March 19. 2002

WELCOME to the No B.S. Golf Newsletter

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of our new subscribers that have joined us since our last newsletter.

Jennifer Scott, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Golf Mastery Coach, and author of the 2 CD set audio program, Own The Zone has given me permission to share with you a 1000 word article that she has written for Golf Magazine and Golf Digest. It has some good information in it, and I would like to thank Jennifer for letting me use it in my newsletter.

Own The Zone can be purchased at the website: www. thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/jennifer.htm

GET OUT OF
YOUR OWN WAY.

By Jennifer Scott, C.Ht.

Traditional golf dogma says \"your
real opponent is the golf course.\"
Not true. Your real opponent is you.

When he was asked how many swing thoughts he had, Bobby Jones said, \"If I have two swing thoughts, I have no chance at all. If I have one, maybe I\'ll have a good shot. If I have none, then I can play like Bobby Jones.\"

Today, winning professionals prove it every weekend: to lower scores you need consistency with each and every swing. For this, you must learn how to take control of your inner mind... the same way you trained it to type or drive a car. In other words, you have to think like Bobby Jones. Said even better, you have to not think... just like Bobby Jones. Then you\'ll have the control you need to take care of first tee jitters, putting yips and obsessive negative thoughts.

But there\'s a big obstacle to taking control: Pre-Swing Thoughts. Those compli-cated, confusing and often conflicting thoughts that rattle around in your brain before you take a swing are really all a result of one thing: STRESS. Which one - or ones - victimize you the most?

Stress Producers: The 4 Categories

1. It Isn\'t Fair!
Your drive takes a weird bounce into a lake. The wind takes your beautiful, high pitch shot straight down into a sand trap. It\'s plugged. Your putt lips out. You start fuming. You\'ve been wronged by some superior force. You feel like throwing a club, but you don\'t because you might hit someone. Instead you keep it all inside. And what does this internal stress do to you before the next shot? Where is your mind? Where is your focus?

2. Perfection
You hit your drives so well on the practice range, but now, on the real course, you\'re slicing everything into the rough or worse. You just lost a ball in some-body\'s yard. You\'ve never been this bad! Where is the real you, the one who hits it so well? On the other hand, even when you\'re hitting well, your perfectionism is still a problem. Because then, nobody else is good enough to play with you. Secretly, you\'re disdainful of your partners\' bad playing. You think, \"they\'ll drag me down.\" And as you address the ball for your next shot, where is your mind? Where is your focus?


3. Approval
It doesn\'t matter who you\'re playing with, you always want to impress them. You want them to admire you. If they\'re not as good as you, you strut around like a Professional Champion. Even when they haven\'t seen your great shot, you have to tell them about every facet of it, just to get the kudos. But if they\'re better than you, you get nervous. Trying so hard, you literally fall apart, regressing to a rank amateur. Before you take the next swing, is your focus on the target ... or the audience?

4. Control
You like to have things go your way. You always plan to have a set amount of time to practice. And you\'re always there early. If something goes wrong with this master plan, your day is ruined. You hate it when anyone stands within 20 yards of you when you\'re putting. And God forbid, they should make a sound! When you miss the putt, it\'s their fault, not yours. The foursome ahead of you is always too slow. The guys behind you are nipping at your tail so much, you can\'t con-centrate on anything except rushing to get out of the way. As you address the ball for your next shot, where is your mind? Where is your focus?

The Search For Relaxation

OK, it\'s agreed. You need to relax before you swing. But how? To achieve relaxation, golfers have tried everything from beta-blockers and alcohol to transcendental meditation. Beta blockers -- prescription drugs -- can have serious side effects, including extreme fatigue, so you\'d better ask your doctor about them. Alcohol has been seen on the golf course, but while it can relax, it also tends to diminish hand-eye coordination, so I recommend you don\'t drink and drive, chip or putt. As for T.M., it\'s fine when you have lots of time for it.

As a practicing Clinical Hypnotherapist, I teach a simpler and faster way to get there: Self-Hypnosis. Don\'t worry: Self-Hypnosis isn\'t \"woo-woo.\" It\'s firmly based on the realities of today\'s golf game. In fact, no one else will notice it, because once you\'ve integrated it into your pre-shot routine, it takes less than 5 seconds.

What is Hypnosis?

There are lots of times when you\'re in hypnosis and don\'t know it. For example, if you\'re listening to your car radio and arrive at your destination with no idea how you got there, you were in hypnosis. Or if you\'re watching a movie and your attention is so focused on the story that you are oblivious to your surroundings, you\'re in hypnosis. When you\'re engrossed in a book or on an interesting conver-sation and don\'t realize how much time has gone by, you\'re in hypnosis. And -- on those rare occasions when you\'re playing golf \"dialed in,\" \"out of your mind,\" or \"in the zone\" -- no doubt about it. You\'re in hypnosis. Since it\'s so natural, why not take advantage of it? It\'s an untapped source of power you can apply to golf.



The Power Of Hypnosis

How would you like to experience this power, right now? Here\'s how. First, I\'d like you to create a pendulum. If you already have one, that\'s fine. If not, you can easily make one by taking a piece of dental floss about a foot long and tying it to a key or large paper clip.

[picture of a pendulum held over the diagram]

[pin diagram]

Place this diagram on a table. Sit in front of it in a straight-backed chair. Hold the pendulum with your thumb and forefinger and rest your elbow of that hand on the table. Now stare at that pendulum and visualize or imagine that it\'s moving from the Tee Box to Pin \"B.\" Let it happen. Now imagine it swinging from the Tee Box to Pin \"A.\" Soon you will see the pendulum swinging as you envisioned. Now imagine it swinging from the Tee Box to Pin \"C.\" Watch it change, slowly. If it doesn\'t swing, it\'s only because you\'re too tight. You\'re fighting it. And if you\'re too tight swinging a little paperclip and dental floss, imagine how tight you are swinging a driver! So loosen up, relax and imagine or visualize it moving in a chosen direction.

This illustrates exactly what can happen with your golf shot. After clearing your mind, relaxing your body and focusing on a very specific target -- your ball will follow the flight path that you\'ve imagined, just like the pendulum! And if it doesn\'t, it\'s only because you\'re holding your club too tightly or you\'re not relaxed or you\'re not really focused on your target.

Trusting Yourself

Have you ever marveled at the control winning golf professionals have over their swings? How would you like to learn how to have it and never lose it? It\'s really quite simple, once you\'ve learned the techniques of Self-Hypnosis and integrate them into your pre-shot routine. What may be most difficult for you is to under-stand, accept and trust that Self-Hypnosis can actually give you the power to train your inner mind to do what you want... to train it so well that it can be relied on...shot after perfect shot. Don\'t worry about looking unusual. No one else will have any idea of what you\'re doing -- because you\'ll be doing it all in your own mind.


The Way To Get Out Of Your Way

When you hear winning golf professionals say, \"I just got out of my way,\" you\'re really hearing them say they found a way to clear out mental chatter and relax. And this is what Self-Hypnosis techniques can help you do: clear away the stress and the jumbled pre-swing thoughts which destroy any hope of a relaxed, repeat-able swing. For help, contact a good local Clinical Hypnotherapist (C.Ht.) who has a program for golfers.

Finally, you\'ll be able to get out of your own way.

Jennifer Scott, C.Ht.



If any of you have any questions for Jennifer, please email them to Richard@thinkandreachpar.com

If you would like some more information on Own The Zone or would like to order it, please go to the web site www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/jennifer.htm



IF YOU LIKED THIS ISSUE
If you liked this issue, we would appreciate it if you would
forward a copy to one or two of your golfing friends. Thank you!

PRIVACY
Rest assured that we will not share your e-mail address with
any other party for any reason whatsoever.

Thank you and good golfing.

Richard