It’s a very important time of the year for many reasons. There are 39 days left in the year. Wow. It wasn’t September two minutes ago. Christmas is round the corner. I have been to Toys R Us today with Kobe and Marnie writing their massive list. They won’t be getting a copy of train your sports brain or my new home study course in their Christmas stocking…. more like Buzz Light year and Hello kitty.
RESILIENCE….
It has been a great weekend for sport watching some past and present clients. Lewis Moody is back in the No7 shirt and throwing himself at everything that moves. Great to see him back to his old self and overcoming his injuries. Makes my niggle in my left knee seem irrelevant. Lewis is a warrior who has bounced back from injury time and time again. His belief in his ability and his body to continually put himself on the line for club and country are a true sign of mental toughness or madness. I think a lot of the first and a little bit of the latter.
HUNGER & BELIEF
Lee Westwood has climbed back from the golfing abyss to recapture his great form of 2000 and win the Race to Dubai. It’s hard to imagine that Lee went from 5th in the world to over 200th in the rankings. I worked with him in that period of ascension when being No1 was a long way away to identify some areas to focus on.
What’s great about his crowning glory is that he never questioned his ability and more importantly had the hunger to be back at the top. He is mentally tough. You don’t win the number of tournaments that he has without being mentally strong anyway. That journey has been rewarded today. Congratulations to being European No1 again.
PERSISTENCE…
Reading FC win at home for the first time since January this year. The monkey is off the back. A great result and a testament of their progress as a group. Persistence is a valuable mindset in adversity. The mind needs evidence even when the outward signs are not showing.
A great job down there by Brendan Rogers, who said I was like winning a world cup. The players and the staff have seen that result coming. A long way to go in the season and I can see them climbing up the table now from here. Stay present….Let’s See What Happens!
A DECADE IN WAITING…..
A few weeks, Dundee Utd manager Craig Levine asked me to spend the day “training the football brain”. His first team squad were outstanding during the session, the academy players soaked it all up and the academy coaching staff, in a late session at the back end of a long day were very receptive to the tools and ideas.
I now check the results of Dundee Utd every week and today they beat Celtic 2-1 at home for the first time in a decade. Congratulations to all at Tannadice.
Have a great week,
Jamie
P.S.
Give the gift of Thinking Differently this Christmas with some trained brain personal development products.
22 November, 2009
11 November, 2009
Review the Golf Season Now
The winter is here and you are playing a few rounds less than you were or the clubs are back in the garage until the other side of the year. Many of you will be contemplating keeping your game in order with a series of lessons or a once a week trip to the range. But before have your eyes on the 2010 season what have you done about reviewing the 2009 one?
One of the most important areas of a performance is reviewing what you do AFTER you have played. So take stock of what the season was about.
Follow these steps to review what you did and where you need to improve next season.
STEP ONE: Benchmark the season. Was it Good, Average or Poor.
STEP TWO: Now chunk it into the different area of your game. Give yourself a score out of 10 with 1 being “need to get some serious work done…10 being Sweet”.
Short Game /10
Long Game /10
Mental Game /10
Practice & Preparation /10
STEP THREE: Now ask yourself these three questions for each category. You can ask these questions by taking the traffic light test for every part of your game.
RED: What do I need to STOP doing with my short game that’s not leading me to success?
AMBER: What do I need to keep doing with my short game because it works?
GREEN: What do I need to START doing to make my short game MUSTARD (hot) next year? And move it closer to a 10.
Run every part of your game through these three questions and you will come up with better answers.
STEP FOUR: Go to the movies. Sit down and replay some of the best rounds you had in 2009. Who you were with, where, what club you hit and the result.
If you really want to take your game to another level…write it down and capture it.
WINTER GOLF: A time to work on a few parts of your game.
SCORING: Medal cards destroy your game because you focus on the score. The bridge between social golf and medal golf is too big. Most players will focus on score too much.
Mission: Everytime you go out take a card. Become comfortable with a card in your hand. Try playing GOLFMISSION to close the gap.
BOGEY HOLES: Far too much emotion whilst playing the hole badly. Plenty of emotion, Plenty of Recall. Develop a neutral mindset. A poor mind has 3 reactions. Good, OK and Poor.
Mission: Keep your reactions Positive or Neutral. Celebrate the smallest success and even the mindset of “Good Miss”. You will be better prepared to mentally to get something from the hole.
GETTING ANGRY: One athlete in the world used anger and it helped him. He played tennis with a headband and told the umpire to &*%$. His name was John McEnroe. You are not “The Brat” so give yourself a break.
Mission: Decide before hand you will “Deal With” whatever the hole or the game throws at you.
OVER THE FLAG: Winter golf is great for firing over flags and developing trust and playing with freedom. Most amateurs are short of the pin not matter what the time of the season. Never long? Now is the time to change that.
Mission: Commit to being a club longer. The ball doesn’t fly as far in the cold. Club up…go big. Take one more than you think. In some case two and get used to that feeling of flying over the flag with confidence.
EQUIPMENT: 'I'm useless with this putter' Take the opportunity to get fitted this winter. It is amazing how many players have not had clubs tailored to their swing and/or body.
Mission: Go and get custom fitted. It’s not the equipment. It’s you not the putter. But go and rule out the fact it could be. It’s like playing in size 11 shoes when you are an 8.
CONDITIONS: Never judge the day by the weather. All conditions are good. Get used to tough conditions. When the weather turns it eliminates about 85% of the field who don’t and can’t play in the rain.
Mission: Use the mantra..”It’s only rain, it’s only rain!”
STRETCH YOURSELF: Become a good golfer not just good at your home course. Find other players who are better than you to play against. You will have to stretch to beat them and you will learn from their game also.
Mission: Play some golf by the coast this winter. Wrap up though. A great way to develop more mental skills in tough conditions is playing links golf. Seek out players who are playing at a different level. Get out of your comfort zone.
Winter golf is a great time to reflect and explore your game. It’s a time to test new mental skills and moves in your swing and let go of the previous seasons baggage.
Keep thinking the same way and you will get the same results.
Think Differently,
Jamie Edwards
p.s. Great Christmas Golf Gifts go to www.golf-mission.com
One of the most important areas of a performance is reviewing what you do AFTER you have played. So take stock of what the season was about.
Follow these steps to review what you did and where you need to improve next season.
STEP ONE: Benchmark the season. Was it Good, Average or Poor.
STEP TWO: Now chunk it into the different area of your game. Give yourself a score out of 10 with 1 being “need to get some serious work done…10 being Sweet”.
Short Game /10
Long Game /10
Mental Game /10
Practice & Preparation /10
STEP THREE: Now ask yourself these three questions for each category. You can ask these questions by taking the traffic light test for every part of your game.
RED: What do I need to STOP doing with my short game that’s not leading me to success?
AMBER: What do I need to keep doing with my short game because it works?
GREEN: What do I need to START doing to make my short game MUSTARD (hot) next year? And move it closer to a 10.
Run every part of your game through these three questions and you will come up with better answers.
STEP FOUR: Go to the movies. Sit down and replay some of the best rounds you had in 2009. Who you were with, where, what club you hit and the result.
If you really want to take your game to another level…write it down and capture it.
WINTER GOLF: A time to work on a few parts of your game.
SCORING: Medal cards destroy your game because you focus on the score. The bridge between social golf and medal golf is too big. Most players will focus on score too much.
Mission: Everytime you go out take a card. Become comfortable with a card in your hand. Try playing GOLFMISSION to close the gap.
BOGEY HOLES: Far too much emotion whilst playing the hole badly. Plenty of emotion, Plenty of Recall. Develop a neutral mindset. A poor mind has 3 reactions. Good, OK and Poor.
Mission: Keep your reactions Positive or Neutral. Celebrate the smallest success and even the mindset of “Good Miss”. You will be better prepared to mentally to get something from the hole.
GETTING ANGRY: One athlete in the world used anger and it helped him. He played tennis with a headband and told the umpire to &*%$. His name was John McEnroe. You are not “The Brat” so give yourself a break.
Mission: Decide before hand you will “Deal With” whatever the hole or the game throws at you.
OVER THE FLAG: Winter golf is great for firing over flags and developing trust and playing with freedom. Most amateurs are short of the pin not matter what the time of the season. Never long? Now is the time to change that.
Mission: Commit to being a club longer. The ball doesn’t fly as far in the cold. Club up…go big. Take one more than you think. In some case two and get used to that feeling of flying over the flag with confidence.
EQUIPMENT: 'I'm useless with this putter' Take the opportunity to get fitted this winter. It is amazing how many players have not had clubs tailored to their swing and/or body.
Mission: Go and get custom fitted. It’s not the equipment. It’s you not the putter. But go and rule out the fact it could be. It’s like playing in size 11 shoes when you are an 8.
CONDITIONS: Never judge the day by the weather. All conditions are good. Get used to tough conditions. When the weather turns it eliminates about 85% of the field who don’t and can’t play in the rain.
Mission: Use the mantra..”It’s only rain, it’s only rain!”
STRETCH YOURSELF: Become a good golfer not just good at your home course. Find other players who are better than you to play against. You will have to stretch to beat them and you will learn from their game also.
Mission: Play some golf by the coast this winter. Wrap up though. A great way to develop more mental skills in tough conditions is playing links golf. Seek out players who are playing at a different level. Get out of your comfort zone.
Winter golf is a great time to reflect and explore your game. It’s a time to test new mental skills and moves in your swing and let go of the previous seasons baggage.
Keep thinking the same way and you will get the same results.
Think Differently,
Jamie Edwards
p.s. Great Christmas Golf Gifts go to www.golf-mission.com
01 November, 2009
Trained Brain at the Belfry October
The course in October at the PGA Head Quarters was without a doubt one of the most enjoyable I have run in the past few years. I have a great time at all of them and so do the delegates. This was at a different level. There were so many components, the practical session that hasn't been done before, the much anticipated Visual Training from Sherylle Calder blew me and others away and I have been literally working for years to track her down. It was worth the wait.
I said at the beginning of the course that some of the best moments will happen in the breaks and lunch where the information has time to settle and the connections are made with your own world.
"Dr Sherylle Calder was just unbelievable. I was truly on the edge of my seat, no wonder you pursued her for 3 years. Such a fascinating area and with such amazing results to back up her years of research. My clients would benefit so much from that training."
Adrian Riddell, Sports Psychologist and Golf County Coach
Notably during those breaks that is where you begin to forge working relationships with people from different parts of the country and in this case, the world and across different industries.
Watch Instinctive Golf Founder Kendal McWade become Visually fit using the same vision training that the England Rugby and South Africa Rugby squads used.
Look out for the guys taking part in Nick Middleton's putting presentation that challenged conventional wisdom.
He can do that. He is an engineer by trade and a marketeer in another life and believes that you should have your own putting signature.
More on that next year in Preseason. So have a look at the video.
Keep coming back for details on some exciting 2010 developments.
Talk soon,
Jamie
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