As many of you know, I’m an Ambassador for Special Olympics Great Britain – a role which is very dear to my heart.

Especially when I see how a focus on genuine ABility instead of DISability can lead to remarkable personal and sporting achievement.

In today’s blog, I want to mention Matthew Sims, who despite being born with Downs Syndrome, has gone on to play golf all over the world – from representing Wales and Great Britain in World Games to partnering Ryder Cup player, Robert Karlsson in the BMW Pro-Am at Wentworth.

Matt has a dedicated regime and focus on his golf, from practice to fitness to his mental game but also knows where and how to step back from the pressures to allow himself to enjoy his game as well as win.

Not only that, but he is a real gent, and it’s a pleasure to be in his company both on and off the course.

So you can imagine how chuffed I was the other week when I received a text message saying, “I’ve done it! It’s 5 shots lower as you promised!”

I know Matt does not mind me sharing the following information with you – he has very successfully built the routines of ‘5 Shots Lower’ into his game and is now playing off 12.8!!!

Well done, Matt, you can be VERY proud of yourself, your game and for being a true Ambassador of golf!!

Please join me in congratulating Matt by leaving a comment below. And if you have a success story, why not share that too?

It was probably one of the most amazing examples of mental toughness in sport, let alone golf.

Louis Oosthuizen becomes the deserved 2010 Open Champion at St Andrews.

Peter Alliss made the remark on commentary how Louis appeared to look at a big red dot on his glove before EACH shot and then go into a trance-like state!

Well, he did!!

About a month before the Open, I was called up by Chubby Chandler at ISM to work with Louis on his concentration and MIND FACTOR.

We sat down for the first time in Manchester and talked. It was clear his routine was all over the place. He had all of the pieces he needed but in completely the wrong order.

Most golfers just do NOT understand how important and how vital it is that you get your routine right. You need to know HOW to put the pieces together.

Concentration is one of THE most misunderstood aspects of golf and life!

Nobody ‘loses’ their concentration they just allow themselves to put it in the wrong place.

One of the difficulties of golf is there are no outside agents which help you focus your concentration – unlike, for instance, football, where the referee’s whistle will trigger the mind to focus on the game. In golf, it is essential you create your own ‘concentration trigger‘.

With Louis, the ‘RED DOT’ became his trigger point to go into a deep zen like, almost hypnotic state.

In five hours, you need to be able to ’switch on’ and ’switch off’ to be able to maintain your focus at the RIGHT time.

• Did you notice how Louis actively seemed to be smiling and enjoying himself? This was a specific step we discussed. The RED DOT became the focus point to play the shot and then he would ‘come out’ of that trance in between shots.
• Do you think knowing HOW to concentrate and HOW to build a robust routine might just help YOU?

All of the SECRETS to the kind of routines that Louis worked on are in the MP3 programme ‘The SECRET to CONSISTENT GOLF with the 7 Rituals of success‘.

And if you want the full blueprint to a world class pre-shot routine, look no further than our Mind Factor Online Players Coaching Programme.

Kind regards
Karl

Ps – Do you use a concentration trigger? If so, tell us about it below!

When I started to put the Coaches Programme together, I really did wonder if there going to be enough interest from coaches in wanting to look at HOW to improve their coaching and become the ’stand out, niche expert’.

I should have had more faith!!

I launched it to my ‘golf-brain’ list last week, and the response has been brilliant – and I really do value the feedback that coaches who bought the programme have given to me.

Bas Keder who is both a golf coach, a Certified MIND FACTOR Coach AND a piano teacher in Holland said to me, ‘You have really done your homework on this. The programme is outstanding’.

The MP3 version of the coaches programme is now available too, for those who prefer to download and get started straight away.

Kind regards
Karl

Ps – Did I mention the MP3 version has a 60 day money back guarantee?

Bad rounds in golf often have as much to do with poor behavioural chains as with bad swings or poor shot selection.

Recognise this familiar scenario?

“I had great expectations for the British champs… my golf swing had definitely improved… got too excited, too focused on the outcome… hit a bad tee shot on the first, made double bogey… got angry… wondered if I had been working on the right stuff… made a couple more bogeys… self doubts increased… started to blame my teacher… had he been telling me the right things?… Front nine a disaster… angrier and more negative… frustrated, embarrassed, doubting my ability… won’t go back to my coach… will try someone else… may even give this mental stuff a try…

This is what is known as a thought chain, whereby we attach one thought to another, then another, and before we know it, we can become a mental wreck.

Recognise (and break) your habitual thought chains and you’ll set yourself free!

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – If you are a member of my online golf coaching program, the ‘Beating Self Talk‘ topic will show you how you can improve your self talk and beat those disastrous thought chains.

In a previous post, I talked about how most golf practice is a waste of time – and how you need to simulate the pressure of real game conditions in your golf practice.

If you have already got my Golf Tips Videos, you’ll have already seen the Par 18 game.

(If you haven’t seen the Golf Tips videos – go register as they are free right now…)

This is a great way to simulate the pressure of the game, and make sure your practice time is balanced properly.

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – If you are a member of my online golf coaching program, the ‘Effective Short Game Practice ‘ topic will show you how you can take Par 18 to an even higher level.

Ideas anyone?

After what must be an insane amount of media pressure, Tiger Woods issued a statement saying, “I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.”

Karl posted a video recently about the importance of developing mental toughness in golf, part of which involves developing (and keeping separate) your real self and your performer self.

Most golfers suffer because they don’t have a good distinction between who they are as a person, and what they are doing (playing golf).

So if they feel like a champion when they play well, they feel like nobody when it all falls apart – which puts them under too much pressure on the course to perform well.

Tiger’s statement recognises that he has allowed his performer self (‘Tiger’) to blend into his real/family self (‘Eldrick’). He has taken Tiger home with him and lost the sense of his ‘real self’.

And although Tiger’s blurring of real and performer self is the opposite to most people (who take their ‘real self’ on the course) – the effect is the same.

Like the rest of the golfing world, we can only hope that he can find and strengthen his real self quickly so that his performer self can come back and play more great golf.

Please leave your comments below.

Kind regards,
Rob

Rob Woodgate
Mind Factor Coach

Ps – Try the Players Coaching programme for 60 days and if for any reason during that time, you are not delighted with the results, you’ll get 100% of your money back. No Questions Asked!

Your Turn: Do you have any advice you would like to share? What tips would you like to add? Please comment below.

Forget novelty golf gifts – get the golfer in your life something they will really thank you for – LOWER SCORES!

Between now and this Friday (18th December), anyone who purchases the instant access MP3 download version of either The Secret to Consistent Golf or 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing will also get the 2 CD version of that programme shipped to their door absolutely free.

What’s more, these audio programmes are still on limited special offer – so you are getting them at around half their RRP!

(So why not buy them both?)

• The Secret to Consistent Golf – In this programme, you’ll discover the 7 rituals used by the the world’s top players and how you can use them to transform your golf.
• 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing – In this programme, you’ll discover 5 habits which can each take a stroke of your handicap. Use them all, and you can take 5 shots off your handicap without changing your swing!

Remember, if you want to get the CD version of your programme bundled for free, you need to order them by this Friday 18th December.

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – Both of these programmes come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so you can buy them as christmas golf gifts with confidence.

I posted this (my first) video on YouTube about a year ago, before I launched this website and my online Golf Mind Coaching programme. It might sound crazy to say that golf is not a mental game, but watch this video and I’ll explain all!

Unlike many other mental golf training approaches, the philosophy in this video flows through all my material.

Please let me have your thoughts below.

Kind regards,
Karl

Ps – all the programmes below come with a 60 day ‘no questions asked’ money back guarantee, so you can purchase with confidence.

• Players Coaching Programme (online videos)
• 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing (MP3 download)
• The Secret to Consisent Golf (MP3 download)
• Mind Factor Coach Certification (online videos)