more visual imagery to imagine the ball sitting left of the pin on the green and Feels what the sense of it ending up there before he even makes the shot. This association is again sending deliberate intents of his shot ending up where he desires. Next Tom uses a deliberate swing feeling as part of his routine from behind the ball. When he plays he likes to have one swing feel thought when he plays, today he is feeling his legs being anchored well beneath him in his swing as he seeks to feel the ground underneath the balls of his feet during his swing allowing for his dynamic push of energy in his swing against the ground catapulting his swing to greater speed and control. He makes this deliberate swing, feels the ground underneath him that he seeks to feel today. On some days this does not happen in just one swing, so he may take a few swings until he gets that feeling for maximum confidence and belief before his shot. Next Tom takes one last look at his desired target line from behind the ball and aligns a spot in front of his ball about 5 yards to his desired ball flight starting line towards the left side of the green. He sees his line, he once again sees his ball taking off toward the left side of the green and ending up just left of the pin. Breathe Finally before he steps towards the ball to get beside it to hit his shot he takes a large breathe from his abdomen breathing in through is nose and out through his mouth slightly. The breathe he takes here can be one or up to three. This breathing exercise is specifically designed to quite the Ego mind just before he steps beside the ball. The reason the Ego mind is quieted is because it wishes to force its control on you, suggesting many exact items needed during the swing such as club back, feel pressure on the foot here, etc. In golf you have practiced and prepared, when playing you cannot get caught up in mechanics of the swing. By quieting the Ego mind, it relaxes him, allows his higher conscious mind quick and easy access to be more a part of him during the shot with divine guidance and inspiration and instinct during his shot. Your higher conscious mind is a calming aspect of all that you are and should be used as much as possible when playing. Tom steps forward towards his ball, places his club face directly behind his ball allowing for his club face to align itself with his intermediate target about 5 yards in front of his ball and find the correlating line of his target on the green.

43 At this point Tom is not too concerned with his alignment of his shoulders, feet, and knees being parallel to his target line that you as an avid golfer may have heard or read about from countless sources. When Tom practices on the range he has worked on these aspects of his swing, and now stepping in beside his shot he relies on his higher conscious mind to guide him to his instincts of where his body should be as he prepares to hit the shot. Tom feels calm beside the ball, looks towards his target line again and up on the green where he desires the ball to end up and places that picture firmly in his mind as he looks back down at the ball. He feels a connection between himself, the ball and his target ahead on the green. Commit Tom next commits to this shot as he takes another breath from his abdomen near his stomach, in through his nose, out through his mouth quietly and totally engages himself in the swing he is about to attempt. Commitment is a huge part of any shot, the ground work has been done all through your routine before you hit any shot, and trust and commitment in the process and the shot itself is needed. Tom feels calm and can feel the success of the shot before he makes it, he feels the shot arriving where he wishes, and can feel a great outcome. He senses what the sweet spot will feel like before he swings attracting that dynamic aspect of golf to his swing. He commits through his whole body and mind to the shot and deliberately begins to takes the club back, makes his swing with great rhythm and balance as he holds the club over his left shoulder after the ball is struck and flies towards his target. He anticipates a good outcome as he has just felt his sweet spot on the club when the ball was struck. Review The seven secrets mentioned here are seven powerful aspects that you can incorporate into your golf game. These seven secrets are free in their path meaning they can be used in conjunction with each other such as combining choice with belief or belief with feel. Golf is an individual sport, so my hope here for you is that you will see how these perspectives of your pre-shot approach can be used from your point of view but still incorporating some or all of the dynamic powerful parts of it. With these seven secrets I have taken you into a new room that was perhaps not totally known to you before and I have shined some light on aspects of your game that perhaps you have or have not used before. Even if used before, hopefully now you will recognize that each of your thoughts, emotions and beliefs associated with your actions before each shot have a direct association to what you then see when you play.

44 In Tom s instance, his shot took off toward his desired target and landed on the left side of the green as he envisioned before the shot. The pre-shot process he used assisted him in seeing the desired reality he wanted to. Even if shots you make do not turn out the way you envisioned all of the time, I would highly encourage you to reflect on each of these parts before you made each swing and shot. Were you in alignment with all of these or perhaps off center with some? There may be other reasons for shots turning out the way you desire. I will leave those assessments up to you. To become more of a master mindset and conscious mind when you play and you need to recognize the inner power you have each time you play. Work with these dynamic gifts you have and strive to improve with them. Have deliberate intent on improving when you implement this process, and your golf game will continue to elevate to greater new heights. Consistent, Confident play on the course is not solely wrapped around your swing technique. Your conscious mind is the gateway to a better golf game. In order for you to improve your golf game you will need to learn how to Elevate Your Mindset in order for consistent play and lower scores to be part of your natural every day play. It is that simple!

45 Wouldn t it be a great feeling to have when you stood over your next shot you knew it would be a good one? How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf is a 12 session video instruction series for golfers of any level who want to play the type of golf they have always felt they are capable of with confidence and consistency flowing to them easily. Imagine if: Every time you teed it up on the course you were sure you would perform and play well. The occasional large number scores on holes you keep finding on your scorecard suddenly fell away, not to be seen any more. You were excited to play golf every time you were scheduled to and you really looked forward to playing your next round because you knew you would be playing much better. You felt like you are finally getting somewhere with golf and you were playing to levels you always believed you were capable of. This is exactly what your life will be like when you take part in my How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf Program

46 How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf is a 12 session video golf instruction series available for immediate download for passionate golfers who want to play more consistent golf and play with greater confidence in themselves and their golf games. Each video is accompanied with a written PDF document reviewing the video content and adding additional information to learn from while also assigning weekly homework done either at home or on the course. Weekly assignments are designed to engage each player in that weeks video topic and give them practical ways to utilize them to help improve their mental mindsets around golf on the practice range, the course or at home. How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf will teach you: To use the most dynamic levels of conscious awareness that help golfers play better. How to transform your past limiting beliefs about yourself and your golf game to stronger more empowering ones that will enable better play rather than disable it. How to break free form past habits of poor reactions from unwanted shots you have so your next shots can be better ones. How to learn to trust your swing and let go of fear and doubt about your swing or the next shot you will attempt. Improve your practice methods and mental habits on the range so they can be used to insure your on course performance is better than ever. To use a conscious mindset that will improve your point of focus when you play for peak performance from the golfer allowing for more natural lower scores. Unlike any other lesson or video instruction series you have tried before, here is the way How to Play Your Most Consistent Golf is different from anything else you have tried before.

47 These 12 unique golf instruction series include: Hand-picked proven mental methods from sports psychologists, inner awareness experts and PGA Tour players. Detailed information on how the conscious mind effects the reality any player sees and how golfers can use this knowledge to greatly benefit their game. Homework challenges that bring the player out of their comfort box and infuses them with greater confidence so they will perform better on the course. But don't just take my word for it, here is what some of my students who have purchased the course had to say. "Shot 75 today, could have been much better, but my conscious awareness is really improving when I play. I have been working on these videos and they are helping me...big time!" James H. "Just finished downloading the 4th lesson and notes. I really like the message on your fourth lesson. I have been working on the program as much as I can. I really believe it is the key to playing at a higher level." Michael B. Al, you are amazing. Read your information about your high school kid just before leaving to play ladies' day. Shot a net 70. Kicked ass in ladies play and sweeps. Also won $10.00 off my partners. I took his attitude to heart and didn't let anyone get in my head. Love it! Cathy G. As a special price included with this book reduces the program price from $195 to Just $79 if you buy today. Learn more about Al Owens and his Golf Performance Coaching at