If I asked you to list the greatest golfers of all time, I bet that Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods would make your list. They should; they each have won more major tournaments than any other golfer in history. I doubt Tiger will catch Jack in the number of major tournaments won, but he certainly could. Besides being maybe the two best ever (being in Georgia, we must not forget the great Bobby Jones, though!), Jack and Tiger have another connection. They are both big believers in using hypnotherapy to improve their performance on the course. Tiger first began seeing a hypnotherapist at age thirteen.
Why hypnotherapy for golf? Golf can be a frustrating game to master. Any golfer has probably experienced the irritation of four hours of wasted time in a poor round of golf, one that leaves a golfer ready to chunk the clubs in the nearest lake. I once had a friend jokingly advise me to “Take two weeks off from golf . . . then give up the game!” What a character, that guy! Hitting a little round ball with a mallet and making it fly straight and long is difficult. It takes concentration, coordination, and in a full round of golf, a certain amount of endurance. To become skilled at the game takes a dogged persistence. There is enough pleasure in the game to keep many folks returning to the course, but it is an enterprise full of potential disappointment. If you have never seen the great Robin William’s explanation of the origins of golf, give yourself a treat and watch this video now; you will thank me: Robin Williams on Golf at https://youtu.be/fui7yvebIdk.
Hypnotherapy provides help to the golfer across many aspects of the game. Utilizing hypnosis to let the golfer’s own Middle Mind work, a person can improve his or her golf game in many ways.
First, as with all performance activities, the golfer will develop a newfound confidence. The confidence will in time become much more than just a quick benefit. It will become a permanent change in the golfer’s game.
Through hypnotherapy, a golfer can reduce anxiety about performance. As we have discussed elsewhere, some minimum level of anxiety is necessary to stimulate activity, but the self-control of such anxiety is essential to a good golf game.
Another advancement a golfer will enjoy through hypnotherapy is the ability to visualize individual shots and to mentally walk through a perfect round of golf.
The golfer will also learn to relax and quiet his mind. The ability to be relaxed and to ignore external distractions is essential to hitting that clear, crisp shot.
The hypnotherapist will assist the golfer to establish a trigger or mental switch that he or she can flip instantly to reach the level of focus necessary to perform at the highest level.
Finally, hypnotherapy will help to create in the golfer the innate persistence to practice, to prepare, and to keep going in his pursuit of a better game.
The ultimate goal is for the golfer to enjoy a round of relaxing golf, leaving the course satisfied and ready to return again.