DR. BEE'S MENTAL TIP OF THE MONTH
A NOTE ON MENTAL NOTES
I have been writing a column for the Monterey County Herald's golf page since 2003. Each column has some good advice for making progress with your mental game. I am sharing these columns with you. Some of the articles refer to specific tournaments and you might think they are dated. They're not. I'm not writing about the tournament, I am using them as examples from which you can learn useful concepts. Apply the advice to your game. And watch your scores go
down.
Updated April 28th, 2006
MENTAL NOTES: 1/25/2006
THE MENTAL SIDE OF PUTTING: DR. BEE EPSTEIN-SHEPHERD
Last week I got an E-mail from a client in Louisville
Kentucky telling me that he won his club's match play
championship as a result of the work we did together to
improve his putting. We worked with the mental game on
the phone. Putting improvement can be so simple, but
most people generally complicate it, with fancy green
reading techniques or too many putting aids or drills.
Coincidentally this morning I got an E-mail announcement
about a new magazine that would be devoted only to
putting. The next E-mail in my box was an article
written by one of my mental coach colleagues-five pages
on yips. This was the second in his series of three
articles on the same subject. Since there has been so
much energy devoted to putting, I feel it is only
fitting that I address it also.
The basic mental principles I teach. Is that the
subconscious knows how to reach a goal-- if it has a
goal. I am no longer amazed at the skill young children
exhibit when they putt. When I work with young juniors,
I tell them to roll the ball into the hole, and they
find a way to either do it or get very close. They have
one simple clear goal-the ball into the hole. As golfers
learn more about putting--there's a lot to learn, Dave
Pelz's Putting Bible has more than 375 pages--they add
more goals. There are green reading goals, finding a
line goals, where and how much the putt breaks goals,
speed goals, the right stroke goals, follow-through
goals, and maybe even more. No wonder the subconscious
is confused and doesn't know to direct the ball.
Try this: Go to a practice green, and think of nothing
but putting the ball into the hole. Don't go through
your usual calculations or lining up techniques. Just
focus on the hole and tell yourself (your subconscious),
"Put the ball in the hole." Concentrate on this thought
and goal only. I have a feeling you will be surprised at
the accuracy of your putts.
©, Copyright, 2006, Dr. Bee Epstein-Shepherd
Dr. Bee Epstein-Shepherd is mental skills coach to some
of the world's best golfers, and a number of duffers
too. She is author of Mental Management for Great Golf:
How to Control Your Thoughts and Play Out of Your Mind.
She can be reached at 831-625-3188, or DrBeeMM@aol.com
www.DrBee.com
For many more of tips, order
our Mental
Mastery System, books, or tapes.
Phone consultation available
for mental practice techniques.
Call (800) 347-6828 for
an appointment or for a customized self-hypnotic tape.
$265 per hour.
Phone consultation without
hypnosis. $225 per hour. One half hour minimum charge.
Contact Dr. Bee Epstein
- Shepherd
831-625-3188 - DrBeeMM@aol.com
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