Play Golf Well and Keep Smiling
If you are a golfer and love the game as much as I do, just being on the course will bring a smile to your face. For me, whether I play golf well or not, I enjoy my golf. In fact, just getting ready to leave the house, and drive up to the golf club is enough to make me feel a total sense of release. I feel like an eagle soaring high in the sky where nothing can touch it; golf to me is associated with freedom and yet also a sense of "groundedness" at the same time.
Golf is my relaxation, my release, my reward, a time when I completely shut out the rest of my life (without trying to do so) and each moment brings an alternating sense of peacefulness, excitement, adrenalin, enjoyment, mental focus, satisfaction and fun. The feelings which I experience when playing golf are powerful and positive. It is also a game where you meet kindred spirits and there is so much added pleasure in sharing your passion for this truly magnificent game called golf.
There are days when you go out onto the course, stand on that first tee and choose your target and then watch as your ball travels there like a magnetized beam of dazzling light. Oh wow! What a feeling that is! And then there are other days when you stand on the tee, pick your target and the golf ball shoots off into the trees, defying the laws of physics; and then the feeling is different. You have the challenge of an interesting lie in the rough, or behind a tree, and a demanding shot to look forward to.
That round white ball sits there demanding that you focus clearly and use your imagination to create a unique golf shot; that's an amazing feeling too. Golf keeps your attention; it has the ability to play you like a puppet on a string, if you allow it to do so. You can either rise up to the challenge or give in to it. Some people hate the game; they say that "golf is a good walk spoiled", in which case they should not play it.
In reality, we all especially love the days when everything in your game comes together; the tee shots fly down the centre of the fairway, every putt stays on course, the sun shines but it's not too hot, your playing partners are great fun, and so on. But that really shouldn't mean that you cannot enjoy those other days when it doesn't feel so easy. The key lies in focusing upon the aspects of your golf which you do enjoy no matter what the end result might eventually be.
And so, what are ten things which are guaranteed to make a golfer smile?
1) A beautiful golf course which is kept in peak condition.
2) A great day weather wise - not too hot and certainly not cold and wet, with perhaps a gentle breeze.
3) The sight of your first tee shot flying down the middle of the fairway and staying true to your target.
4) The sound of a long putt "clunking" into the middle of the cup.
5) Making a decent chip in (or even better, a hole in one)
6) Making a great recovery shot.
7) Sitting in the 19th with a drink, talking avidly about the previous 18 holes.
8) Going to watch the Masters, the Ryder Cup or the Open.
9) Gaining a greater level of mastery in your game.
10) The feeling of being in the zone.
It is actually very difficult to pick just ten things which make a golfer smile, for me at least. There's not much about golf which doesn't make me smile!
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnotherapy downloads for success and happiness, including the GolferWithin golf mind training system.
P.S. You can play golf well, hit your drives straight down the middle of the fairway and become a great putter with the help of golf hypnosis. Grab yourself a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.
You Never Know A Man Until You See Him Lose
How do you deal with situations where you think you might lose? What emotions come to the fore and how do you deal with them? Golf mind training teaches you many strategies which are extremely beneficial in other areas of your life.
I picked up this quote in reference to Mark Anthony. It is quite apt when applied to the human race in general. It is easy to have a happy and sunny disposition when you are winning, or when things are going your way. Your capacity to cope is put under a little more pressure when the tide turns and it looks as if you may be the loser.
How do you respond then? Do you steel yourself and allow your situation to fire you up and dig deep into your resources of mental strength and imagination? Or do you allow your shoulders to slump as all energy seems to dissipate and your heart becomes set upon turning tail and running home? Or do you get angry at the unfairness of the hand that you have been dealt? Perhaps you just smile, laugh or shrug in a reflection of the acceptance that "that's life".
I always say that golf is a game which teaches you, or at least highlights, many lessons which are required in life. The way in which you play golf more often than not reflects the way in which you deal with circumstances in life in general. As you learn mastery over various aspects of this wonderful game, you also gain mastery over similar situations in life.
You learn a lot about a person when you play a round of golf with them. Their true character is revealed very clearly in just a few short hours. You will observe whether that person is analytical and systematic or whether they take a more random approach to their game. You will see the speed at which they go about their life. You'll see how they cope with frustration, adversity or failure. Golf tells you a great deal about a person, far more than most of us imagine.
If you would like, you can use golf as a way in which to teach yourself mental mastery which stands you in good stead for life in general. Golf provides you with immediate feedback as to how well you are progressing, where many other situations do not do this so readily. You can clearly see the effect of your mental focus in golf in where the ball goes, or not, as the case may be. With the right golf mind training you can learn to focus clearly and to clear your mind of distractions.
Golf hypnosis is a very powerful tool in that you learn how to use both your conscious and subconscious mind to achieve the results which you deserve. If you are in two minds about what you are doing with your golf club, the golf ball will surely reflect this state of affairs. But with golf hypnosis you can align your conscious and subconscious mind, and also your logical thoughts with your emotions and your imagination. Thus golf hypnosis is a very powerful way in which you can take control of your mind and your game of golf.
This mental mastery can then be applied to every area of your life to create success and happiness.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnotherapy downloads for success and happiness, including the GolferWithin golf mind training system.
P.S. Are you longing to hit your drives straight down the middle of the fairway or would you like to become a great putter? Grab yourself a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.
Why Golf Hypnosis Is Not Just For Serious Golfers
Golf is a very challenging game, but it is still a game. It is easy to get very tied up in the mechanics of the game and the desire to master its intricacies and basically forget that it is, at the bottom line, a game which is meant to be relaxing and fun.
I myself know how easy it is to become drawn into turning this game into what could almost be seen as a job. Many golfers can be seen with their bag of balls practicing their chipping and pitching for half an hour or more at a time. Others busy themselves upon the range in their attempts to cure their slice or hook or add an extra twenty yards to their drive. And then there's the putting green to practice upon as well; and for the keenest there's indoor golf so as to ensure you can always practice no matter what the weather is like.
Some of us enjoy this practice; we look forward to it with relish and can find it to be just as much fun as playing an actual round of golf. Others do not find it fun at all and these are the golfers who will not be seen on the range, the chipping area or even the putting green. These golfers just want to play golf; they don't want to "work" at it. They want to have fun. They are not as bothered about the outcome of their game. These people just want to walk and chat and hit the ball and great shots or great holes are seen more as a bonus.
But to everyone, no matter whether you are a serious golfer or a fun golfer, those great shots and great holes undeniably have a wonderful "feel-good" factor attached to them. Every single golfer can identify with that feeling of almost-ecstasy as their often truant golf ball becomes tamed for a few moments and conforms to your wishes. Great shots give every golfer a better feeling than poor shots. No-one will disagree with that.
The question which few people ask is what they could do to hit those great shots more frequently without having to "work" at it. How can you play better golf without "working" upon the range? The answer is actually quite simple - you can use golf hypnosis; it is quick, easy and effective.
Great golf is ninety percent in your mind. Golf is all about confidence and visualization. You can gain this massive mental edge simply by listening to a golf hypnosis mp3 as you go to sleep at night. It doesn't take time out of your everyday life, it doesn't take effort on your part, but it will change how you think whilst on the golf course and this inevitably will create a better outcome. Simply by falling asleep whilst listening to a golf hypnosis mp3 you will hit better shots and have a whole lot more fun. It really cannot get mush easier than that!
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis mp3s and author of the GolferWithin mind training program, used by beginners and professionals alike.
Why Golf Hypnosis Is Not Just a Placebo
I noticed an advertisement for a golf training DVD which referred to golf hypnosis as "just a placebo". It made me realize once again that the majority of people (who do not know what hypnosis really is) jump to this same incorrect conclusion.
Scientific research has in fact proven that hypnosis creates activity in a different part of the brain from that which is related to the placebo effect. Hypnosis is a very powerful tool in enhancing anything which involves using your mind, and golf has got to be the most mental game there is. Hypnosis is incredibly effective in helping you to get your mind around golf and to acquire the calm focus which this great game inevitably requires.
But let's not knock the placebo effect either. The placebo is no little thing to be dismissed as insignificant. The placebo has enormous power. In drug studies it is acknowledged that the placebo effect is seen in 20 – 30% of participants; this is not to be "sniffed at". The fact is that simply by thinking that something will work, it will indeed work for 20 – 30% of the population. It really does pay to be a believer, or to have a positive expectation.
Your mind works in such a way that if you expect something to happen, this is generally what you will subsequently see. The suggestions used by golf psychologists and golf hypnotists take advantage of this basic fact. If you know how your mind instinctively works you can make a choice to take advantage of it. To ignore the placebo effect is, to be perfectly honest, extremely wasteful and I would venture to say rather stupid.
And to brush aside golf hypnosis as "just a placebo" compounds that wastefulness even further. Hypnosis is a natural state of relaxation. In learning to use hypnosis you learn how to calm and relax yourself in an instant; this is pretty useful in the game of golf. Hypnosis provides access to your subconscious mind which is the part that acts instinctively and automatically, and it therefore enables you to program your mind to focus upon aspects of golf in the way in which you might like. Hypnosis provides a state of heightened awareness and focus which once again is more than a little bit helpful when you are playing golf.
I could go on and on about how golf hypnosis is the very best way in which to straighten out your game and sink those putts, but I think you know by now where I'm coming from! Please don't dismiss golf hypnosis as "just a placebo" and do not dismiss the placebo effect either. Why not try it for yourself? The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and this is a particularly delicious pudding!
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis and author of the GolferWithin mind training system.
How To Slow Down Your Back Swing
I received an e-mail from a fellow golfer today asking for help in slowing down their back swing. This gentleman had been trying, without success, to say to himself "slow" and "stop" when at the top of his back swing. His assessment of the situation was that the speed of his back swing was creating bad shots.
This is one of the biggest myths in golf. (The other most popular myths are that you should always keep your head down and your wrists stiff.) A fast swing is only an issue if you cannot control the direction in which the club face is travelling. Each individual has their own tempo or rhythm which does not just apply to golf. How fast do you walk or talk?
Ask yourself what your normal speed is. If it is quite swift, then your natural swing tempo will be as well. You play golf from the platform of you the person; rather than trying to adapt your entire personality to your golf, you need to adapt your golf to your personality. You just have to learn to apply the club face to the ball accurately whilst you swing, at whatever speed your natural rhythm dictates.
Additionally, if your focus is placed upon the top of your back swing this necessarily implies that you are distracted away from where it should be - upon hitting the ball forwards in a particular direction. If you are thinking about the top of your back swing, or your wrist angle or anything else like that you cannot be focusing on the very thing which really matters; that of hitting the golf ball square at impact. This in fact creates a situation where you cannot see the wood for the trees. In golf the most important focus is committing to the shot in hand.
You may also be telling yourself to not do something, in which case this terminology will in fact make you do it more. If you are saying to yourself "Don't swing too fast" you are effectively (unintentionally, I know) giving your mind a direct instruction to swing fast! You may well be saying don't swing too fast, but your mind is seeing and expecting a fast swing. Your imagination is always stronger than your will power...whatever you are picturing will happen.
In reality the heart of the issue lies not in a need to slow down the back swing, but instead a refocusing upon what really matters is required; swinging the club in a way which allows the clubface to impact upon the ball and propel it forwards to a previously selected target. Your issue is far more likely to be caused by a misdirection of focus than a back swing which is too fast.
When you watch different golfers you will see that they all have different swing speeds; your task is merely to control the direction of your club face through impact.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis and author of the GolferWithin mind training system.
How To Hit A Straight Drive
It is interesting to see what questions are most frequently asked about the game of golf. The question at the top of the list must be about "how to hit the longest tee shot" or "how to hit a straight drive". Is there really such a secret about how to hit your driver straight? Seemingly there is a hidden secret about how to hit an accurate tee shot which every golfer would dearly love to discover.
A "Google" search of this topic will provide you with thousands of answers as to what the secret is. I think however, that the secret to you hitting your driver straight is not to be found on Google; rather, I think that the secret to hitting your longest tee shot is within yourself. When I say "within yourself" I mean this to encompass more than one sense:
1. You will only hit a perfect tee shot if you swing within the limits of your mechanical control of the club. As you hit the ball within your control your tee shot will go farther than it will by trying to hit it harder. A golf ball, when pointed in the right direction will make its way there. You don't have to beat it into submission!
2. You will also only hit a long straight drive if you do so within your mind as well as your body. You have to see it to believe it. By visualizing the perfect tee shot first in your mind, you are allowing your mind to direct your body, and the club, and finally the ball to the exact point where you want it to go. If you do not first clearly see where you want the ball to go, your body will swing the club mindlessly and the ball will respond accordingly.
3. This leads me to the next way in which one should interpret the term "within yourself". You have to see it to believe it. The act of visualizing yourself hitting the longest tee shot does more than just creating a clear plan in your mind which then directs your body to act accordingly. As you visualize the perfect tee shot your mind begins to believe it. Research has shown that the human mind does not know the difference between something real and something vividly imagined. Thus your visualization builds belief about where the ball will go. As you no doubt know, good golf happens when you feel confident. As you believe that you are going to hit an accurate tee shot, there is a far greater chance that you will do just that.
4. There is one more interpretation of "within yourself". Your idea of hitting a perfect tee shot will be unique to you and to the actual hole you are playing. You may want to draw the ball or to create a gentle fade. To create that shape of shot, and thereby hit the perfect tee shot that you desire, you also need to understand how the clubface impacts upon the ball, and how spin is created. You can only intentionally shape your shot from within this knowledge, and also from practicing to gain proficiency at such shots within a basis of this understanding.
This to me is the secret to hitting an accurate tee shot. The secret lies within yourself; within your mind as well as the physical and mechanical abilities of your body. A lot of golfers overlook the input of their mental processes when they play golf. This is a great shame as good golf is 90% in the mind.
If you would like to hit long straight drives down the middle of the fairway, you can get a head start in doing this with the help of a little golf mind training.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis mp3s to get you hitting the longest tee shots.
Managing Your Emotions on the Golf Course
I am a really lucky person. I absolutely love the game of golf, and "bad shots" just don't get to me in the way that they do a lot of other golfers. To me, when that ball ends up tucked under the rim of a sand trap, or right up behind a tree trunk, I am provided with an opportunity to be creative; I relish the opportunity to try something new on the golf course and then just watch what "pops out".
I guess that I'm lucky in that the score doesn't matter to me. I'm not playing golf to earn enough money to feed the family or pay the mortgage. I play golf because I enjoy golf, and everything which goes with it - the friends you make, the scenery, the fresh air, the exercise. The majority of golfers are in a similar position in that their livelihood does not depend upon them holing out on the 18th for a birdie.
Not all club golfers, however, enjoy their "bad shots" or respond to them in a positive manner. Somehow, a fear of embarrassment or a competitive nature can get in the way of true enjoyment of the game. I'm not denying that golf throws up many an opportunity for frustration; the game of golf is extremely challenging to one's emotional stability!
If you are a beginner at golf, it helps to recognize that it is a really tricky game to play involving a long club, a small ball and a really large distance to cover. Don't worry about what other people think; those other golfers started off in exactly the same place as you. They understand how that club can seem to turn itself into an octopus in your hands and how that ball can get all stubborn and refuse to move in the right direction (if indeed it decides to move at all).
And remember that you do get better at golf with practice so do not be disheartened. Whenever you go to the range or play a few holes there are always a few lovely shots which "pop out"; replay these in your mind's eye and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment over and over again. You know that you are capable of hitting shots like this and they will happen more and more frequently. This is what gets you excited and chomping at the bit to get out there and play again!
Please don't allow your shoulders to slump and your gaze to just contemplate the grass upon the fairway. Your body language reflects your moods and emotions. When you feel down, everything about your body language heads south. Square your shoulders, raise your eyes and enjoy the beauty of the golf course; laugh with your friends, and know that this is just a tricky little game which is going to get easier and easier with practice, so long as you don't worry about it. Just as your moods are reflected in your body language, as you consciously lift your eyes and shoulders up, this will have a reciprocal effect upon your emotions. Always keep your head high when playing golf. Keep your head up and feel uplifted; allow your head to stay down and you will feel down.
The other thing that is really helpful is to not forget the task in hand. The aim of the game is to hit the ball with the clubface and move that ball forwards in the right direction. As a beginner it can be really complicated trying to remember how you are meant to stand, and how your hands are meant to go, and each movement in the swing, and how far to stand from the ball, and how high to tee the ball up...and all too easy to forget that all you need to do is to aim in the right direction and then hit the ball!
Golf is a really unique game and well worth the trials and tribulations encountered in its learning. What other game can you play on your own as well as with others, in groups of two, three or four? And players of all levels can play together without an individual's game being compromised? And people of almost any fitness level and age can enjoy? And be outside in the fresh air? And play on different courses all over the globe? I could go on and on about the beauty of this game but think I've probably said enough! This is a very GREAT game.
Enjoy your golf!
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis recordings to help manage your emotions and play great golf.
What shot should I play? - Part 2
Just to recap on part 1 of this story, we have a golfer who thought he was "chicken" because he wasn't comfortable with the shot he knew he should play and so took a different club (one he was comfortable with) and hit a perfect shot down the middle of the fairway. Despite hitting a great shot, he was giving himself a hard time for being a "chicken".
So why didn't he feel he had played the right shot? These are a couple of reasons here. One is that he didn't want other people to think he was a chicken. He felt they'd know he had "chickened out". Well, in my mind that's a terrible reason to worry. Your aim in each and every shot in golf is to get the ball where you want it to go and it doesn't matter how you get it there and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. But most of us do worry what others will think; To seek approval is a natural instinct, BUT it doesn't pay to be allowing this emotion to take over when you're playing golf. You have to learn to focus on the logistics of the task in hand and banish competing emotions from your mind.
A second reason why he didn't feel he had played the right shot is that he was fighting frustration which had been building for some time; he had been getting increasingly more uncomfortable with those types of shots and the more he thought about it, the more unsure he was as he hovered over the shot...and yet he KNEW he could play that shot, he SHOULD be able to play that shot, and he KNEW that he should just take the club, make the shot and conquer his fears and frustrations...and so in not doing this he was a chicken (IN HIS MIND, NOT IN MINE).
To have played that shot in that state of mind would have been totally wrong. Golf is a game of confidence; the ball goes where your mind and your emotions are going. If one bit of you is thinking one thing, whilst another bit is thinking something different, the golf ball will also "be in two minds" and its flight will reflect it. Your frustrations and fears will be transmitted through your breathing, your grip, your tempo, rhythm and swing....and the ball will go where you in reality, deep down, EXPECTED the ball to go.
My friend, when we played, made the right choice, the bravest and cleverest choice. He played the shot he was confident with. This is all that matters. To play the shot which you are most confident will work is the one to choose, every time. It doesn't matter if it is the right shot technically speaking in a perfect world, if you see what I mean.
Another thing which many golfers do when they have lost confidence with a particular shot is to swap clubs; they buy a new toy! And sometimes this works. If you expect it to work for you it probably will...at least for a short period of time...and a short period of time is sometimes enough to regain your confidence with those shots. This, however, is not the best solution. Those clubs you had before DID work and they still do. It is all in your mind.
So what should you do when you're confidence is falling in relation to a particular shot or club?
You could go to the range and practice until you get comfortable once again. If this works, great, you've cracked it. If it doesn’t work or your confidence doesn't transfer onto the course, play a different shot which you are comfortable with. Don't play that shot whilst you feel uncomfortable with it. Leave that shot "in the bag" until the memory of fear and frustration has faded; then, one day, (fairly soon) you'll be on the course, you'll see that shot in your mind's eye, pull out the club and hit it perfectly once again.
The thing to avoid is making yourself play that shot (for fear of being called a "chicken") when you aren't confident, thereby creating more and more "BAD" shots to store up in your mind, thereby building the belief that you cannot hit that shot, creating an expectation that you cannot do it, and so on.
In golf, confidence is the key.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.
What Shot Should I Play? - Part 1
In golf there is always a time when you know you should play a certain shot and yet you really don't feel comfortable about it. What should you do?
How many times have you stood on the fairway, hand hovering over your bag, knowing that you probably should play that high shot that cuts slightly through the wind...but you don't feel quite comfortable with it for no clear reason? And somehow a low shot with a different club is more appealing at that particular moment? Or perhaps you know that you should be using a four iron for that distance, but it doesn't feel right?
There are many different variations to this dilemma and I'm sure we have all experienced them from time to time. And the club or shot which concerns you as a golfer can change from day to day, week to week, month to month or year to year.
I have experienced it myself in extreme forms - not feeling comfortable with woods off the fairway for an entire season (ALL my woods; unable to feel that I could get them off the ground, but happy with them off the Tee, for some inexplicable reason!); and the following season not feeling comfortable with my irons (ALL of them, knowing that I could shank every shot with an iron with uncanny consistency!); and then as a feeling of comfort returned with both woods and irons, whether off Tee of fairway, and enjoying a feeling of relief flooding over me at the thought of all those extra shots I knew I could play, only to find that short irons had become uncomfortable...WHAT NOW?!
As you can tell, I'm an "all or nothing" kind of person, and some of you will relate to these types of experiences. Thank goodness, as my golf has got better (both technically and mentally) I no longer have seasons of concern with particular types of shots; Instead, it's just a vague feeling now and again that I'm just not comfortable with the shot which would be the best TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, to play in a particular situation.
In fact, the troubles I used to experience had become such a vague memory that I had almost forgotten what it felt like. What jogged my mind was going out to play a few holes with a friend, a good player, and him saying that he felt that he was being a chicken...that he should be playing a particular shot but wasn't comfortable with it, and so was hitting a different one instead. He chose his club, made a great shot, the ball pitched in the middle of the fairway, in perfect position for his second onto the green. And yet, there he was, unhappy; In his mind he was a "chicken" for not having taken the shot he felt would have been better technically.
In my mind he was both clever and brave and had made a great decision. He took the club he felt confident with, and played the shot he KNEW would work for him on that day, in those circumstances. He has the ability to manipulate his shots, to create many different shots and went with what he felt most confident with.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.
Tips For Ladies Learning To Play Golf
Why do ladies and men's approaches to golf seem to differ so much? Of course, this is a generalization...but one always hears men harping on about this or that lady who "doesn't hit the ball that far", but it "stays on the fairway"; this accompanied by an intonation or expression which infers that it's not really fair, almost as if women cheat by not hitting it as hard or as far as the men - that it's not "proper" golf!
By comparison of course, you more often hear wonderful stories of the hugest slice or hook that this MAN hit, or the incredible distance this shot went...or the terrible tantrums such and such a man displays to all and sundry. I personally recall a wonderfully entertaining moment while playing with three gentlemen. One tees up on a relatively straight and open par 5, swishes his driver a few times and then grips his jaw in readiness for the strike, sending the ball three hundred yards straight left into a field of unsuspecting cows. The replacement ball, still hit with the same force (if not more), flies three hundred yards straight right; and one of my other playing partners commented that whilst both balls had travelled an enormous distance, there was still greater yardage between the points where they eventually came to rest! What a wonderfully entertaining game this is!
The fact is that women tend to, in general, be more cautious than men. And this is part of our genetic programming. Going back to "cave man" days, a man had more chance of survival if he displayed strength and power and so he had to take risks and go out and secure the food and other necessities for the survival of himself and his mate. The woman, on the other hand, learnt that it was better to be more cautious and relied on the man to look after her. Men in those earlier days were forced to compete whilst women learnt to be rather more submissive. The effect of this programming is evident in our genetic disposition in the current day.
If you watch young children you will see that boys are more inclined to take things apart, to see how things work, etc, whereas girls are more likely to ask to be shown what to do, and are more inclined to look after things in their present form instead to destroying them in the interests of curiosity.
Parents also encourage their children to learn to play in different ways and to perform gender specific roles. Different toys and games are provided depending on the gender and preconceived ideas of how a man should act or a woman should act is imposed upon the growing psyche. Thus we are not only genetically programmed but also conditioned through experience to learn, act and behave differently.
"Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" as the bestselling book is titled, and so it should come as no surprise that women and men approach the game of golf in unique gender specific ways. And, as those of you who have read past articles of mine will know I keep saying, everything in life starts with a thought; how you think about something and your mental approach and expectations will dictate your outcome. You play golf from the platform of you the person, you the woman or you the man.
When beginning to play this wonderful and challenging game, men are more likely to try different things, to explore, to try and work out how it works, to test boundaries and see how far they can hit the ball, how hard they can hit it and so on. Women are more likely to seek instruction and guidance, and to do as they are told. Men are more inclined to be competitive whilst women see it more as a game, a great walk, good company, a bit of exercise, etc. Again, I'm generalizing here, so please do not take offence.
Thus, in general, the advice I would give to a woman who is thinking about taking up this game, is to book a course of lessons with a good instructor. Don't listen to that really helpful guy who plays off 18 and thinks he knows the answer to every golfing problem - go to someone who has proven both his/her knowledge of the game and his/her ability to teach. That helpful guy probably does know what you need to know but he is probably not an expert in the art of teaching and passing on his knowledge. Make sure you are shown the right things in the right way. And, unless you have an unusually harmonious relationship with your husband, don't risk your marriage by getting him to show you how to play either!
Recognize that genetic programming points to the fact that you are most likely to feel comfortable and confident when you are shown what to do and act upon this awareness. Golf is a game of confidence - it either feels right or it doesn't, the club and ball look and feel right or they don't. When you are confident your rhythm is good, your swing is smooth, you are more likely to hit the ball out of the sweet spot and create the shot you desire...and this leads to feelings of achievement, satisfaction, pride...and ultimately greater enjoyment of the game, coupled with a sense of smug satisfaction that you can hit the ball a nice distance and keep it in play on the fairway, much to the envy of many a male golfer!
Confidence comes from knowing that you know what to do and practicing until what you are attempting becomes consistent. So practice between lessons, but make sure that its fun - get friends to go and practice as well, have a chat and a laugh along the way. See practice as a game as well, rather than a chore. Once you've learnt to hit the ball reasonably well, and you feel confident, and you have a measure of control, then you can start to take a few risks, explore different shots and challenge your boundaries. Take calculated "risks" in your game only when you have the confidence to do so. Taking unnecessary risks before you feel comfortable with your game is one very good way to destroy not only your confidence but your enjoyment and desire to play this great game.
Now...I have really, really generalized. If you are a lady who loves a challenge, thrives on risk, and likes to know the nuts and bolts of how everything works...then I'd prescribe a much more adventurous and innovative approach to the game. Take a look at www.instinctivegolf.com and consider this approach to coaching. It encourages you to learn through self exploration, as opposed to just being told what to do. You will learn to understand the complexities of this game, and explore, and continually push against boundaries to create an ever more creative and inspired game of golf.
Golf is a game, but most people will agree that they enjoy it more when they play better than when their game is in tatters. So recognize that golf is a game of confidence, become aware of your own preferred learning style and learn from within this basis of awareness. In this way you will be comfortable and confident and really enjoy your golf.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis downloads.
