Before you go completely nuts - Tips on mental training

Founder and general manager of Garuda Research Institute, in which context he has developed several management tools and personality tests for use in leadership development, coaching and similar activities. Garuda was established in 1982 and since then the company has evolved into one of Europe’s largest within its field. Finn Havaleschka has written several books during this period about management and leadership development. Concurrently, he has constantly worked at becoming a better golf player, including finding some effective ways to develop the mental side of the game. In his own words, he has tried to demystify mental training from being something very psychological, bewildering and abstract, to something very straightforward and realistic. Currently he plays off a handicap of 4.3. In 2009 he was a member of the Danish Senior National Team at the European Amateur Team Championship and Aarhus Golf Club’s senior division team who won silver at the Danish Team Championship.

Before you go completely Nuts - tips on mental training

About Finn Havaleschka

In January 2003 he started experiments into making one of Garuda’s personality tests into a tool that could be used to illustrate a golfer’s way of thinking and playing golf.

The test, The Golf Profile, as well as the exercises and tips on the mental element of golf as described in this book, is now used as a starting point for golfer’s mental training by the Danish Golf Union’s coaching team.

Some years later he developed, at the request of handball coach Ulrik Wilbæk, a method for the use of mental training and team building activities, that has been a part of the Danish men’s national handball team’s preparations for big tournaments since 2006. The venture so far has won 2 bronze and a gold medal.

His crowning achievement came in May 2009, when Finn Havaleschka opened The Mental Scorecard Academy on a delightful and peaceful golf resort in northern Spain. Where workshops are now held on mental training for managers and golfers at all levels.

For more information on these activities see www.mentalscorecard.com or Email to garuda@torremirona.net.

Finn Havaleschka

Before you go completely Nuts – tips on mental training

Finn Havaleschka

Before you go completely Nuts - tips on mental training -

© Finn Havaleschka and ______________. The contents of this book are protected under copyright law, which means that any reproduction, other than for personal use - in accor-dance with the book’s purpose - without authorized permission is a violation of this law.

Illustrations: Gert Eilenberger Printing: Børge Møllers Grafiske Hus Translation: Clem Luxford (CML Translation) 1st edition, first issue, October 2009 ISBN Publisher: More information about the methods described in the book can be found at: www.mentalscorecard.com.

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Basic principles of mental training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Introduction

Your strength is also your weakness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Your thoughts are in control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Mental Training takes time and energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Your mental toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 22 mental routines

Create your own comfort zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Deep concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Learn to accept situations you can’t do anything about . . . . . . . . . 20

Learn to think of something constructive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Let go of your worries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

When doubt creeps in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Back on track routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Learn to trust your intuition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Use your third eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Accept to lose control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The power of smile and song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Find your inner guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Find your body’s balance point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Focus on authority and charisma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Return to the correct tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Focus on your own game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Focusing on the short game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Use your internal gyroscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Let go of your irritation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Release your tension - sense and feel your body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Strategic game plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Find your mental sweet spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 The mental score card as a method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Thought control method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Method for structuring your mental training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Sample scorecard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Before you go completely Nuts

Foreword

By Henrik Knudsen There is nothing the matter with my state of mind - so what use is mental training to me?

OK - granted! Once in a while I get a little greedy on the golf course, but I know that. I don’t need anybody else to tell me. The fact that I apparently don’t learn an awful lot from this is another matter entirely. I know that I can hit the golden shots - at least once in a while, so why not try? It’s just so wonderful when it succeeds!

I also know that I’m a socially-minded pleasure golfer. Should I need to change that? It shouldn’t hold me back from being able to achieve better scores. Should it?

Those players who are so focused on their game that they can’t manage to have a chat on the course and who spend 100 years on a putt of less than one meter – they are the ones I can not bear to play with anyway.

Well, I had all the answers. I have seen many that I felt could benefit from mental training, but I never considered myself as a candidate. Nevertheless, Finn Havaleschka teased me so much that I accepted his offer to take a closer look at what it was he pottered with - mostly out of professional interest, of course. One should stay informed.

Although he very quickly and accurately analyzed the type of golfer I am (and most likely the type of person as well), didn’t surprise me in any great way. It should probably be expected from a person who has worked with leadership development for many years. But that wouldn’t stop me from 3-putting, would it?

Over a relatively short time, I managed to discover that there were several situations where I could think more expediently. At least if the aim is to get the ball in the hole with fewer shots, and it’s here that things always turn pear-shaped for me.

It’s supposed to be fun, damn it! Otherwise, what’s the point of it all?

Yet standing opposite me was a man not only older than myself, he also started playing golf later in life, and who apparently had no physical advantages over me.

Nevertheless, he quickly obtained a low handicap - while I still struggled on with a double-digit one.

A round with Finn also quickly revealed the difference. I could match him at perhaps half the holes, but he simply made fewer mistakes than I did. I have always

5

Before you go completely Nuts

explained this away as a lack of training, and this maybe part of the explanation.

However, it could also be that Finn was concentrating, thinking, and more focused than I was, and therefore made fewer mistakes.

Finn has even released a couple of recognized books on the subject, but even though I have them both standing in my bookcase, I must admit I haven’t studied them closely concerning my own situation. As a recreational golfer, quite simply I think I would bite off more than I could chew. I need short, easily accessible, and understandable tips - like Nyholms Quick Tips (easy guide to improve your technique). I told Finn this, and I must say that he proved to be a man of action.

Less than six weeks later he sent me the manuscript for this book. Do I have any comments? What does one say?

Now I have to be careful here not to take credit for anything. I’m only commenting, but if my thinly disguised invitation to Finn has been instrumental in breaking down the intellectual message of “Quick Tips”, I’m naturally delighted. Now I’ve got a book that I think is much easier to sink my teeth into. A book that I can take out once in a while, and where I can pick particular aspects of the mental part of the game and work with them - without getting confused by everything else.

Unfortunately I haven’t become a better golfer yet. Regrettably, it doesn’t happen over night, but I have certainly been made aware of some of the mental blunders, which I make on a typical round of golf, and Finn Havaleschka has given me some tools to help me avoid them in the future.

I’m already looking forward to the spring again.

FORE! Henrik Knudsen October 2009 Mr. Knudsen is a journalist and he has been the leading golf commentator for Viasat Golf, Denmark, for many years. His knowledge of golf and its history are legendary.

He is most probably one of the biggest golf nerds in Europe.

6

Before you go completely Nuts

Introduction I once made a huge error of judgment in my life. I won’t go into detail here as to what the blunder was - it’s too embarrassing. You know when you have made a serious mistake because it sticks in your mind for a very long time and can be a pretty heavy burden to carry around. However, after I got over it, the following realization dawned upon me: “Basically I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just learning too slowly.”

Mistakes, blunders, poor choices and clever remarks, at inappropriate times, always have a consequence, often of a negative nature. But why? Nobody makes mistakes on purpose. Otherwise, it’s no mistake! Whether it’s at work, in private or on the golf course, we all try to do what we think is right or best. But sometimes we do something that proves to be rather silly. If we stick to the golf course, I can find plenty of situations where I’ve made a fool of myself.

The latest “blunder” I made, happened during the European Amateur Team Championship in August 2009. It’s still firmly stuck in my mind. I got into the tournament because of a withdrawal. My handicap is really far too high to participate in competitions at that level, but I had to show them, didn’t I! However, my first round was lousy - to put it mildly - therefore I needed a really good second round.

During both the practice round and the first round I used my 3-wood from the first tee. That’s reasonably safe, but now I had to go up the fairway, therefore I chose my driver. Result: 2 quick hooks out of bounds and a 9 on the scorecard! Well - dear man, will you never learn?

It’s probably not the last time I make a fool of myself, but I work hard to try and ensure that it should be.

With that, the theme is set. A round of golf often contains a condensed version of the problems and challenges, joys and sorrows that we experience and give in life, off the golf course. The curious thing is that the way we take on challenges and solve problems, is largely the same. The difference is that life on the golf course is just for fun - we know what we are doing off the golf course is serious - though we sometimes react as if it was the opposite.

The goal for both situations is basically the same. We would like to experience a rich and pleasurable life, and we want to achieve a better score and a greater enjoyment of golf. Therefore, many tips and points of view from the golf world transfer over to our professional and private lives and vice versa.

7

Before you go completely Nuts

Mark Twain once said something unique, which I think most of us can learn from: “I have had many worries in my life, most of which never happened.”

Worrying leads to stress, nervousness and uncertainty. One of these examples I experienced as rookie for Aarhus Golf Club’s senior league team, where in my first match for the team, I was the last man on the way up the 18th fairway. Both teams’ players stood by the green and waited. That alone can cause performance pressure and an increased level of nervousness. I knew I had to win the hole, not just to win my match, but to square the team match. Whew! I succeeded, but mostly because my opponent was more worried and nervous than myself – believe it or not.

I met him again 3 years later under more relaxed circumstances, where we talked about the game as if it was yesterday. The situation was still firmly fixed in his mind.

But what was there really to worrying about? Was the reason due to sky-high ambitions, the prospect of losing face, not being good enough or unrealistic expectations? To a degree, all mental obstacles affect the free and flowing game, which we can perform with the talent and potential we possess to strike a golf ball.

Perhaps the purpose of mental training can be boiled down to just this: You don’t do anything wrong, but simply do not learn as fast as your ambitions dictate, and that is precisely why there is no reason to be worried or nervous. There are no mistakes, just slow learning processes.

Jack Nicklaus is spot on with probably some of the most important advice for achieving a better score and greater enjoyment of golf. Here is his advice. Ask yourself how many strokes you could save if you:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Always develop a clear strategy before you strike the ball Always chose a solution you are reasonably competent to execute Never let your temper gets the better of you Never be negative towards yourself

It’s all about something mentally. Following on from this, consider what you could get out of all the hours you spend on golf. You decide for yourself whether it should be sweet or sour. You have 2 options:

1.

2.

8

You can make a goal to land on the green, make a birdie, or go a round under your handicap and make life difficult for yourself every time you don’t reach your goals. Or: You can set yourself a goal in order to learn to become better at landing on the greens, make pars and birdies, and enjoy what you learn

Before you go completely Nuts

If you choose to see golf as a learning process, an occupation which can be inspiring and stimulating, it requires that you are mentally prepared for exactly that. Therefore, you must prepare yourself mentally. You must make your intentions clear about what you want. These intentions should be emancipated from dreams, unrealistic expectations, as well as the absence of fear of failure. The mental preparation must provide:

1. Clarity - you must have a clear picture of what you want 2. Commitment - you must not have any doubt about what you want and how 3. Focus - you must be fully focused and present in the moment when you do it

It sounds easy, but we all know it’s not always quite as simple as it sounds. Why is it so difficult? About being present in the moment, Dr. Joseph Parent writes in his book “Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game”: “If you are caught in a web of thoughts about what has happened or what might happen, you can not experience your senses in the moment.”

But why do we find it so difficult to be present in the moment? Part of the explanation may be that we can think ahead. We can imagine what might happen and what we want to happen. The downside of this ability is that we can become anxious and worried about the future. Imagine if I hit the ball into a hazard? If I lose this hole?

On the other hand, it can also be motivating. Working for years with personal development and motivational theories, I have found that: “Motivation comes from the pleasure we take in advance, in expectation of success.”

The belief or hope of a better result and greater pleasure is a strong motivator. Worrying that it will not succeed, that we will hit Out of Bounds or loose the hole, may be what is holding us back. For some the fear of making mistakes seems to drive them forward. My experience is that a force driven by anxiety or fear, only works short term.

We can’t be present in the moment if we are worried or in doubt. Bobby Locke, who won 23 times on the European Tour, 11 times on the PGA Tour and the British Open 4 times, said of doubt, which he called a golfer’s worst mental state: “To start a putt or a stroke with doubts in the mind will almost always prove fatal.”

In the movie “Ronin”, Robert De Niro has a line that is a fantastic piece of advice for all golfers when he states: “If there is a doubt, there is no doubt.”

Do you experience the slightest doubt as to whether what you are doing will suc9

Before you go completely Nuts

ceed; you should avoid the action entirely. Unless you are, of course, mentally prepared to fail and learn.

You can choose to view everything in life, including what happens on the golf course, as a learning process. If you could do everything you attempt, there would be no more to learn - or your ambitions are very small.

Here we are on the way to the core - the driving force behind all development. We would very much like to be better and happier, but why is it so difficult. Albert Einstein probably came close to the answer when he tried to define the concept of insanity. He came to the following conclusion: “True insanity is ............. using the same behaviour and expecting different results.”

I don’t think Einstein was thinking of golfers, but it is relevant to what we often do - repeat the same mistakes in the hope that the outcome will be better this time. To evolve, to change behaviour, to become more qualified to do what you want, always starts in one place and one place only: in your head. I put it thus: “It is rare that we are capable to do the unthinkable.”

If you haven’t thought it, pictured it on your inner movie screen, imagined that you hear, feel, sense what you want to achieve, then you most likely will not achieve it.

On the contrary, the more you can clarify what you want to achieve with the help of all your senses, within yourself, with mental power the greater the likelihood that you will achieve what you set out to do.

If we have clear intentions, are 100% dedicated, are present in the moment and free from any doubt and fear, we go into the Zone, we are into what I call our mental sweet spot. Billie J. King, once the world’s best female tennis player, put it to be in the Zone, as follows: “It almost seems as though I am able to transport myself beyond the turmoil on the court to some place of total peace and calm. Perfect shots extend into perfect matches…I perceive what my opponent is doing in a detached abstract way. Like an observer in the next room…It is a perfect combination of intense action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility. When it happens, I want to stop the match and grab the microphone and shout that that’s what it’s all about.”

You know the situation where everything goes right, where mentally and physically it just doesn’t get any better. It’s in this state the intense experiences and immense enjoyment are to be found. That is what makes you love golf and come back again and again - despite the frustrations and let downs.

10

Before you go completely Nuts

The purpose of mental training is to find a conscious way into this state.

The above quotes and considerations include enough food for thought for a lifetime of reflection and development. Simultaneously they describe some of the attitudes, values and beliefs of humans’ conditions of existence, which can seem to advance as well as block one’s progress. The point is that there may be many obstacles of a more general nature in your philosophy of life, which must be cleared from your path, before the goal of mental training - a deliberate way into your mental sweet spot - can be achieved.

When we zoom in on the golf game and your ability to handle the ups and downs you may run into, and the blunders you may make, it is a question of learning some specific routines which allow you to keep your thoughts and your emotions in check, and as a result, your physical and mental balance, and therefore your ability to perform. It is such routines you are presented with below. Think of them as tools you can pull out of your mental toolbox, if things don’t go your way. They can help to refine your mental fitness, so you always achieve, what your talent allows.

11

Before you go completely Nuts

Basic principles of mental training Introduction In addition to your overall philosophy of life, in your approach to life itself, you should be aware of 3 things before you begin your mental training: · that your strength, ironically, in certain situations, is also your greatest weakness. · that when things aren’t going your way, and you fight to regain your rhythm and optimism, there is ONE method you need to know and learn how to use.

It’s a way to control your thoughts. · that mental training takes time and requires as much energy and focus as technical training.

Your strength is also your weakness Your strength is also your weakness. This applies to both your technical and your mental approach to the game. For example, the technical and safety-oriented player scores well, because he or she is very careful and will take fewer chances. But when technique isn’t functioning 100%, these types of golfer often become even more careful and even more focused on technique; taking more practice swings and reading the putting lines even more closely and so forth. This type of behaviour turns strength to a weakness. Things are thought out and analyzed to the extreme usually with greater frustration and worse shots as a result.

12

Before you go completely Nuts

Another example, we can see in the very result-oriented and impatient golfer. This type is often more physically-oriented and takes more chances than many others would. They aim for excellence every time. If it succeeds, it can result in an almost miraculous score. When things don’t quite go according to plan, this type of player often tries to solve the problem and regain lost ground by taking even more chances and swinging the club harder. In doing this strength becomes a weakness.

The first steps to ensure this type of error does not creeps into your game, is to become more aware of how and when your strengths turn into weaknesses. The following exercise can help you. Take a piece of paper and write down everything that you perceive as your strengths. It may be your attitude, your ambitions, your ability to make quick decisions, your technique, the many different strokes you can play, your creativity, your stability and so on. Write everything down immediately as it comes to mind. Don’t intellectualize or analyze. Write down your strengths on the left half of the paper. Not long and drawn out, just single words and short sentences. See the following example.

Strenghts Ambitious Fast Impatient Social Risk taker Creative Analytical Experimental Relaxed

After this you then turn it around and ask yourself: What are the weaknesses of these qualities, ways of thinking and playing golf ? Write the weakness down the right side of the paper. Once this is done, try to answer the following: How and under what circumstances cause your strengths to alter to become weaknesses? See the next example.

13

Before you go completely Nuts

Strenghts

When my strengths turns against me:

Ambitious

Often I set the game at too high a level

Fast

I don’t give myself time to consider – look close – alternatives

Impatient

I become irritated at the slow players

Social

I talk too much and lose concentration

Risk taker

I take too many chances

Creative

I try solutions, I can’t master 100%

Analytical

I think too much about a multitude of different solutions

Experimental

Well ... I play around too much with things

Relaxed

I may not be focused and serious enough in all situations

Take your conclusions out on the golf course with you. They must be stored in your consciousness as a mental guide saved on your biological hard drive. You can consult this guide when you find yourself out of focus, or when you are in doubt about which solution to choose. Remember Einstein’s words, “True insanity is to continue using the same behaviour expecting different/better results.”

Your thoughts are in control The second principle is about getting rid of, or changing thoughts like “now don’t miss this putt”, “you mustn’t hit Out of Bounds” or “it’s not really going my way today.” They are thoughts that are not particularly constructive. They give rise to doubt, anxiety and stress. However, you don’t shake these thoughts off just by telling yourself that you must be positive. To turn a negative thought into a positive thought is not something that just happens. The only way to get rid of a non-constructive thought is to replace it with a more constructive one. The conditions required for one thought to push another thought aside, is when the second thought contains more energy than the thought it’s pushing.

Think about it. You want to move a 1 kilogram weight. It’s not possible to do this with a weight that only weighs 25 grams. There simply isn’t enough mass in the small weight. The same can be said of the psychological world. The thought you want to use to remove a negative thought, must contain more energy than the thought you want to push aside. You create energy - mass - when you use the power of thought to activate your senses. With your consciousness you can create

14

Before you go completely Nuts

a thought which produces images in your mind, an inner sound, a taste, a smell, physical sensations and cerebral feelings. The human brain has a fantastic ability to imagine what happens if you do this or that, and to respond to these notions, even before they have materialised in the real world. For example, imagine you are sucking the juice out of a lemon, or that the food you are about to eat is contaminated with salmonella. Just the thought of it sets your senses in motion.

Used correctly, this ability is a huge strength. Used incorrectly, it’s a huge weakness.

It means that we can experience fear or anxiety as well as joy and optimism, even if there is nothing in the future to be joyful about or to fear. Our thoughts, via our biological system, activate our senses. Therefore, can the thought of missing a putt make us so tense that we actually do miss the shot? In this way one can say that we ourselves are programming the future. Therefore, if you get caught in a negative - not constructive - mindset, be ready to change this pattern to a more positive constructive - pattern via your thoughts. It’s all about mind control. I will explain how you can achieve this in the last paragraph on page xx.

Mental Training takes time and energy The final principle is merely an observation. Many believe mental training is something you just need to do every now and then. It’s not that easy. You have to work just as hard at the psychological part of the game as you do with the physical part. Many stop the mental training, when they realise they are having success. Others stop because they don’t see fast enough results for the effort they put in. However, you have to constantly work with different routines and different aspects. Sometimes you also have to drop them because they become dull. You have to try something new. Tiger Woods once said that his swing was “a work in progress, and ever will be.” The same goes for your swing and your mental routines.

15

Before you go completely Nuts

Your mental toolbox Below you will find 22 mental routines that can help you remove unproductive thoughts and feelings and take you into your mental sweet spot. Once you’ve found the routine, or routines, that you want to work with, go to the last section, where you will find a description of the mind control method to use and how to structure your mental workout.

Here is a list of the different routines and their uses.

Create your own comfort zone, page 18 This exercise can help you create your own comfort zone.

Deep concentration, page 19 This exercise can help you to be 100% present and focused.

Learn to accept situations you can’t do anything about, page 20 This exercise can teach you to cope constructively with situations that you cannot change, for example, slow play.

Learn to think of something constructive, page 22 This exercise can teach you to push negative thoughts aside and get back on track.

Let go of your worries, page 24 This exercise can help you to drop unconstructive thoughts, worries or fear of failure.

When doubt creeps in, page 25 This exercise can teach you never to take a shot with doubt in your mind.

Back on track routine, page 26 This exercise can bring you back on track if you become mentally out of balance.

Learn to trust your intuition, page 27 This exercise can teach you to take and implement a decision with full commitment and concentration.

Use your third eye, page 28 This exercise can teach you to think constructively, while under pressure.

Accept to lose control, page 29 This exercise can teach you to skip the inner control freak and just play.

The power of smile and song, page 30 With this exercise you can learn to keep your spirits high and enjoy your golf.

Find your inner guide, page 31 This exercise can teach you how to find and consult your inner guide, in favour of more suitable solutions and better shots.

16

Before you go completely Nuts

Find your body’s balance point, page 32 With this exercise you can learn to find the physical balance that is essential for a good swing.

Focus on authority and charisma, page 33 This exercise can teach you to play with charisma, confidence and authority.

Return to the correct tempo, page 34 With this exercise you can learn to find the right swing tempo.

Focus on your own game, page 35 With this exercise you can learn to make your decisions independently of the good opin-ions and expectations of others.

Focusing on the short game, page 36 With this exercise you can learn to concentrate better, especially at the short game.

Use your internal gyroscope, page 37 With this exercise you can learn to trust your physical awareness - especially when it comes to putting.

Let go of your irritation, page 38 This exercise can teach you how to let go of your irritation and find your focus.

Release your tension – sense and feel your body, page 39 With this exercise you can learn to remove thoughts that cause your body to tense up.

Strategic game plan, page 40 This exercise can teach you to create and follow a game plan that provides the greatest chance for obtaining the best possible score.

Find your mental sweet spot, page 42 It’s said of many of the top professionals that you can see it in their eyes when they are in the Zone. Tiger is one of them, Rocco Mediate another, and a third is Raymond Floyd, who gave me the idea for this exercise.

17

Before you go completely Nuts

Create your own comfort zone

This exercise can help you create your own comfort zone.

Most golfers know what it means to be in the Zone. Time stands still. Mental, emotional and psychological, we are in harmony and balance. It’s a condition where optimal decisions are taken and implemented in a timeless and effortless process.

Imagine that you are surrounded by a pleasant warm cloud or bubble of air. That’s your comfort zone. It can be described as a place where you feel good, or as energy that protects you from others’ energy, opinions and attitudes. When you surround yourself with this energy, you can make your own decisions, and your mood is not influenced by others or by how good or poor your last shot was. Now you have the opportunity to practice creating your own comfort zone. How best to create this comfort zone varies for each individual. Some can create it just by thinking about it. Others may create it by breathing. For example, take some deep breaths and imagine that with each exhalation you form a bubble of energy around yourself.

You may wish to make the bubble transparent in colour that grows and becomes more intense with each exhalation. For each deep inhalation you draw energy into the body, penetrating all parts of your body. When you exhale, you push the energy out which then forms a bubble or balloon around you.

It’s important while you in and exhale, that you imagine that the comfort zone gives you a feeling of tranquillity, wellness, balance, power, energy and harmony. Think, imagine, feel and sense these qualities with all your senses while you’re doing the exercise. Remember, you must practice the routine at home in a chair, before trying it on the golf course. Once you become comfortable with the exercise, try taking a test run in some situations at work or out shopping. Try to notice how others react when you put yourself in the Zone. Then take it out on the golf course. Possibly try it on the way to the first tee.

18

Before you go completely Nuts

Deep concentration

This exercise can help you to be 100% present and focused.

There are situations where we lose concentration and don’t focus properly on what we are doing. It may be, for example, when we are disturbed by noise, conversation or players moving around, casting their shadow over the putting line and the like.

This often happens when there is something in our own game, which annoys us.

The reason may also be that we simply aren’t present in the moment. That we are thinking in past or future, not in present. To avoid such loss of concentration we must be aware in advance of what to do before it occurs. It’s too late to do anything after the damage is done.

Thus, you must have pre-built a case, an inner movie where you move your consciousness away from what can be distracting, towards something more constructive. Depending on the situation you can move your attention towards, for example, the desired ball flight, the desired landing area, chips and puts, the desired ball line. I’m talking about the line in all contexts; putting line, the line of chips and approach shots, ball flight by shots with the driver and irons. One of Phil Michelson’s mental tricks to stay concentrated, in the here and now, is to imagine a window up in the air that the ball must go through. How much it helps him to get the correct ball flight is a little irrelevant in this context. The most important thing is that it helps him to concentrate on the shot he must play.

Regardless of how simple a shot seems, and regardless of what else might distract you, you must in advance have made a film that you can run on your inner movie screen, when the situation arises. Immediately you find yourself not present or distracted, click your fingers as a sign that you must start the process (your inner movie), where you visualize and focus on the desired line, ball flight and/or the landing area. Imagine what line the ball should follow.

Imprint these images on your brain, exactly the way you want them to happen in reality. Or use Michelson’s window trick or something alike.

Make your inner movie at home in your own practice room. When you have added images, sounds, and smells to the movie, it’s ready to be stored on your biological hard drive. From here you recall it by pressing a button when you need to be 100% present and focused.

19

Before you go completely Nuts

Learn to accept situations you can’t do anything about

One of the situations that annoy many golfers is slow play. This exercise can teach you to cope constructively with situations, so it doesn’t affect your game.

Many golfers get really annoyed at having to wait for a “slow” ball. Often we strengthen this irritation by observing the behaviour of the slow player. They search an eternity for the ball, and when they finally find it, their bag is 100 meters away.

Or they place their bags inappropriately in front of, or on the wrong side of the green. Or they forget to take their putter and must cross over the green again to retrieve it. The more of this sort of inappropriate behaviour we observe, the more annoyed we become and the more we get out of focus. We do this to no avail.

What can you do? Shouting at them probably won’t help. The most appropriate thing you can do is not to look at or stare-out the players in front. It won’t put you in better mood anyway. Don’t think that this round is now going to last forever.

Your game and your concentration won’t be better for it. Therefore, when you find yourself waiting in such circumstances, have something ready to divert your attention from the situation and its adverse consequences.

Sit down in a chair and think of a couple of situations, where you’ve been waiting on a slow ball. Run the situation on your inner movie screen. While the movie is running, and you observe the slow behaviour of others, turn away from the slow players and find something else to concentrate on. What can make you forget all about the players ahead of you? Is it something about the scenery, a talk with your partner about a particular topic, a funny story you want to tell them, humming a tune to yourself, or you relive an exciting situation from your life?

Now think of one or two of these “diversionary situations”. Imagine, while you are sitting in your comfortable chair, how you would turn away from the slow players and simultaneously switch on your diversionary film.

Record a film with a couple of these diversionary things and save it on your biological hard drive, so you’re ready to run the movie the next time you find yourself in a waiting position. It goes for most of us that when we

Before you go completely Nuts

are in this situation, that it’s simply not enough just to say to ourselves that we must think of something else. You must know in advance what it is you will think of !

Quite simply, it’s about having an action plan in place, ready to implement when these situations of having to wait arise.

This trick can obviously also be used in virtually all other situations where you have to wait and there is nothing you can do about it.

21

Before you go completely Nuts

Learn to think of something constructive

This exercise can teach you to push negative thoughts aside and get back on track.

If you lose a putt or make a bad shot, it’s ok to be a little annoyed or irritated with yourself. The psychological part is learning to shake off those kinds of thoughts and get back on track. Most of us need to take a breath and let go of our frustration. We must let go of frustrations - not keep them.

For a long time Tiger Woods used to take 10 steps and count the steps in his head to himself. That was the time he gave himself to take a breath and compose himself.

When the 10 steps were taken, he would deliberately start to think about something else. You can do the same. The point is that you must know in advance what to think about. It could be thinking about the next shot, reminiscing about a positive situation you experienced in the past, humming a particular song, etc. So, after the 10 steps he should be starting to think about something else. Hereafter, he chose only to focus on the next shot.

After a while Tiger discovered that his 10 step system no longer worked for him.

He could no longer just walk 10 steps and focus his thoughts on the next shot.

Therefore, he prepared a new routine. After a bad shot or putt, he would find a place where he naturally had to cross, heading towards the next shot. At this place he visualized a line, a laser light, between 2 points (for example, a tree on the left side and a big rock on the right side of the fairway). When he passed this light, he should only focus on his next shot. The thoughts about what had happened were pushed aside because he forced his brain to concentrate on finding the 2 points and visualize the laser light between them.

22

Before you go completely Nuts

You can do the same. However, choose in advance what or which thoughts to replace the non-constructive thought with. It’s too late to choose when you’re already wound up. So, is to think about the next shot a strong enough thought to push aside your non-constructive thoughts, and thus your frustrated feelings away or does it take more than this? If so, you need to find something to think of or imagine that gives stronger stimuli to your senses.

23

Before you go completely Nuts

Let go of your worries

This exercise can help you to drop unproductive thoughts, worries or fear of failure.

One of the biggest obstacles to excellent and smooth golf is man’s ability of forward thinking. It’s this imagination ability that forms the basis of success and happiness, as well as anxiety and nervousness. We take pleasure in advance just by thinking of success. The same counts for fear. This exercise is to learn how to manage these perceptions and therefore the fear and joy.

First, take a couple of deep breaths. Imagine that with each exhalation a bubble of energy is being formed around you. Try to put a colour on the bubble, which becomes more intense with each exhalation. For each deep breath you draw energy into all parts of your body. When you exhale, you push the energy out, which forms a bubble or balloon around you. Imagine yourself standing inside the bubble with a sense of tranquillity, wellness, balance, power, energy and harmony. Think, imagine and feel these qualities while you do the exercise.

Once you have found peace and quiet inside the bubble, close your eyes for a moment and imagine that in front of you is a solid container or a chest with a heavy lid. Picture how you open the lid and put all your negative thoughts, worries and emotions into the container. Just imagine how stuff is dropping into the container.

Once you’ve cleared your head of unproductive thoughts and worries, and your body of negative emotions, you close the lid. Turn around and let the container disappear. Now you’re ready for your shot.

When you practice this at home, you can think of a couple of things that might have annoyed you during the course of the day. Throw them mentally down in the chest, close the lid, turn around and let it disappear into thin air. It works, and you’re ready to use the same method on the golf course.

24

Before you go completely Nuts

When doubt creeps in

This exercise can teach you never to take a shot with doubt in your mind.

Many times during a round we probably find doubt creeping in. We aren’t sure whether we should try one way or another, whether it’s a 6 or a 7 iron, or this or that putting line.

When you get into that situation, teach yourself to stop and ask your inner self with your inner voice: What is the best choice for me in this situation? You may not get a clear answer, or if you are still somewhat in doubt, you must choose to focus on one of the solutions. Take the 6-iron in hand, or focus on one of the possible putting lines or game strategies and then ask your inner self again: Is this the right choice for me in this situation?

Initially, maybe the answer doesn’t clearly register, but don’t give up. As you become more familiar with the procedure and the questions, you will find the answers become clearer. Often you intuitively make better choices than you would through intellectual analysis or simply by following your instinct, the latter which is influenced by wishes, hopes and feelings.

This exercise can of course also be applied to situations at one’s work and private life. The advantage of the exercise is that you can go directly out on the golf course and execute it. If you have the slightest doubt, just remember the question: What is the best choice for me in this situation?

Remember if you are in doubt, there is no doubt. If you choose the uncertain, do it only if you are prepared mentally to fail and learn.

25

Before you go completely Nuts

Back on track routine

This exercise can bring you back on track if you become mentally out of balance.

If you lose concentration or get mentally out of balance, it’s important to be able to forget the reasons why this happened.

You must learn to think of something else and get your thoughts back on a more constructive track. Sit in a comfortable chair, play some soft music, relax and create a movie with yourself in the lead role where you are in balance, where you have full concentration, where you are at ease with yourself, where you are at peace, you are positive and successful. Clearly create this picture of yourself on your inner movie screen. You must use all your senses when you imagine the situation. Imagine how you were feeling, how it felt or feels physically, and if the situation was associated with a sound, a smell or a taste, then put these senses in the movie or line of thought, that you have chosen as your “back on track” routine.

Store the movie in your biological archive, so you can press the start button as soon as you experience that you are getting out of balance or about to lose concentration.

Think of a pilot, sitting in the cockpit, when suddenly an engine fire alarm goes off. He knows exactly what he should do. He has learnt and trained an emergency procedure. He has no time to consider or think about what he must do – he just does it. The same applies to you when you get out of balance. You must have your emergency procedure ready to put into action.

26

Before you go completely Nuts

Learn to trust your intuition

This exercise can teach you how to make a quick decision and implement it with full commitment and concentration.

You probably know the situation where, after a shot, you say to yourself: “I knew it should have been a 7 iron, or I knew that it wasn’t the right line.” It’s this kind of doubt this exercise can help to eliminate.

When you read or face the putting line, or view your landing area, you have in most cases unconsciously - per routine, made a choice. If things come to take longer, it’s because we start to analyze and/or rationalize the decision, after which we come to doubt the choice.

Try to play 4 holes one after the other where you give yourself 3 seconds to validate every single decision you make with your inner voice. You do this: In connection with each decision, you ask your inner self, “Is this the right choice for me?” If the answer isn’t crystal clear, then ask the question: “What would be the right choice for me in this situation?” Close your eyes again for 3 seconds and wait for the answer. Once you’ve got it, you perform a pre-shot routine, where you picture yourself carrying out the choice with full commitment and full focus.

Maybe you will not get a clear answer the first time you try this exercise. Gradually, however, the answer will come to you in one form or another that is recognizable.

It’s important that the whole process only takes 3 to 5 seconds from when you ask the question, and you are ready to implement the decision. Then visualize your execution of the decision and implement it with full commitment.

Again, as with all other exercises, it must be done and learned before you go out on the course. There will certainly be situations in your everyday life, besides golf, where you can use the exercise. If you are in doubt, as to whether you must say yes or no to something or other, then practice using this exercise.

27

Before you go completely Nuts

Use your third eye

This exercise can teach you to think constructively, while under pressure.

When you are, or feel under pressure or “non-constructive” thoughts fill your head, you can push them aside using your third eye.

According to the more spiritual amongst us we have a “third eye”, connecting us to where the universe’s knowledge lies. The third eye sits in the middle of the forehead, just above the nasal root. Whether you believe this or not is completely irrelevant.

My experience is that the following exercise works no matter what. When you have to make a putt and you have found the line, try to imagine that you connect the hole to your third eye. Look at the hole (or where you will land the ball) with your third eye. By using the power of thought make a connection from your third eye to the hole (or landing zone). Imagine a laser beam or a signal that connects the 2 points. Look at the ball and make your shot while keeping the laser beam intact.

Sit in a chair and imagine yourself standing on the green and try the exercise. Imagine how you connect your third eye with the hole. Picture the connection and see how one putt after another goes in – again and again, with your imaginary mind.

Then you go out and try it for real.

When you’re on the way to the green and/or standing on the green and waiting for your turn to putt, use the time to visualize how you can connect your third eye to the hole and with laser guided precision, putt the ball in the hole - again and again.

That is; spend the time you are waiting for your putt in a constructive way.

28

Before you go completely Nuts

Accept to lose control

This exercise can teach you how to forget all thoughts concerning technique, accept to lose control and just go with the flow.

Many golfers, especially those that are highly technical and careful, prefer it when they are in total control. Therefore, they use a considerable amount of energy to analyze all possibilities and limitations. When the game is going well, this isn’t a problem. However, as soon as things aren’t quite going as planned, their analytical behaviour often makes the situation even worse. For this type of player it can be useful to learn how to lose control and just go with the flow.

When you’re about to tee off and considering what to do, you should with this process, imagine that you’re surrounded by a cloud of hot vibrant peaceful energy.

With each breath imagine you feel that this warm, vibrant and peaceful energy flows into you and fills your entire body. By exhaling you push the energy out from the body and it forms a warm, protective and peaceful ring of energy around you.

Alternatively, in your fantasy world, try to transport yourself back to a place and time where you were completely at ease and in balance. Maybe you were alone, perhaps with others. The essence of the situation you must return to is that you didn’t feel any pressure on you and no one expected or demanded anything from you.

Standing inside the ring of energy or back in that situation where you are in total harmony and balance, you then make your choice. Be it a choice of iron, shot making, landing area, ball strike, curve, and so on. There is no analysis or rationalization, just accept the choices that come to you and follow them through.

29

Before you go completely Nuts

The power of smile and song

With this exercise you can learn to keep spirits high and enjoy your golf.

When we are in a good mood we smile, sing, whistle or hum. However, the effect can also work the opposite way round. Just take Padraig Harrington, who has actually taught himself to smile, no matter how badly things went for him. Smiling activates certain muscles, which in turn - via nerves to the brain – induce the production of endorphins, which are the body’s happiness hormone.

You can do the same as Harrington. The important thing is to have determination and to practice. Find a situation you have experienced in the past that brought a smile to your face. Think of this situation, run it as a movie or an inner sound recording, and picture yourself smiling. You need to have it ready so you can run the movie on your inner screen, as the need arises. It’s too late to think about it when you are in the midst of a situation, fuming and frustrated. You can also find a song or a verse of a song that you have a positive connection to. Replay the situation and enjoy the song while you add the images.

Now, sit in a comfortable chair. Make a movie of some situations where you were extremely happy and possibly also surrounded by happy people. Insert sound - a melody and upload the movie to your biological hard drive, so you can run it when you’re feeling down in the dumps – on, as well as off, the golf course.

30

Before you go completely Nuts

Find your inner guide

This exercise can teach you how to find and consult your inner guide, in favour of more suitable solutions and better shots.

When we play golf, we often hold an internal dialogue with ourselves. Unfortunately, this dialogue isn’t always constructive. For example, what is there to be gained from scolding ourselves or calling ourselves negative names? What use is an internal dialogue if the conclusions are based more upon wishful thinking than objective facts? This exercise can help you lead a more constructive inner dialogue.

First, calm yourself. Take a few deep breaths and imagine that you know that each exhalation forms a bubble of energy around you that gets bigger and more intense with each exhalation. For every deep inhalation you let the energy flow into all parts of your body. When you exhale, you push the energy out of your body and let it form a bubble or balloon around you, providing you with a feeling of tranquillity, wellness, balance, power, energy and harmony. Think of, imagine and feel these qualities while you’re doing exercise.

Once you have found a reasonable degree of peace and balance, attach your guide.

Imagine by your side there is a person who only wants the very best for you. It can be a professional golfer you admire, or a wise man or woman who recognizes your potential. Try to find this person and let him or her follow you like a shadow, an observer and an advisor, that you can always contact. If you’re not sure about something, whether it’s a choice you need to make, which plan you should follow, or whether you can accomplish what you have before you, then contact your guide.

Your guide represents wisdom, joy, ease, optimism, confidence and physical and mental balance. If your self-confidence begins to waver, you lose your spirit or joy, things don’t go the way you wished or hoped, or as soon as a negative thought pops into your head, contact your inner guide.

This exercise can probably also be used elsewhere other than just on the golf course. Try it, first at home in your chair, then in some situations in your private or professional life. Then take it out on the golf course.

31

Before you go completely Nuts

Find your body’s balance point

With this exercise you can learn to find the physical balance that is essential for a good swing.

If you are physically out of balance, swing too strongly, or not at ease, it’s rare that thoughts about technique, swing stance, grip and posture, can help. On the contrary, they will probably make the situation worse.

One way to recover might be to think of something more constructive for your swing without actually thinking about the swing and technique in turn. The trick is to be fully focused on your body’s balance point. This point, for most people, is approximately 10 cm below the navel. If you physically execute your swing while out of balance, this point will move away from the line of the shot. Therefore, it’s a good idea to take a couple of practice swings, where you only concentrate on your balance point.

Throughout the swing, you mentally hold on to this point and visualize that this point will remain in roughly the same place throughout the swing. Once you’ve taken a few practice swings, take your stance and do exactly the same. Focus so completely on your balance point that there is no room for thoughts about technique.

course.

32

Try this exercise on the driving range before you take it out on the

Before you go completely Nuts

Focus on authority and charisma

This exercise can teach you to play with charisma, confidence and authority.

In most cases, you can look at a player’s posture, body language and attitude, and see whether he or she is up or down. The question is whether it’s the bad shots alone, that causes the negative body language, or can negative body language lead to poor shots? It’s well known that people with a body language that radiates charisma and authority, more often turn defeat into victory, than people with no charismatic aura. The good thing about this fact is that you can choose which side you wish to be on; with charisma or without?

So whatever happens, whatever you do and wherever you are, always keep your back straight and hold your head up high. Pay attention to it and do it! You must practice. Start at home, preferably when you are alone. Imagine that you with each inhalation draw energy, strength, authority, confidence and charisma down into your lungs. Picture how you fill your lungs completely with this energy. With each exhalation, you then push the energy out to all parts of your body. Picture how you fill your body with energy, strength, authority, confidence and charisma. Keeping your back straight and holding your head high. Picture yourself radiating confidence and authority. Picture yourself as a friendly, strong, charismatic, positive person, see yourself on your inner screen how you develop and radiate an aura around you, full of these qualities.

When you feel comfortable with your “new” radiance, try it out on strangers, for example, when you are standing in a queue in a supermarket. Do your exercises - radiate self-confidence, personality and charisma - and notice people’s reaction.

The next step is to do it on the golf course. The first time play the first 2 holes completely as you normally would with your usual charisma. Then you bring out your charismatic aura. Play your inner movie, making it a reality. Keep your aura constant all the time, both when walking and when making your shots. It’s exciting to see your partner’s reaction. Enjoy.

33

Before you go completely Nuts

Return to the correct tempo

With this exercise you can learn to find the right swing tempo.

This is true for most golfers; we sometimes can’t find the right balance, rhythm and swing tempo. In most cases it’s because we are trying to swing too powerfully or too fast.

If this is the case for you, try to imagine that you are standing with a large wood axe in your hand. Your task is to fell a tree in the least number of blows as possible. To do this you need to aim precisely with the axe. What happens if you swing too slowly?

You must direct the axe to the place you want to hit. Since the axe is heavy and long, this is not an easy assignment! On the other hand, if you swing the axe with all your might you can easily lose your balance. The axe-head takes over and you have no control over where it strikes.

The same applies when you swing a golf club. Picture yourself where you swing the axe at the right speed and the right tempo. The combination of tempo and speed is what gives you full balance throughout the swing and accuracy of contact with the tree (ball).

Try it out on the practice course. Start by picturing yourself swinging the heavy wood axe. Continue until you find the right combination of tempo and speed. Then take a club or an iron in hand and swing while you try to maintain the image and feeling of tempo and speed. Forget all about grip and technique; that’s not what this exercise is about.

34

Before you go completely Nuts

Focus on your own game

With this exercise you can learn to make your decisions independently of the good opin-ions and expectations of others.

Sometimes we choose to do something that is not entirely in agreement with our own wishes or what we know is best for ourselves. Sometimes we choose solutions, because we feel that this is what others expect of us. Often decisions proposed by others end up being really poorly executed. Especially negative thoughts like “they don’t expect me to hit far enough” or “they expect that I’ll hit the ball into the water”, are often self-fulfilling.

The first step towards always making your own decisions based on your own terms is to find your own inner qualities. You must find the qualities that you feel are most characteristic of yourself, for example loving, caring, supportive, confident, power, solid character, and charismatic. Give yourself time to find the picture, the physical, mental and emotional state that reflects your true self. Reject everything else that might contradict this image of ME. Keep your attention fixed on that image and the qualities when you breathe. You can add some words, thoughts, pictures and sounds to your true qualities. Once you have hold of your inner self, keep yourself in an aura or energy that’s equal to those qualities. While you are surrounded by this energy, other people’s opinions, attitudes and expectations of you mean nothing. They can’t reach you. Remember that you don’t play golf to live up to the expectations of others.

By all means use your breathing to strengthen and expand your aura of your true self. Make an inner movie, some inner pictures - just one or two - which you can consciously pull out when or if you find yourself about to make choices according to others’ expectations rather than your own wishes and skills.

When you practice at home, you can of course try to find some situations where your decision making was based more upon others’ expectations than your own wishes. Choose one of these situations and see how your decisions can change the more you get in touch with of your inner self. Then store your movie on your biological hard drive, so it’s ready to be played/seen/heard/felt, when you need it out on the course.

35

Before you go completely Nuts

Focusing on the short game

With this exercise you can learn to concentrate better, especially at the short game.

Especially with the short game, it is often easier to see the ball line than it is to calculate the ball’s speed. Speed has more to do with physical sensation and experience than a mathematical calculation of the energy required to make the shot. However, the line is something we can see. Nevertheless, although it’s easier to see the line than find the right speed, we just as often play the wrong line as we do the wrong speed. In most cases this is due to lack of focus. The fact is that we aren’t present in the moment.

You can do something about this with the correct pre-shot routine.

Make a habit of the following. Before each approach shot, especially within 20 metres of the hole, find the exact point where you want to land the ball and hence the exact line you want the ball to follow. Once you have found the line and the point, you must stand behind the ball and visualize that the ball hits the point and follows the line. Make a few practice swings to get a sense of rhythm and tempo. As you do this, you visualize exactly how the iron hits through the ball, on the selected line. Picture how the iron follows the chosen and visualized line. Like a slow motion movie picturing a great shot. You need to have the film clear in your head. Then take your stance and hit the ball.

Work with this routine first on the approach shot area of the practice course. Practice until you get a match between what you see on your inner movie screen - the feeling you have of calm and balance - and the feeling you have of swing tempo and speed, and how you hit the iron through the ball exactly on the selected line. The curious thing is that the better you are to find the line, the better you will also be to find the speed.

Then take it onto the course.

36

Before you go completely Nuts

Use your internal gyroscope

With this exercise you can learn to trust your physical awareness - especially when it comes to putting.

This exercise is especially suitable for getting your putting back on track. For many, putting is more about learning to trust one’s intuition rather than to walk around the putt several times, thinking about the line and speed. It’s the same as when you go down a staircase. Here, you don’t consciously tell your legs how big the next step should be and how far down it is to the next step. Your brain has already worked it out without involving your consciousness. Imagine a situation where the last step is 5 cm shorter than the others. So are you about to stumble. Why? Because your computer hasn’t quite worked it out. It relies on the calculations from the first step.

This amazing ability that the body has can be transferred to your putting. Here I call it leaving the calculation of direction to your internal gyroscope and speed to your intuition.

Here’s how. When you look along your putting line and take your stance, try physically with your feet and your body to sense how the green is angled in relation to the hole. When the blind or visually impaired have to sense a putt, they feel along the designated line from the hole to the ball, and sense their way to the direction and speed. You can do the same.

Right, place yourself by the ball. Focus on the direction of the hole. Sense your feet and your body - your internal gyroscope. Which direction is it? If you are unsure of your inner computer’s capacity, try deliberately facing yourself in the wrong direction and you’ll immediately be able to feel that something is very wrong.

You need to train it - not because your internal gyroscope gets better at it, but because you gain more confidence in your internal gyroscope.

37

Before you go completely Nuts

Let go of your irritation

This exercise can teach you how to let go of your irritation and find your focus.

If you’re mad at yourself, become frustrated and lose focus, take a time-out for a few seconds. Close your eyes and replay the situation that brought you out of balance on your inner movie screen. Run the movie in pictures, in text or symbols. When the movie is finished, wrap it in paper and throw it away. Imagine a waste container that you throw it in and let it disappear into a hole in the ground or up in the air. Gone!

Now you are ready to focus on your next shot.

Again – it’s important that you have done this exercise and know what you must do the second you experience any frustration. Practice at home in your chair. Make your movie and save it on your biological hard drive. You can also try it in other aspects of your life. Take a situation that made you angry, irritated, or sad, from your work or personal life. Run the movie based on the situation that was the reason for your reaction and then throw it away in a waste container. It’s gone and you’re ready to move on.

Now you are ready to use it on the golf course.

38

Before you go completely Nuts

Release your tension – sense and feel your body

With this exercise you can learn to remove thoughts that cause your body to tense up, to something that can make it to relax.

When you’re facing a putt or a shot, which requires more touch and finesse than power and speed, it is - in most cases - not the type of shot you play that determines your physical stress level. Rather it’s the degree of importance you attach to the shot, and thus the level of stress you more or less unconsciously put on your physical body.

Try the following to feel your stress levels and to lower them to the optimum for a good performance: when you face a putt or a small chip and you are ready to take your shot, stop just a moment and think about how your abdominal muscles feel. Are they tense, are they cramping or are they totally relaxed, so they leave the stomach room to puff out and relax? Then move your attention to your posterior muscles. Are you clenching your buttocks or are you completely relaxed?

If your abdominal muscles are tense, it’s a sign of high levels of stress. Therefore, take a deep breath - right down to the pit of your stomach - and let your belly fill out. Relax the muscles, so the stomach can unfold. Feel for and sense how a relaxed stomach can calm other parts of your body. The calm can spread especially to the chest, arms and shoulder muscles - your most essential tools for a good putt and a good chip. Also take note of how your buttocks feel. Are they tense, as if you have to hold onto something, if so, then take another deep breath and relax.

Tension in these two muscle regions is a clear indicator of your physical condition and your stress level. Test your ability to regulate both regions, both on the golf course and in connection with your everyday life where your mental and physical reactions are crucial factors for success or failure.

39

Before you go completely Nuts

Strategic game plans

This exercise can teach you to create and follow a game plan that provides the greatest chance for obtaining the best possible score.

When we play golf, most often we automaticity chose the majority of strategies. We decide on the spur of the moment. This is especially true if we are playing on our home course. The strategy choices are made often out of habit and in a mental state with an absence of awareness, which is obviously not conducive for either score or pleasure.

A game plan consists of 2 elements. First you must produce an action plan for the hole before you tee off. Mentally you need to imagine exactly how you want to play the hole; which iron will you use and where are the landing areas you want to hit?

Prepare the action plan beforehand. You should start by picturing the ball rolling into the hole on the green. Secondly, from which area of the green did you make your putt, and from where on the fairway did you strike the ball up onto the green and from where on the fairway did you strike it to that position et cetera? Play the hole backwards on your inner movie screen.

Now you are ready to run the movie forward. Picture how, with your first shot, you hit the ball exactly to the spot you chose in your plan. You must constantly focus on the spot where you will land the ball. Picture its path in the air and imagine how it sounds when it hits the ground. Do this while you’re taking a couple of practice swings, which will help to loosen up any tension, then go to the ball and make your shot.

The second and very important element is that the game plan should be safety oriented. If your handicap means you have 5 shots on the hole; then make a game plan that contains 5 shots and not 4, or if you are unsure whether you can make it in 5 shots, choose a plan with 6 shots. In this context it’s not the score that counts, but your ability to create and follow a game plan. So, you should always make

40

Before you go completely Nuts

conservative choices, something you are reasonably certain to accomplish. Remember Nicklaus’ advice: Always choose a solution and a strategy you are reasonably capable of completing. Sometimes the hardest part is not the technical, but the mental discipline required not to deviate from the plan.

If you are disciplined and follow a game plan that only contains solutions that you are reasonably capable of accomplishing, you will quickly see that your handicap goes down while your enjoyment of golf goes up.

41

Before you go completely Nuts

Find your mental sweet spot

It’s said of many of the top professionals that you can see it in their eyes when they are in the Zone. Tiger is one of them, Rocco Mediate another, and a third is Raymond Floyd, who gave me the idea for this exercise..

I’m certain you recognize this expression, and I’m pretty sure you’ve used it more than once or twice, “Sorry, what was that? I was miles away.” It’s that introspective moment when you are off in your very own, and very private universe. When we are “miles away” we are deep in thought, but nonetheless not actually thinking. We are completely present, but strangely, totally unaware of what is happening around us.

It’s in this state that the above named players perform best. You can see it in their eyes. Floyd says he deliberately goes into his staring mode or “getting my stare on” as he puts it. You can also learn to do this.

When you sit and stare off into space, what you are looking at isn’t clearly in focus.

This is because you have your thoughts turned inwards. It’s the same when you are daydreaming. You are looking at something without actually seeing it and your thoughts are somewhere else entirely. Try to make yourself conscious of this mental state and practice going into it. You just sit looking at an object without having any thoughts about what it is you’re looking at. Let your eyes relax as you sit and look at all these letters on the page. They form words and sentences, but you aren’t reading them. Your brain isn’t working in finding meaning in them or to decode any messages. They are just there! Try and sense how concentrated and focused inside you really are. It starts with the eyes. You need to set your eyes so they don’t focus on anything. Once you’ve practiced a little and learned to accept yourself to be in a condition, where the mind doesn’t fly off in all directions thinking about obligations and objectives, expectations and doubts, then you can try it out on the golf course.

Start by walking on the putting green while you are “miles away”.

As you walk and putt, look inwards. You see the ball, you see the

42

Before you go completely Nuts

hole and feel the line, but even so, you don’t. You let your sub consciousness take like when you see all these letters without decoding them into words and sentences.

You just go and putt in that strange state of unconcentrated concentration. Once you become familiar with the feeling and experience that you’re actually better at getting your putts in, then go onto the short game area and do the same. Crawl into yourself - look inwards - as you meditate over the different shots and ways to hit the ball, unaware of the outside world. Next time you play a round, try, as you walk from one shot to another, to do the same. Let your eyes gaze inward.

43

Before you go completely Nuts

The Mental Scorecard as a method Thought control method It’s up to you to decide through trial and error, which of these routines works best for you. There may be elements of one routine that doesn’t work for you, but others in the same routine that immediately just click. Therefore, don’t be too critical; try those you think are interesting and throw out what you can’t use from them.

The most important thing is that your routine includes elements that via thoughts affect your senses, as described in the routines.

For example, if you are faced with a crucial drive or putt, and the thought of failure creeps in, you must remove the negative thought - before you make the shot! To do this, you need to have a routine that can push this thought away. Remember, the more of your senses you can activate with the routine, the greater the mass, and more energy will be used to push the negative thought away.

1. You can train in visualizing the positive you want to happen

2. You can train to hear with your inner ear, what should happen

3. You can train to recreate the feeling you had one time when you

succeeded in sinking a crucial putt

4. You can train in creating the physical sensation that is a prerequisite for

a good putt or a good swing

5. You can train to connect a taste with the situation

6. You can train to connect a smell with the situation

Which of these senses you can activate, and how, is described in the presentation of the routines, but you have to adapt them to suit your personality and temperament.

You can do this in the following way.

Start with the routine that appeals to you the most. When working with the routine, you need to adjust the sensory elements to suit your personality and temperament.

It varies from person to person, which senses are dominant. Are you best with inner pictures, inner sound, or activation of physical sensations, feelings, smell or taste?

Put them together in a sequence and by all means use as many as possible. Write the sequence of the routine down on a piece of paper as if you were writing a film script or screenplay. When you are ready with the sequence, sit in a comfortable chair, relax, play some quiet music and run the routine as a movie in accordance with your screenplay, in your thoughts, in your inner universe. Once you have your movie ready, store it on your mental hard drive. Then go out on the course and try it out.

44

Before you go completely Nuts

It should be noted that not all the exercises require this systematic approach. Several of the exercises you can just read through and take directly out on the course and try.

Generally speaking, it won’t take you more than 10-15 minutes to get the hang of a routine.

Once you become familiar with the sequence and the movie is stored on your mental hard drive, you should go out on the course and practise it. Here, the Mental Scorecard can be a great help.

Method for structuring your mental training The Mental Scorecard is a method that can help you to structure your mental training and focus on your routines as you play. The method is based upon the following experiences: · that we can’t concentrate on one particular mental routine around the course for every shot on all 18 holes. We have to have breaks. · that you don’t get the best out of your mental training, if you simultaneously try to concentrate on the number of shots and points. · that it sharpens concentration and motivation, if we can set some goals for the training and measure our progresses.

For these reasons, the mental scorecard is a card on which we note our mental score, and not the number of shots and points. It operates on the following principles. On the scorecard for each of the 18 holes, you note the mental exercise (the script) you will train during the game on the hole in question. See the scorecard at the end of this section.

When you have finished playing the hole, you must make an evaluation of your execution of the mental exercise. If you think it was a big success, you give yourself 2 points. If you feel it wasn’t particularly successful because you for instance were not completely focused every time you did the routine, you give yourself minus 2 points.

Next to each hole on the scorecard there is a space for you to note your mental score.

It is you who will evaluate whether it was good or mediocre. When you have finished playing the 18th hole and therefore have noted all the mental exercises on your scorecard, you can then calculate your mental handicap. Your mental handicap is equal to the total of the minus points you have noted on the scorecard. In principle, you must continue to play the scorecard, and do the exercises until your mental handicap is 0.

Normally, the exercises on the scorecard are broken down as such; you choose one mental exercise that you can practice yourself during the game on the first 4 holes, and then you play 3 holes as you would normally, without concentrating on the exercise. Thereafter you have another 4 holes with a mental exercise. It can be the same

45

Before you go completely Nuts

exercise as you did on the first 4 holes, but it can also be another exercise entirely.

After these 4 holes come another 3 “free” holes, finishing off with a mental exercise on the last 4 holes.

The following scorecard is designed for a player who has chosen to work on learning to build his own comfort zone on the first 4 holes. Then there are 3 free holes, after which he must learn to play with authority and charisma, which he does for the next 4 holes. Then again come 3 free holes. The round ends with 4 holes, where he will try and implement the routine on the power of smile and the song.

Point Hole 1, 2, 3 & 4

Your mental exercise Creating a comfort zone In order to come into the zone, you must imagine that you are surrounded by a pleasant warm cloud or bubble of air.

That’s your comfort zone, energy that protects you from others’ energy, opinions and attitudes. A place where you feel good. When you surround yourself with this energy, you can make your own decisions, and your mood is not influenced by others or by how good or poor your last shot was. Practise creating your own comfort zone on the first 4 holes. How you create your comfort zone varies for each individ-ual. Some can create it just by thinking about it. Others may create it by breathing. For example, take some deep breaths and imagine that with each exhalation you form a bubble of energy around yourself. You may wish to make the bubble transparent in colour that grows and becomes more intense with each exhalation. For each deep inhalation you draw energy into the body, penetrating all parts of your body. When you exhale, you push the energy out which then forms a bubble or balloon around you. It’s important while you in and exhale, that you imagine that the comfort zone gives you a feeling of tranquillity, wellness, balance, power, energy and harmony. Think, imagine, feel and sense these qualities with all your senses while you’re do-ing the exercise.

See how you give yourself points at the bottom of the table.

5, 6 & 7 8, 9, 10 & 11

1

2

3

4

Play these holes as usual or entirely as you like Focus on authority and charisma Whatever happens, whatever you do and wherever you are, always keep your back straight and hold your head up high. Pay attention to it and do it! Now you will have 4 holes where you can practice. Imagine that you with each inhalation draw energy, strength, authority, confidence and charisma down into your lungs. Picture how you fill your lungs completely with this energy. With each exhalation, you then push the energy out to all parts of your body. Picture how you fill your body with energy, strength, authority, confidence and charisma.

Keeping your back straight and holding your head high. Picture yourself radiating confidence and authority. Picture yourself as a friendly, strong, charismatic, positive person. Picture on your inner movie screen how you develop and radiate an aura around you, full of these qualities.

46

Hole

8

9

10

11

+

-

Before you go completely Nuts

12, 13 & 14 15, 16, 17 & 18

Play these holes as usual or entirely as you like The power of smile and song When we are in a good mood we smile, sing, whistle or hum.

However, the effect can also work the opposite way round.

Smiling activates certain muscles, which in turn - via nerves to the brain – induce the production of endorphins, which are the body’s happiness hormone.

Think of Harrington. It will work for you too. The important thing is to have determination and to practice. Find a situation you have experienced in the past that brought a smile to your face. Think of this situation, run it as a movie or an inner sound recording, and picture yourself smiling. Before you go on the course, practice at home in an armchair, so you now you can run it on your inner movie screen.

15

16

17

18

Add your mental scores together. For each hole you have assessed that you succeeded in making the described mental exercises, you give yourself 2 points. If you don’t think it succeeded, you give yourself minus 2 points. Assess your performance after each hole. The total of your minus points is your mental handicap. In principle, you must continue to work with the exercises until your minus score is zero, and therefore so is your mental handicap.

If you would like to learn the routines on this scorecard, remember that you must do them at home before you go out on the golf course. Remind yourself that the rounds with the mental scorecard are mental training. It’s those rounds where you can forget all about the score, being in the moment, or in the process and concentrate on learning the routine.

On the next page you will find an empty scorecard for you to copy and note your own exercises, your own script. Remember; no more than 3 different exercises and put in “free-holes”.

47

Before you go completely Nuts

Scorecard for duplication Point Hole

Notes on your mental exercise

1, 2, 3 & 4

Hole Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4 5, 6 & 7

Play these holes as usual or entirely as you like

8, 9, 10 & 11

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

12, 13 & 14

Play these holes as usual or entirely as you like

15, 16, 17 & 18

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18 Add your mental scores together.

48

+

-

Before you go completely Nuts

Final Comments It has taken many years to develop The Mental Scorecard. It covers the method, as well as the mental exercises. The inspiration for the exercises is drawn from many different sources, which therefore means I can’t take out patents on them. Pick out the ones you think you can use. Still, what counts is to get the most out of them for you, they need to be adapted to your personality, temperament, mental strengths and weaknesses, ambitions and the amount of time you are willing to invest in them. That said, I hope that you evaluate the exercises, the method and the effect they have on you and your game, in this light. Additionally, I hope that you are so inspired and intrigued that you one day turn up at The Mental Scorecard Academy of Torre Mirona Golf Resort to have a scorecard produced, specifically for you.

Finally, if you have any mental “tricks� that you want to share with others, please send them to me. If they can be of help to others, I will include them like in the next edition of this book. Email them to me at finn@garudahr.com, where I would also love to receive your comments about my routines and how they have worked for you.

I wish you progress and pleasure with your golf.

Finn Havaleschka

49

By the same author Approaching the Job, 1981 Making the right choice, 1982 The personality of the Leader (Danish edition), 1989.

English edition, 1997 In Search of Leadership (Danish edition), 1990.

English edition, 1997 Your Profile (Danish edition), 1991.

Swedish edition, 1992 Personality and Leadership (Danish edition), 1991.

English edition, 1995 The Leader’s Choice, 1997 On ... Development, Life and Leadership (Danish edition), 1997.

English edition, 1997 The Golfer’s Mental Scorecard (Danish edition), 2003.

English edition, 2003 The Leader’s Mental Scorecard (Danish edition), 2005.

English edition, 2005 Focused Leadership (Danish edition), 2006.

English edition, 2007 Focused Golf, 2007