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Golf Psychology – When Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work

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Have you ever wondered just how many shots slip away due to your mental ability? Do you have any questions about how your mind affects your ability to swing the golf club? Do you suffer from nerves, anxiety or find it hard to play your best golf when you want to? Take the mental strength test now and I will evaluate where you can improve. If so, then perhaps some Golf Performance Coaching will help you.

Performance Coaching

Experience for yourself how to really focus and concentrate your mind. Enjoy how your swing feels when you really trust it. Discover how to control your mind in competitions and play to your potential. Understand the mind body connection and how anxiety can be overcome. I tailor my coaching around your own particular needs. Come for a day or a half day’s coaching. We will spend most of that time on the range, practice area and golf course with you playing golf and learning as you swing the golf club. A unique coaching experience with optional follow up telephone sessions to help you continue your improvement. If you would like to find out more about arranging golf performance coaching contact me to arrange a session.

If you can’t make it in person then I can help you via Performance Coaching Telephone Sessions. During these calls we can explore what challenges you are facing and set out practical techniques for you to practice and play with. You can book a series of telephone sessions below.

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Enquire about Golf Performance Coaching

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    jon@golfisamindgame.com
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    Meet the people who I have helped

    Thanks for brief catch up over the phone the other day.  Really good of you and helpful.

    I’ve had a go at re-setting my expectations and setting criteria for how I assess my round.  Sort of staying relaxed and focused without losing it.

    Played last Saturday in Comp.  Won it.  Well Division 2 title anyway.

    • Expectations going into – low.
    • Staying calm throughout – very good.  Particularly pleased with myself at holes 8 and 9 which I double bogeyed then triple bogeyed having had a particularly unlucky bounce and getting stuck in a tree.  Thinking remained clear and just focused on the next shot, including hitting the ball 40 yds backwards from the tree on to the fairway to then leave myself a longer approach in.  Would never have been able to think that clearly previously.

    Shot level par for last 7 holes but honestly didn’t even know or care what my score was on 18.

    Putting remains a work in progress but 3 putts were mainly as a result of being overly aggressive / positive.  Only 1 long range yip and I short range one = big improvement.

    One swallow doesn’t make a Summer and all that and sure there will be twists and turns along the way, but just maybe I’ve proved to myself how I can / should treat future rounds.

    Here’s hoping.  If not and/or it breaks down again I’ll be in touch and book a consultation as have realized I do want to continue playing the game and kind of enjoyed the feeling of staying calm and relaxed.

    Jon D

    My chipping & putting has been tremendous.

    I only had one awkward moment at the start of my Winter Fourball Knockout Quarter final. I didn’t give myself enough time to have a quick practice before teeing off. I was on edge and yipped chips on the second hole. Regained my composure and added some great play winning several holes through my short game . My partner & I eventually lost on first extra home.

    Enjoying my new found insight into the Royal & Ancient game of golf.

    Thanks very much. Money well spent & so interesting too.

    Robin Midgley

    I’m back in Surrey after a great couple of days in Bournemouth.

    Such a great thought provoking golf coaching session; loads of great ideas to reform my golfing objectives and ‘eek out more enjoyment from the Royal & Ancient game.

    The time flew by and I was grateful for your full attention and support.

    It’s never easy for golfers to admit to weaknesses or worse still suffering from the ‘ yips yet you made it feel very natural and straight forward.

    I think your insight into the root causes of the nervous ticks within the ‘inner game of golf made consummate sense.

    I will focus on the techniques and ‘drills & come back to you as to my success or otherwise.

    Robin
    Just to briefly update you on my progress since our session on 11 May 2019. Overall, I’m feeling much more relaxed and able to deal with pressure situations.
    Your guidance has made a real difference to my game. When I’m standing over the ball, I just have 1 simple thought in my head instead of 20!
    I’ve also managed to take a more pragmatic approach to my whole game so when I do hit a poor shot, I just accept it, learn from it and move on instead of beating myself up as I used to. To summarise, I feel I’m playing to an acceptable level and, most importantly, I’m really enjoying golf again.
    Richard Hill

    Following his recent success in qualifying for the European Seniors Tour, Kevin Spurgeon is convinced a visit to a local sports psychologist has worked wonders.

    “I had always approached each golf shot with a negative attitude,” explained the 49 year old Dudsbury club profesional. “I would look ahead at all the pitfalls, like ‘ what happens if I miss the green’ even though I was faced with a fairly straightforward chip shot.” “And between shots I would be fretting about what could go wrong,” added Spurgeon.

    But after a course of mental sports training with Jon Adler, Spurgeon is a changed man. “Now I’m thinking about holing the chip, rather than just getting the ball onto the green.”

    Bournemouth Echo

    Jon and I worked together when I was on the European Challenge Tour. At the time my confidence was low and my focus was on money worries and performance frustrations. I seemed to be playing well away from tournaments but my putting was impeding my progress. We only met face to face a few times but talked alot the phone.

    A year on I managed to gain my tour card. We no longer work together but to this day I still use a few of the tips and techniques we worked on. Its an underestimated skill, which like golf you can improve on every time but never fully master

    Peter Whiteford, European Tour Player

    “I have always felt confident with my game tee to green but my putting has always been the weaker part of my game. This effected my confidence, but working with Jon over the past year we have managed to find a key thought which has helped bring my confidence with my putting up and in line with the rest of my game. I now feel I can hole more putts. This has been a great help over the last year as I have won 6 mini tour events. I am working with Jon with the aim to get back onto the Main European Tour.”
    British Amatuer Champion, 6 Times Challenge Tour Winner, Winner Jamega Tour Order Merit.

    Lee James

    Hi Again Jon

    Thought I’d take the opportunity to write my testimonial whilst I’m on line – hope you can use it.

    After months of frustration and coming very close to giving the game up I decided to try sport psychology as a last resort. Following extensive research I found Jon Adler and another “professional psychologist” who was highly qualified and had worked with the likes of Jess Ennis and Liverpool FC. Surely she would have the answers.

    Well I spent almost a full day with the “professional” which cost a fortune and got absolutely nothing out of it except “Think Positive” – well to be honest we don’t go to the golf club thinking negative or saying “I’m going to play terrible today” yet no matter how positive I thought that’s what happened.

    So I bought Jon Adlers eBook and read it a few times, the opening chapter more or less could have been written for me. So I booked two days with Jon and went to see him in May. WHAT AN EYE OPENER. Never once did we talk about swing, stance, grips – all the stuff that you’d expect from a coach, instead we spent two days just enjoying trying new things, experimenting and learning how to have fun when playing – I know that sounds daft but that’s what was missing – I’d forgotten that its a game and should be fun. Not only that but Jon also gave me so much confidence without changing anything else in my game except my mind-set.

    In summary, its now been two weeks since I saw Jon, I had a blip and Jon soon put me back on track via an email and my handicap has come down by a full 3 points but more importantly I’m enjoying my golf more than ever and my friends are enjoying playing with me too as I’m no longer moaning and groaning and bad company.

    For the price of a decent driver or a few more pro lessons telling you how bad your swing is you could spend a day with Jon and actually make a difference to yourself and play more fun, enjoyable golf. I can’t recommend it enough and I will definitely be spending another day or two with Jon in July.

    Chris Peters

    “I worked with Jon during the 2006 and 2007 season, the work we did during that time without any argument helped me so much, resulting in me regaining my European Tour card via the Challenge Tour. The mental work we did was so beneficial, it turned my putting around, and therefore my self belief came back to me through Jon’s tireless hours working with me at his home and at tournaments.”

    Stuart Manley

    Being a golf addict I’ve tried hard over the last 8 years to get the most out of my potential and my golf swing. Obsessions with my score and handicap, and subsequent tinkering with my swing, led me to feel frustrated and generally unhappy with my golf game. Having read Jons’ book I was keen to learn more about the psychology of golf in the hope to improve my own performance and enjoy playing again. Within a matter of weeks after starting individual coaching sessions with Jon I am swinging the golf club more freely and with more enjoyment than before. Jon has helped me to focus on the many individual moments that make up a round of golf and I no longer feel the weight of my scorecard as I swing. As a result my game has improved dramatically and I have been enjoying playing golf more than ever. The renewed excitement and new levels of confidence that coaching has given me is beyond anything I could have expected…..

     

    Jonny, West Yorkshire.

    Hi Jon, things are on the up! Golf is improving to a higher level, and feeling confident with the season approaching us. I am using your techniques within my game, I use freedom from around 100 yards in, helps with feel. Long game I focus more on the target and which line I want to set the ball out on.

    The exercise that you showed me for relaxing and keeping my thoughts in one place helps and I use that on the night of a tournaments which helps with focus for the next day. Your one day course I felt was good Jon, plenty of information but nicely spread out. Many thanks again.

    Jason Avery

    Dear Jon, many thanks for your help and advice yesterday. I found your aproach refreshingly different and easy to understand. My problems of pitching and chipping have ruined my enjoyment of the game and were likely to be terminal. I now have some sound solutions to work on and I feel optimistic for the future.

    Tony Hitchins

    Hi Jon, just a BIG thank you from all the ladies at Dudsbury for your excellent coaching day yesterday.

    We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and have all benefited in some way. Just waiting for the results to show now which I am confident they will.

    We will most defiantly be seeing you again on the future as I will be telling all the girls what they have missed!

    Pauline Polley, Lady Captain Dudsbury Golf Club

    I thought the session was well worth the time spent. It Just brought home to me how reliant I had become on having to many golf lessons and becoming a bit of a robot. It appears yips cannot be solved by swing coaching alone.

    Gary Scott

    I have known Jon for six years which is when I first had sessions with him. These helped me enormously, breaking the mental chains, decluttering and making me focus on the right thoughts. The transformation is enormous and is still working to this day.

    Dave Barton

    The first week I worked with Jon I won the following tournament! I almost don’t want to give a testimonial to tell people about how amazing and enlightening Jon is because I feel he is my secret weapon, my ticket to the ‘Big time’.

    If you are fed up with following the herd and want to understand whatever will be, will be, then Mr Adler is the most important man you will meet.

    Jamie Hall, Touring Professional

    The person I played with on Tuesday said how much she had enjoyed the game as I was so calm to play with. I can’t get over the improvement and enjoyment in my putting in particular. Anyway quite clearly the weekend was just the ticket!!

    To continue the story: on Tuesday I did a stableford and only got 20 points – the worst ever – BUT I still enjoyed it! I found that I was not despairing but thinking how good the blobs were i.e what difficult lies I’d got out of etc. The main thing was that I was able to walk away from the ghastly holes with equanimity and carry on thinking let’s see what happens.

    Then yesterday I was doing a card for some-one’s handicap and we are expected to put our score in too and I got 34 points. That’s pretty good for me. 6 weeks ago I would not have been able to go out and play the next day after the ‘humiliation’ and I would have been boring Graeme stiff with why, why why.

    Sheila Fairley

    I came to see Jon to hopefully get a better understanding of why I lost concentration and confidence on the golf course, I left with a completely new way of approaching the way I practice and play.

    Jon’s methods do not involve lots of goals and structure and do’s and dont’s and motivational thoughts he simply gets you to a place of freedom and concentration that allows you to just feel at ease. He lets you discover the answers for yourself. As I hit balls on the range I truely felt like it was the best I had ever hit the ball in a practice session, just by letting go of all the swing thought and technical positions I found a swing that felt effortless and produced the shots I wanted to play.

    I would highly recommend Jon to anyone looking for a new approach to performance coaching through learning how to let go and let that great swing find you. Instead of endless searching by hitting millions of balls, today was a revelation in the way I think and approach the way I play.

    Neil Pareker, PGA Assistant Professional

    Plain, simple and easy to use mental game techniques. Enjoyed the practical aspects and being able to actually practice all the techniques on the course. Thanks for two valuable days of training.

    Prakash Shah

    To be honest since coming to your golf school at Dudsbury my approach has changed and it has made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the game. Rome was not built in a day but in the last two matches I have managed most of the time to ignore normally irritating things and have enjoyed my golf much more. Still a long way to go but I’m excited to say I feel a difference.So thank you !

    Marina Palethorpe

    I had played for twenty years before i went to see Jon and had been ‘stuck’ on a handicap of 4 for years. I struggled to take practice ground form on to the golf course and with the demands of a busy job thought that working on the mental side might be a more effective way to improve. In addition I didnt enjoy my golf as much as a i wanted to and some of the fun had gone out of simply playing the game.

    I spent a full day with Jon down at Bournemeouth and we talked about the Inner Game which is fascinating in itself. We then did some drills on the range which suddenly made the game feel less complicated.

    Taking it back to the course was a revelation. I really felt like I was playing a different game to my playing partners, and after years of poor mental technique and a notoriously short fuse when things didnt go so well i began to accept the good and bad shots without letting them affect me so much. The techniques took diligence to stick with, they changed my whole approach in a very short period of time.

    I made some of my best scores for years immediately after seeing Jon and came from 4 to 2 in a fortnight via 3 good medal rounds. I probably didnt play any differently but playing the inner game allowed me to play a natural relaxed game, and more importantly i was enjoying it like i did when i first started playing again.

    This stuff works – try it!

    Tim Johnson

    “Returning back to golf after injury, I was very anxious once on the putting green. I would be standing over my putt, whether it was 20 feet or 2 feet, and realising I could no longer see the hole. I phoned Jon on recomendation from the local golf professional and we met up.

    We worked on ways to stop me thinking too much about holing the putt. we also worked on concentrating my mind and this really helped me to focus. Being able to focus properly has allowed me to hole more putts and this is due to training my mind not to lose focus.

    When I returned to golf, my handicap was 3.4 and I was shooting some atrociuos scores in the 90’s. I have now cut my handicap to 1.8 and I recently shot the course record at Dudsbury Golf Course. I came 6th in the West of England Championships and was also a member of the winning Dorset Ladies Team at South West Matchweek, contributing 81/2 points out of 9.

    I am so pleased that my game has improved and it is all thanks to Jon, even though he says I helped myself. It is also nice to know that Jon is there at the end of the phone if I should need him…… Jon you are an absolute ANGEL and I can’t thank you enough for helping me enjoy my golf once more.”

    Kerry-Anne Haskell

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