Mind_Your_Golf

No more words needed…except for those ones 🤪😅

Sorry Ray-Ban…I love you really 😎😅

But how many of you are going through this? Showing up to tournament golf and desperately wanting to play but all you see is trouble?

And the more you try and force yourself to “focus” or “toughen up” or “get over it” the harder those things become.

Firstly, seeing danger when something important is involved is deeply human.
Secondly, specific types of awareness training helps you take those lenses off. The golf course doesn’t have to always look like a horror movie.

Perceptions can and do change. I’ve seen it with my own eyes (pun intended).

DM for more info on how to actually strengthen your mental skills vs just hearing about it



-bans

The most exciting theory to hit neuroscience possibly ever (predictive coding) is debunking the common myth that attention is a simple spotlight that you can place here or there.

There’s complexity to this s**t far beyond the scope of my intelligence.

That being said, we’ve all had moments in sport where we just couldn’t focus no matter what we tried.

Only days later noticing how much we’d been affected by poor sleep, stress at home, doomscrolling the night before, a stomach bug days before, worries about our swing, an arguement with our other half, a nagging injury, a nasty comment on a social media post and so on.

So let’s give ourselves some grace here.

So what can help Trev?

Last September I travelled to the Austrian mountains to train with Yoda himself, 11 x US OLYMPIC PSYCHOLOGIST Dr Peter Haberl to learn how to train awareness and attention with Olympic Athletes.

Awareness and focus training develops your ability to be aware of your context in a flexible moment by moment way.

When the context gets noisy and the pressure ramps up, awareness becomes key.

Training builds composure.

That’s why I’ve offered my clients a twice weekly open practice (CIRCUIT TRAINING FOR THE MIND) for the past 7 months. So they could have access to the training required.

So far this season clients have reported feeling happier, angrier, more composed and more anxious.

And struggling less with all of these experiences.

Awareness doesn’t rid you of these experiences, it helps you drop the struggle with them and instead commit to what’s in front of you.

Curious?

Reach out ⬆️
Link@in bio

I just have to say it.

Traditional sport psychology had a swing and a miss on this one. They got this so so wrong.

We’ve been trained, en mass, that our emotional experiences somehow need to be contained or dominated for us to thrive.

It’s absolute horse 💩

what that message has actually created is a runaway train of disorders at a societal level, and an ongoing struggle at a you level.

Don’t take my word for it, check in with your own experience. Has trying to avoid, control, escape feelings you don’t like ever worked in the long term. Do you actually feel more in control or less.

When clients meet with me for the first time; they’ve often become exhausted from the endless struggle of trying to control how they feel.

Letting go of controlling and instead helping them listen to the message on offer is a whole new world for clients.

They develop healthier relationships with their anger, anxiety, joy, fear, confidence and so on.

No longer needing to suppress one or cling to another.

Anger often tells us that an important boundary has been crossed.

Anxiety tells us to be careful because something that really matters is approaching.

Joy tells us that we’re interacting with meaningful moments in meaningful ways.

Despair tells us that something we’re doing or not doing is REALLY not working and we should try a different approach.

Fear tells us that a threat is present and we don’t know if we have the skills to make it through.

Whatever the emotion, it carries a message.

Don’t do what sport psychology tells you to do and try to kill the messenger.

You may win the battle, but you’ll never win the war.😵‍💫😬

If you’re interested in learning more about how to leave the battlefield…get in touch! Link in bio

One of my favourite exercises I do with junior golfers is called the “two caddy” exercise.

Allowing them to explore the different features of each caddy I then ask

“And which one feels most familiar to you?”

I’ve never had a single golfer say the second one.

This beautiful metaphor represents our inner monologue’s and provides an opportunity to name each caddy.

Naming the tough caddy “Waldo” “Eric” “thanos” “darth vadar” is a crucial step in terms of developing a new relationship with that part of them.

It can often bring a light humour to something that’s been heavy and weighing them down.

Juniors often point out that their tough caddy has loads of benefits too. And they’re right. We don’t want to get rid of this part, it’s useful in its own way. The key move is about restoring agency; giving kids back the keys to the car so to speak.

When your inner caddy starts giving you an earful, in what ways does that hurt your game? In what ways does it help?

Being able to develop the awareness to flexibly interact with these experiences is key.

I’ve won tournaments with both.

If you feel this could help your game but not sure where to start? Get in touch ⬆️

😳😳

I’ve never encountered such a bewildering process in clients.

The confusion, desperation and panic is palpable.

As is the moments of hope people experience when they find a technical solution; that is before the bubble bursts and they’re back to square one. More frustrated. More desperate.

7 years ago I had almost no ideas as to how to actually help someone other than technical band aids or distractions.

4 years ago I had way more ideas.

2 years ago I had all the ideas.

1 year ago I had some really solid ideas.

Today I have a wealth of knowledge and experience and I’m back to not knowing.

That’s because I don’t know who you are and what’s brought you here, or the moves you’re making that are sustaining the struggle.

Working with people one to one or in groups on this issue has become one of the biggest thrills and greatest passions of my life.

Seeing people stand up and transcend these struggles is nothing short of miraculous.

From humiliation to liberation.
From desperation to composure.
From running away to showing up.
From pain to purpose.
From struggling to thriving.

So if you’re struggling…Get in touch!

“Sensing the slide”

Do you know that feeling of sliding towards a behaviour you’d rather not?

does.

The anger, the volatility, the aloofness, the forced apology.

Without awareness there’s no friction and without friction there’s no change.

Soooooooooooooooo much of my work in mental performance is about nurturing awareness.

Awareness of what’s not working, awareness of what matters, awareness of your history, awareness of the moment, awareness of context, awareness of how you’d like to be in this moment, and this one, and this one

If you often feel that “Sergio slide” then reach out ⬆️

Purposeful pursuit is as far away as the word NOW