ProGolfGolf Psychology for Serious PlayersMIND

The

TRAIN THE MINd THAT MAkEs THE sHoTs dIsCoVER THE dIFFERENCE

2 Hot Success Title2 The ProGolf Mind

IN THIS ISSUE:

2 EDITORS’ NOTE

3 FROM ZERO TO HERO

5 TAKE THE BRAIN TEST WITH ARNOLD

7 FEATURE: PLAY LIKE A PRO

18 THIS WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

20 THE RESULTS ARE IN

21 LAWRY LIKES THE WAY HE THINKS

WAIT! Before you jump in, wide-eyed, and discover the total game-changing concepts in The ProGolf Mind Magazine, take a few moments to find about what this magazine is NOT:First of all, this is not another bunch of hypnotic recommenda-

tions, based again on the misguided, unscientific notion that

simply being relaxed will make you a better golfer. While some

users of those sorts of programs will actually report an improve-

ment in their game, the results are mostly based on what we call

‘the placebo effect’ – as René Descartes, the French Philosopher,

put it – “Cogito, ergo sum” – I think, therefore I am.

Those positive imagery programs rely on the idea that if you get

people to believe they are getting results from listening to posi-

tive messages, then some golfers will actually see a benefit simply

by learning how to let go of the negative thoughts that can get in

the way of playing better.

Confused? Well, let’s look at another example. Say I give you a

pill and tell you, “this is a sleeping pill and if you take it, you will

begin to feel drowsy.” I’ll bet right now that some people would

feel exactly what I have described – sleepy… relaxed, and that’s

because they are totally convinced that the pill has the power to

put them to sleep. So if I can convince some people of that just by

suggestion, it’s easy to understand why they might also believe

that, through suggestion, their golf will improve overnight. ‘Now

visualize that you are about to hit the best shot you have ever hit

in your life…’

Unlike the process of learning the mechanics of golf, the power of

suggestion targets the subconscious mind – it’s a bit like the iceberg

– one fifth is above the water (that’s where you put the swing and

putting technique) while the really big bit is underneath, out of sight

and hiding in the dim, dark crevices of your subconscious mind.

But subconscious suggestions that are aimed at teaching you to

relax or visualize that perfect shot will, at best, make you a very

calm but frustrated hacker; so don’t expect to put the wind up

your golfing buddies by listening to a relaxation CD. You’ll need

more, much more, and this is what the Pro Golf Mind magazine is

all about.

Adrian Law, Editor

The ProGolf Mind

adrian law

3The ProGolf Mind

Ah, yes, the golf ‘zone’ – every golfer has heard about it and wished

they could find it, somehow, when they’re on the course.

And let’s face it, if we could find that ‘zone’ we would cut shots off our handicap, easily. The good news is, we can – by be-coming students of Pro Golf IQ.

Leading Aussie professional Terry Price says he was amazed at the power of the product and the potential to improve players mental strength. Take amateur golfer Kevin McCarthy, for example.

Several months ago Kevin was struggling to break 100 but he wasn’t satisfied and instead set himself a target of break-ing 90 by the end of the year. And while he had always been a reasonable ball striker, like so many golfers, he suffered from negative thinking once he got on to the course. And that was continually holding back his performance.

Then he read Terry Price’s com-ments about the revolution-ary new training program Pro Golf IQ, a program developed to coach the amateurs mind to think like a pro. He decided to give it a try.

And Terry Price himself has tracked McCarthy’s progress over the past three months since he began the five-week audio course.

Here’s how he progressed in that time:

Week One Immediately after purchasing Pro Golf IQ McCarthy viewed the short introductory video by developer Dr Jason Gregg before settling down for half an hour in his favourite armchair and donning his headphones to listen to the first audio session.

“I must say that Dr Gregg’s’ voice and his unique patented ISM sound tracks were very relaxing. I followed the instruc-tions and repeated this session twice in the first week.”

Price asked him if he noticed any changes when he played the following Saturday to which McCarthy replied: “ For the first time ever, I felt completely re-laxed on the tee and my driving was less erratic than any previ-ous round.”

Week Two “This week Dr Gregg taught me guided imagery techniques and provided sensational pre-shot

breathing and relaxation ex-ercises where I actually visua-lised setting up for a shot on my favourite course in my own mind.”

“After a couple of enjoy-able rounds that week I mentioned to Terry [Price] that I was feeling extremely calm and had stopped the negative mind chatter just before each shot.”

Price’s comment? ‘Congratula-tions Kevin, and welcome to the ‘zone’.

Continued Next Page...

From Zero to Hero by Michael Court

TeRRY PRICe TRACkS The PRoGReSS oF A NeW PlAYeR

Kevin McCarthy (left) with touring pro Terry Price.

4 The ProGolf Mind

Week Three Price says ‘the training this week encouraged more relax-ation techniques with focus on the short game and putting which certainly gave McCarthy a huge boost as he broke 90, not just once but twice that week. “I actually started to believe in myself and around the greens I was experiencing a confidence that previously I could only dream about,” he said.

Week Four Kevin says his wife of 25 years remarked on how calm and less stressed he appeared in his everyday life: “Clearly this has come from the mental conditioning that Dr Gregg has instilled in my subconscious mind which is not only assisting my golfing prowess but is also helping my focus within my business environment.”

Price asked had the program reduced his tension while play-ing shots?

McCarthy replied: “What I have really noticed is if I make a bad shot, that I don’t get stressed and take the frustration into the next one and mess up again. I have learned that you can’t change the past and the next shot is the most important of the round. At four weeks into the course I shot an 86 and 89 at Sanctuary Cove and was playing more consistent golf.”

Week Five During the final training week Kevin reported Dr Gregg’s in-structions and techniques had become second nature and dur-ing this week’s sessions he was guided on the all-important course management.

“I joined Hope Island and within a couple of weeks gained a respectable 21 handicap. I no longer worried about bunkers and other hazards, and certain-ly have no fear about playing over water. Previously I would pull out an old ball when I was faced with a lake on a par three. I would literally ‘talk’ myself into playing a bad shot and sure enough that’s what happened.”

Price agreed saying that when he played in pro-ams he was amazed how many amateurs said to him before they played a shot: “just watch this one go splash”! – negative thinking produces negative results.

The ‘Enforcer’ Following completion of the main Pro Golf IQ program McCarthy used the powerful ‘Enforcer’ session:

“I use the Enforcer as often as necessary and always the night before a game as it boosts everything I have learned from the five-week course. More putts are dropping in, the drives are straighter and more consistent, while shots I used

to struggle with have become second nature. It’s like playing on auto-pilot and most impor-tantly I’m enjoying the game much more.”

Now, just eight weeks after completing the program, Mc-Carthy is playing socially four times a week and consistently playing four or five shots below his handicap.

“My target is to play off 16 by the end of the year,” he said.

That’s a prediction Price feels is quite justified: “Kevin now has the mental strength to move forward and I will spend some time with him to address the physical side of his game. There’s no reason why he won’t break 80 on a regular basis in the near future.”

Price received similar feedback from some of Australia’s top amateur players during a recent tournament in Queensland.

“Some of the players involved in the Pro Golf IQ program made a point of telling me that not only are the techniques improving their overall game it really helps them cope with the pressure of the ‘win or lose’ 10-foot putts.”

Kevin McCarthy summed up the program with this quip:

“The money I’m saving on lost balls has already paid for the Pro Golf IQ program twice over!”

The ProGolf Mind

Take the Brain Test with Arnold by Terry Wilson

LEARN HoW To CoNTRol YoUR MIND lIke The PRoFeSSIoNAlS

If you could remove all the frustrations from golf, would it become the perfect pastime? If you could drastically improve your consistency, would you enjoy the game

more? If you could comfortably beat all your friends, would you revel in the glory? ... You bet!

Pro Golf IQ is fast becoming one of the most indemand golfing products available. It is revolutionary, affordable and it actually works.

So much so, that it has caught the attention of Australian touring professional Terry Price, who described the pro-gram as ‘scary’ in terms of where it can take amateur golf.

A feature on CNN’s Living Golf TV series has also helped to raise the global profile of the program. It’s no secret that golf is all in the mind, a tool that if you can control, you can utilise.

The ProGolf Mind 5

CAN YOU CONTROL YOUR MIND?We recommend paying a visit to the Pro Golf IQ website to meet Arnold and find out which side of your brain is most dominant … are you analytic or creative? Take the following simple test and see which way Arnold swings. Do you see him swing clockwise or anti-clockwise? Can you make him change from left to right or right to left?

See if you can control your mind, by controlling Arnold at...

www.progolfiq.com/arnold2

6 The ProGolf Mind

A CoAChING DevICe LIkE No oTHER Now Pro Golf IQ is producing its own Australian champions

It has made headlines all around the world for its amazing ability to slice strokes of a golfer’s handicap.

Now Pro Golf IQ is stamping itself as a driving force in junior development as the next wave of Aussie stars turn to Dr Jason Gregg’s audio masterpiece to eliminate their temperament downfalls.

So successful has the five-week training program been for many of the country’s leading coaches, they are now recommending the ‘miracle cure’ to their students and not surprisingly the results have been astounding.

Ask Hervey Bay’s Pete Cherrett to describe the program’s effectiveness and he’ll struggle to find the adequate super-latives. After slashing six strokes off his own handicap in a matter of weeks, Cherrett wrote a personal letter to his students introducing them to the program in a bid to give them the same results he achieved.

Several of his students took up the Pro Golf IQ challenge, including 12-year-old Connor Reeves.

A talented nine-handicapper with an array of shots most kids his age could only dare to dream, Reeves lacked consistency and control of his temperament, often letting one bad hole destroy the rest of his round. After taking his coach’s advice, Reeves received his own copy of Pro Golf IQ and started his new weekly ritual in the comfort of his own home.

“The first thing Connors parents noticed was how happy and relaxed he was around the house, all in a matter of weeks from when he started the program,” Cherrett told Golfer Pacific.

With his behaviour now in check, it was time for Reeves to use his Pro Golf IQ training in a tournament situation.

Enter the Under 12 School Sport Australia Championships. And as if on cue, Reeves walked out on the course and deliv-ered what he had promised for so long - he went on to win the individual national title by a whopping five shots.

7The ProGolf Mind

Play Like a Pro Dr Jason Gregg exposes the new secret

weapon of today’s upcoming pros and shows you how you can use it to

play just like them...

FEATURE

8 The ProGolf Mind

Now, I should stop right here and explain that the “secret weapon”

I’m talking about — the Pro Golf IQ program — will also be employing some similar meth-ods to help you relax. They’re aimed at helping you to over-come your doubts and assist you in getting the best out of the program.

But the similarities end right there, as the methods employed in this program are very differ-ent from those of simple hyp-nosis. So even if you have tried all those CDs in the past, now is the time to pull them out to use as place mats, or hang them in the tomato patch to keep the birds away, because they are no longer needed.

The Pro Golf IQ program succeeds because it is based upon real science, and not the ‘pop’ science of some marketing group.

This program is not one of those ‘one session wonders’ – it’s not another mind-numbing program of repetitious listening to the same old track over and over again. If they don’t get you to relax, they’ll bore you into sleep with the same droning

mantra repeated ad nauseum. I know that doesn’t work, and early in my research which now spans nearly 40 years, I too went down that path. But the results were disappointing so I went looking for an effective solution somewhere else.

I studied biofeedback, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, NLP and just about every other process that claimed to alter brain behaviour. I gathered the research, I experimented with a lot of different approaches, and I listened to those very eminent scientists who have proven beyond doubt that repetition, whether in the conscious or subconscious mind, is not a good teacher after all.

So why do those other guys still think that the tired old adage of “tell ’em, tell ’em again and tell ’em once again” actually works? Because they don’t know any better – they are relying on tired ‘old science’ that is bor-rowed more from crude market-ing methods rather than legiti-mate psychological training or established research.

But even though you will rec-ognize some similar techniques of relaxation and imagery, your

Pro Golf IQ sessions are very, very different from those other programs, as I will explain later.

Let’s go back and meet with those scientists... They went on to study amateur golfers (that’s probably you); and they dis-covered some very surprising things, things you need to know if you are to expecting to be a better golfer:

Repetition is not the answer (but I already said that, didn’t I?). Sure, banging the casing off a bucket or two every now and then will help you improve your motor technique, but doing it over and over again is a little like eating a fistful of vitamins each day. Instead of getting healthier, you are really wast-ing much of your money and effort.

More is not better, and less can be best. You have to realize that, if you want to improve your game of golf, you need to address the mind as well as the ball – but you need to do that in ways that are different from what you’re probably doing right now.

In the Pro Golf IQ program, you learn how to do something

Extensive scientific research, replicated in several major Universities and Institutes of Sport, has now proven that there is a lot more to raising your golfing skills than by simply following meditation or relaxation regimes – in fact, these same studies have gone on to report that a certain type of controlled tension is actually necessary if you are to retrain your mind to be that of a good golfer.

9The ProGolf Mind

else, something that works, and the really great thing is that you don’t have to do anything except settle back, listen, and let the program take over. And instead of boring you to the point of distraction, hearing that same track over and over again, you progress through a series of 6 self-paced learning modules that are both fascinat-ing and effective.

There is a difference between the mindset of the pro and that of the rest of us.

When those scientists hooked up both the pros and the week-end wonders to an EEG (the thing that measures brainwav-es) they found that the amateur always seemed to show more brain activity on the left side of the brain, while the profession-al seemed to display an equal amount of activity on both sides of the brain, or hemispheres,

when about to hit a golf ball. Fascinating, huh?

And when other researchers examined the similar groups, guess what? They got the same results. It seemed that they were onto something big – that if you want to be really good at golf, you need to find a way to rewire your brain into working equally on both sides.

THE STUDY

Stage OneIn stage one, the golfers were asked to hit 20 five-foot straight putts on a flat green and to see how many they could make.

Stage TwoIn stage two, those masochistic scientists added pressure to the situation: the golfers were

asked to hit 20 more putts, but were told this time that they were being filmed for “Dateline NBC” and that they would be seen by a bigger national televi-sion audience than Big Brother.

Stage ThreeStage three and those lab-dwellers cranked up the stakes even higher: In addition to being filmed by NBC, the golf-

ers were told that they would receive $300 if they matched or beat their score from stage one – but would lose $100 if they didn’t. No pressure there!

Then, just to embarrass the participants, three significant measures were recorded: First the golfers were asked to rate their own anxiety levels from 1 to 10 before each stage, then retrospectively for each stage – at

In one study, ten amateur golfers with an average of about five years’ playing experience, and reporting average 18-hole scores ranging from 83.5 to 98, took part in the study.

10 The ProGolf Mind

the end of stage three. Heart rate was monitored throughout; and an electroencephalograph (EEG) was used to measure brain activ-ity during each stage.

The ResultsAll of the golfers experienced a significant increase in brain activity and anxiety as the pressure increased. This seems to suggest that all the golfers’ performances would be similar – but wait – five of the golfers succeeded and won $300, and five failed (apparently NBC let

them slide on the $100).

This split in performance high-lights a startling suggestion:

Players who perform well under pressure have as much anxiety as those who choke.So what’s the determining fac-tor? Was Nick Faldo just as ner-vous as Greg Norman on that fateful day in April 1996, when – in the final round of the Mas-ters – Norman blew a six-shot lead and lost to Faldo? Why did Faldo make all his putts while

the Shark blew it and handed the win to Faldo?

The EEG data indicated that it’s not the level of anxiety that de-termines performance, but how the brain processes the increase in activity.

The chokers had the left side of their brain doing most of the work when the pressure in-creased. And while the amateurs were off in their left brain, the successful golfers had compara-ble increases in brain activity, but that activity was spread evenly across both sides of the brain.

When the left brain is domi-nant, the golfer becomes self-aware: ‘What am I doing?’ ‘How is my stroke?’ ‘Am I aligned cor-rectly?’ and so on. That kind of thinking usually leads to trou-ble. You’re so busy analysing, you forget to play the stroke.

The optimal state is harmony, all areas of the brain firing synchronously and creating a coherent state of activity.

To perform well as you swing a golf club, the left hemisphere must calm down.

And the right hemisphere – which controls rhythm, timing, balance, coordination, creativ-ity and imagery – must step up its activity. Then in the last second before you move, the two hemispheres must achieve a state of balance.

But wait, just when you thought you’d discovered the Holy Grail, there’s more, and this is where it really becomes interesting. A clever researcher at the NYU School of Medicine has now determined that left brain pro-cesses are more closely aligned to past experience, and right

brain processes are more close-ly aligned with new concepts and ideas and inputs.

He discovered that when you’re playing golf, it’s your left brain that remembers how to swing; it guides your alignment and it remembers how hard to swing the club. In fact, the left brain is so cocky; it thinks it is in total control. But can your left brain really do two things at once? Nope!

The problem is that the left brain thinks it doesn’t need any help from your right brain, but

GeTTING CReATIve WITh YoUR GAMeWhat the study highlighted is that you must get the more creative right side of the brain involved if you want to produce when it’s needed most. Imagery and target awareness are created in the right brain.

The ProGolf Mind11

that isn’t what happens to the peak performers – the people using both sides of their brain.

When a golfer is setting up over the ball for the first time, the left side of the brain is naturally the most active. This elevated activity is the left hemisphere recalling all those hours of practice.

But in the mind of golfing ex-perts, just before the stroke, the left hemisphere activity seems to rest and gives way to a more active right hemisphere. Some-how those golfers are able to put aside that nervous anxiety and use the entire mind. They use their left and right brain in harmony together.

Meanwhile, Charlie Hacker is still stuck in the left brain, unable to share processes with the right brain. It’s in left brain mode that the anxiety is quickly rising.

It’s your left brain that learned from all that repetition; it guides your alignment, it remembers how hard to swing the club.

Meanwhile, the right side con-trols rhythm, timing, balance, coordination, creativity and imagery. It is able to analyse the global aspects, identifying the context and obtaining an over-all view of the situation. This side helps in processing visual-spatial tasks (like planning how to land a ball on some point in the distance).

It is superior for the perception and analysis of visual space, such as depth, distance, ori-entation and perspective. And sadly, yours goes missing every time you play a golf shot.

So if you’re just hitting balls as a way of improving at golf and you’re stuck in left gear, you’re

out of your mind, so to speak.

Scientifically speaking, it means that the corpus callosum (the part of your brain that con-nects the two halves) is running ragged, keeping all this infor-mation straight. It ensures that the brain fires alternately on the left side and then the right side, the left side and then the right side; and it ensures that a balanced brain – one that uses equally both the left and right sides – learns the best.

The pro spends a lifetime hon-ing these skills; but for the amateur, the trick is to figure out how to build competence quickly, sharing the process-ing between your left brain and your right brain. This is where the Pro Golf IQ program comes in. In the first few ses-sions, you’ll learn how to man-age your right and left brain on command, just like the pros.

MARK BLACKBURNoriginally from London, England, Blackburn Golf founder Mark

Blackburn arrived in America in 1994 on a college golf scholarship. After two years of playing college golf at The University of Mobile he was recruited to play golf for The University of Southern Mississippi.

A multiple Lettermen and Team Cap-tain, Mark received a BS in exercise

Science and Coaching in 1998. Upon completing his senior season Mark began a professional playing career. After 3 years of playing on the Hoot-ers and mini Tours with inconsisten-cy and injury, it was obvious game improvement was essential to reach the PGA Tour and so his coaching career began.

A PGA Member, TPI CGP lIII & GSeM Authorized Instructor of The Golfing Machine, Mark works with golfers of all levels.

Blackburn, who has instructed PGA

Tour stars such as Heath slocum, Robert karlsson, Boo Weekley, and Nathan Green, said about Pro Golf IQ:

“No teaching aid has revolutionized the way students can learn to focus like this program. I am confident in its ability to improve the perfor-mance of golfers of all levels. Its sim-plistic delivery of a skill set to focus and block out unwanted distractions is excellent. Removing interference is the first step to a more positive mindset and Pro Golf IQ helps you achieve that.”

oNe oF GolF DIGeSTS ToP 40 TeACheRS UNDeR 40PGA TOUR COACH SPOTLIGHT

12 The ProGolf Mind

Some other researchers, this time at the very prestigious Stanford

University, found that while practicing your golf swing may make it better, it’ll never make it perfect, because the brain is actually wired for inconsisten-cy! Aaargh!

This new brain-based research suggests that the reason hu-man beings have a hard time doing the same task exactly the same way is that the brain starts planning each movement from scratch. It starts out with-out a plot and sort of builds it as it goes. So what chance do you have with only half a brain, let alone the full quota?

The researchers studied varia-tions in monkeys’ brain activity in the planning stages, just be-fore they performed the same task over and over again – and they found that those variations were associated with inconsis-tencies in their performance.

These guys found that the main reason you can’t move the same way each and every time is that

every time you step up to the ball, or swing a golf club, your brain can’t plan that swing the same way each time. Now, that is worth repeating.

This means that, no matter how hard you practice, you can’t rely on that fictitious ‘muscle memory’ you’ve heard so much about. You have to rely on your brain to reconstruct the whole process all over again. And meanwhile, here you are, stuck in left brain, with no help from the other side. Shish!

In the study, researchers trained these very obliging monkeys to do two simple reaching tasks: to reach and touch a green spot slowly, and to reach and touch a

red spot quickly.

After monitoring literally thou-sands of attempts, they found the monkeys rarely reached with the exact same speed for either spot, and that about half the inconsistencies in the monkeys’ performance was in their heads rather than their muscles. The researchers went on to say that inconsistencies in how the brain plans for each movement may have an evolu-tionary reason. (So now you can blame the apes).

They postulated that the ner-vous system was not designed to do the same thing over and over again. Their research indi-cated that, in fact, the nervous system was designed to be flexible, designed to do things you’ve never done before. Clev-er, unless of course you are top Pro and you are looking to build upon your years of practice.

The Twist — Your Brain is Wired for Inconsistency

...the nervous system was designed to be flexible, designed to do things you’ve never done before. Clever, unless of course you are top Pro and you are look-ing to build upon your years of practice.

The ProGolf Mind13

Meet David Leadbetter. He’s widely acknowl-edged as the world’s

number one golf instructor, and his student list reads like a Who’s Who of Golf, including Nick Price, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and Ernie Els.

And it was during some test-ing of EEG activity at the David Leadbetter World Teaching Headquarters, using profes-sionals and amateurs, that it was revealed that there are significant differences between accomplished golfers and those who were still developing spe-cific motor competence.

The initial findings revealed that, when professional golfers and experienced instructors followed their pre-shot rou-tine, they exhibited a series of electrical firings or brainwave activity. Not surprising.

However – and this is where it really gets interesting – just before initiating the golf back-swing or takeaway, every expe-rienced golfer showed a marked reduction in brainwaves, or low electrical activity on the EEG monitor.

This reduction of electrical activity or “quiet time” lasted for only a second, but it was

positively identified for every accomplished golfer, whether using a five iron, a driver, or a putter. But the findings were quite different for students just receiving lessons and those players who were having trou-ble with a specific component move of their golf swing.

The graph revealed that, at the initiation of their swings, sig-nificant electrical activity was

evident and that these amateur golfers never had a “down time” or quiet moment to initiate the swing. Brainwave output was variable and complex during the pre-swing phase, initiating the takeaway and the through-swing phase. In simple speak, while the amateur is winding up, getting more and more tense, the pro is winding down, getting into ‘the zone’.

GETTING INTO THE ZONE WITH DAvID LEADBETTER

14 The ProGolf Mind

These findings may repre-sent a crucial element in discovering the key compo-nent required to achieve a high level of skill.

It’s generally understood that mental imagery involves rehears-ing or practicing a task in the mind, with no physical move-ment. The technique is com-monly used on those CDs I spoke about earlier, but it seems that we need a system to evaluate the actual physical foundation of imagery as a way to improve the fast, complex, automatic motor movement of the golf swing. It’s been a bit of a hit and miss meth-od of mental training so far, with suggestions of ‘positive thoughts’ and inevitably, ‘visualising your swing’ before making the stroke.

A study has evaluated motor imagery of the golf swing of golfers of various handicaps, by using functional MR (that’s

magnetic resonance). This im-aging was used to assess wheth-er areas of brain activation could define any association between activated brain areas and golf skill. Like television’s Dr House, they went looking for those areas in the brain respon-sible for your lousy golf game.

Six male golfers of various handicap levels were evaluated with functional MR imaging during a control condition and during mental imagery of their golf swing. The ages of the study participants ranged from 24 to 50 years, with an average age of 39 years. Five of the six participants were right-handed and played golf right-handed. The participant with a handicap of 5 was left-handed but played golf right-handed.

Two control conditions were evaluated – ‘rest’ and ‘wall’.

For the ‘rest’ group, the partici-pants were told to project them-selves into a restful state, such as sitting quietly on a beach, taking care not to move men-tally (or physically) during the study. For the wall team, the participants were told to imag-ine leaning against a wall with their hands outstretched and pushing against it. These con-trol conditions were then tested against the golf imagery; the participants were told to men-tally rehearse their golf swings from a first person perspective, as they would on a practice tee, with each swing occurring

every 1.5 to 2 seconds.

Now the imagined swing was to be full, as with a long iron or wood. Participants were told not to perform their usual pre-shot set-up routines.

They were to alternate the imag-ery – rest, golf, rest, golf, etc; or wall, golf, wall, golf, etc – when verbally told to switch imagery tasks. MR imaging studies were obtained with the room lights dimmed and the eyes closed.

It was found that imagery is considered to actually play a pivotal role in memory and mo-tivation experiences – it really does help. Well, go figure.

The capacity of the nervous system to simulate behaviour of the motor system (that’s the mind over the muscle) is an important issue in studies of motor control, and mental processes and imagery can be used to improve competitive performance in sports or to induce ‘sensorimotor plasticity’ through mental rehearsal.

So, if you mentally rehearse your shot before you go ahead and swing, it really helps.

But before you point out that I appear to be contradicting what I said earlier, it is not the whole answer. Except for someone like a yogi, simple meditation tech-niques will not let you reach that state of relaxation, at least not without years of practice.

The ProGolf Mind15

Guided imagery, sooth-ing voice and enchant-ing sounds of forest

streams is just the beginning – and you will experience several of these in the Pro Golf IQ pro-gram – but only as a first step to helping you to relax and only as a way to train you for the later sessions. Where they go after that is the real difference between ‘us and them’.

In the training program, you learn how to prepare your shot with the use of imagery in far more powerful ways, ways that really do work.

“We’re going to take every-thing we have learned so far and combine this into a ‘super program’ that ad-dresses all these findings and more.”

This technique has a name too – I call it ‘interhemispheric synchronic mediation’ or ISM for short.

Using ISM, you’ll soon get those right and left hemispheres talk-ing to each other. You’ll use ISM to help you build in that ‘rest time’ just like the pros do. And you’ll use ISM to improve your game better than any relaxation CD or voodoo mantra ever will.

Let’s meet another researcher.

Christian Huygens was a Dutch scientist who was around in the 1660’s. Now, I’m not sure if Christian ever played golf, but he certainly found out how to help to improve your game. You see, while working on the design of the pendulum clock, Huygens found that when he placed two clocks on a wall near each other and swung the pendulums at different rates, they would eventually end up swinging at the same rate. This is due to their mutual influence on each other.

You may have even read that, just like the swinging pendu-lum, brain wave frequencies beat in rhythms. In fact, they vary according to mental state.

Daydreaming and light medita-tion, for example, take place in a special range of frequencies, just like sound waves, in cycles per second or hertz (hz). So if you listen to music contain-ing beats at, say, a frequency of around 10 hz, it will feel very relaxing, because your brain will begin to follow this frequency, called Alpha, and reproduce the rhythm found in the music.

As our brain waves pulsate and oscillate at various frequencies, they take us into one of four

basic brain wave states, based upon the cycles per second of the brain. They are:

Beta waveS – from 40 down to 15 hz – are found in our normal waking state of consciousness. Beta waves are present when our focus of attention is on ac-tivities of the external world.

alPha waveS are from 14 to 8 hz. They occur when we day-dream and are often associated with a light state of meditation. These Alpha waves become stronger and more regular when our eyes are closed.

theta waveS – from 7 to 4 hz – are found in states of high creativity. Theta waves also oc-cur in states of deep meditation and sleep.

Delta waveS occur from 3 down to .5 hz. They occur in states of deep sleep or un-consciousness. Interestingly though, some of the newer brain wave research indicates that a state of deep meditation produces Delta waves in con-scious individuals.

‘Entrainment’ (not ‘enter-tainment’) is an aspect of sound that is closely related to rhythms and the way these rhythms affect us. It is a phe-nomenon of sound in which the

The Science of Creating A ‘Pro’ State of Mind

16 The ProGolf Mind

powerful rhythmic vibrations of one object will cause the less powerful vibrations of another object to lock in step and oscil-late at the first object’s rate. This phenomenon of nature has to do with the conservation of energy. It seems that nature finds it more economical in terms of energy to synchronize periodic events that are close in frequency.

In fact, entrainment is found throughout nature. Fireflies blinking on and off entrain with one another. Female college roommates often have menstrual cycles that synchronize together. Muscle cells from the hearts of two individuals, when they move closer together, suddenly shift in their rhythm and start pulsing together, perfectly synchronized. This entrainment also takes place when two people have a good conversation. Their brain waves oscillate in synchronicity.

Resonant entrainment of oscillating systems is a well-understood principle within the

physical sciences. If a tuning fork designed to produce a frequency of 440 hz is struck (causing it to oscillate) and then brought into the vicinity of another 440 hz tuning fork, the second tuning fork will begin to oscillate in symbiosis. But how do we use entrainment to improve your golf game?

The most well-known form of brainwave entrainment is bin-aural beats, in which a slightly different tone is presented into each ear through headphones. When pure tones are mixed together, their waveforms add and subtract from one another, resulting in a second pulse, or following frequency, that is the difference between the two. So if you want to create that restful Alpha state, you play a differ-ent frequency in each ear (say, 400 and 410hz) and the brain will begin to create a brainwave that represents the difference between the two – in this case 10hz or Alpha.

And that’s how we can produce

a controlled rate of brainwave frequency without your having to do a thing other than listen.

But all this has been known for yonks. As far back as 1984, re-searchers analysed audio-visual brain stimulation and, in particu-lar, hemis-pheric synchronization during EEG or brain monitor-ing. Their results indicated that inducing hemispheric coherence entrainment can contribute to improved intellectual functioning of the brain.

In fact, depressed individuals tend to have an overactive right (emotional) brain hemisphere, so in a depression reduction session, this process acts to de-crease right brain activity while increasing left; the end result being a more coherent, healthy and well-balanced brainwave pattern. So that goes a long way to explain why some golfers are so obsessed, crazy, easily angered, emotionally fragile… and how they can move away from those overactive right brains of theirs.

17The ProGolf Mind

This program begins to balance the way your brain processes informa-

tion, getting both sides working together so you can be the best you can be on the golf course.

Each session runs for around 30 minutes and you will need to find a quite place to relax where you will not be disturbed

Some people notice little change after the first session, while others will find immedi-ate, spontaneous changes in their attitudes and behaviour. We all respond differently, but rest assured, you will see progress – no matter how long it initially takes to get into the sessions.

Once the balancing and stress-reducing effects of the program become ingrained, examples of creativity boosting and acceler-ated learning might also become apparent. And of course, pretty soon, you will also begin to no-tice improvement in your game.

But that’s just the beginning.

Tracks two and three are de-signed to teach you the funda-mental skills needed to take back control of your golfing mind, as well as begin to learn how to set up for your shots. In tracks four, five and six – and still using headphones, just as you did with tracks two and three – you will begin to further develop your mind manage-ment techniques, encompassing all aspects of the game from driving, chipping, putting and course management.

Negative thinking, anger and frustration will become a thing of the past as you gain the abil-ity to call on these new skills at will, not only on the golf course, but in your day-to-day life as well.

Using ISM, you will develop even more effective ways to

balance the right and left hemi-spheres. And all you have to do is listen as per the program requirements.

So let’s summarize...

The only real way to seri-ously improve your golf is to begin with learning how to get your left and right brain in sync. This process is based upon hard science and everything else is a waste of time and money.

It really is incredibly easy, and proves that things do not have to be difficult to be effective. All you need is commitment – to follow the instructions; to find a quiet place in which to listen to the audio sessions.

Like a pill, it won’t work if you leave it in the box, or if you don’t take it as instructed by the Doctor (that’s me and I have ways of knowing).

Good luck and good golfing, and let me leave you with the words of the great Gary Player who said, “the more I practice, the luckier I get.” Go to it!

The One Program That Brings It All TogetherDISCoveR PRo GolF IQ — PRovING To Be The MoST ADvANCeD MIND-TRAINING PRoGRAM FoR GolFeRS AvAIlABle ToDAY

18 The ProGolf Mind

AUSTRALIAN Tour professional Terry Price has hailed it as

a breakthrough for the golf in-dustry, but just how far the new Pro Golf IQ program can take amateur golf is ‘scary’.

The gap between amateur and professional golf has always been seen as huge, but as Price points out, that gap can be reduced significantly by simply training the amateur mind to think like a professional out on the course.

Gold Coast business partners,

Peter Nicholson and Chris Steffe, have introduced the landmark program to the golf-ing public.

Using guided imagery brain-training techniques, the pair believes they have stumbled across a methodology that will change every golfer’s game for-ever, regardless of their ability.

And they are so confident with their ‘brainwave’ that they are backing it up with a money-back guarantee.

The five-week course, which

requires the golfer to listen to audio tracks that teach the mind the same skills used by the professionals, has even helped Nicholson slash his own handicap of 27 down to 18 in-side three months.

“Research proves that the aver-age golfer uses only half the brain when contemplating a shot,” Nicholson said.

“Unfortunately, this is the side that is preoccupied with hal-fremembered tips, advice and repetitive drills – the unwanted noise that clutters the mind and

This Will Blow Your Mind by Brad Clifton

RevolUTIoNARY TRAINING AlloWS hACkeRS To ThINk lIke PRoS

Pete Nicholson, Terry Price and Chris Steffe

19

hampers your game.”

“Professionals use both sides of the brain when setting up, so they can use the creative right side, which deals with rhythm, balance, timing, co-ordination and imagery.

“In doing so – they achieve perfect mental stability.”

By training your mind to main-tain perfect mental stability, hazards and other dangers amateurs face on the course suddenly become oblivious, ac-cording to Price.

“The world’s top golfers show incredible mental strength un-der pressure,” Price told Golfer Pacific.

“You see them make those clutch putts and big shots all the time…why? Because they are in complete control of their mental state all the time. “So it’s not rocket science when you think about it, but what this program does is give everyone an opportunity to experience how pros play golf.

“The results speak for themselves,” he added.

Price, 50, admitted it was easy to be skeptical of such a pro-gram, but after using it himself he sees Pro Golf IQ as the future for developing the next genera-tion of stars.

“This program is great for golf clubs and their members, but what it can do for junior golf is scary,” Price said.

“As we get older the de-mons set in from bad experiences in the past, but this pro-gram has helped me eliminate all the negative thoughts I used to have.

“It really is a must have for any-one who wants to im-prove their game dramatically.”

The audio program takes just five weeks to complete, with golfers simply needing to sit back and relax for around 30 minutes, three times per week.

Each week the golfer will listen to a different dynamic session with each segment building into an encyclopedia of guided imagery and relaxation techniques.

The program continues to gather world-wide attention, having featured on CNN’s Liv-ing Golf broadcast in the US recently. Price said future users of the program won’t be disap-pointed.

“Pros pay thousands of dol-lars every year for sports psychologists to get their mind ready for play, but this program allows everyday

amateurs an affordable way to gain improvement in their game they never thought was possible,” he said.

“But what I really see this program doing is bringing more people to golf be-cause by improving their game with just a few sim-ple steps, it will ultimately increase their enthusiasm to play.”

The ProGolf Mind

20 The ProGolf Mind

THEY say good news travels fast and for golf fanatics worldwide,

Pro Golf IQ can’t come quickly enough.

The revolutionary new pro-gram, which gets the everyday hacker thinking like a pro by simply training their mind through the use of five audio training sessions in the com-fort of their own home, con-tinues to receive rave reviews around the globe.

Developed by world-renowned behavioural expert Dr Jason Gregg, the program has literally changed the way amateur golf is being played thanks to a pat-ented process called Inter-hemi-spheric Synchronic Mediation (ISM), which gets both sides of the brain working together to create that essential ‘quiet time’, just like the pros do.

After trying the product him-self, Australian touring profes-sional Terry Price immediately hailed it a breakthrough for the sport.

Now, his thoughts are being echoed around the country and indeed the world by everyday amateurs who have trans-formed their games. CNN Liv-ing Golf sports presenter, Justin Armsden admitted it was easy to be cynical of such a program that promises so much, but af-ter putting it to the test, he was totally amazed.

“Well, I was pretty skeptical to begin with but I thought I’d give it a go,” Armsden said.

“But you know what? I think it actually works.

“The key to it is helping you to relax on the tee box, whether it’s the first or the 17th.”

By training the mind to be in a controlled state out on the course, mental obstacles like water hazards, bunkers and out-of-bounds pegs suddenly become invisible to the ama-teur golfer – something David McGrath from the Australian town of Wagga Wagga found out recently.

“I’m a five handicapper who

has always struggled with con-sistency and the ‘15th club’,” McGrath said.

“Negative and mechanical thoughts have held me back. But Pro Golf IQ seems to have changed that already.

“The left brain-right brain visualisation has made a huge difference to my game.

“Every year I travel away with a group of 10 mates for a week of golf and we compete against each other over four stableford rounds. “We are of similar tal-ent and most years it’s a tight contest. I have just returned from this year’s trip and won by 14 shots.

“I’m calmer and a lot more con-fident now on the course.”

The Results Are In by Brad Clifton

IT’S UNANIMOUS! GolF’S hoTTeST NeW TRAINING PRoGRAM IS BUIlT oN ‘PRoS’, NoT CoNS

LAWRY LIKES THE WAY HE THINKS

Dalby junior becomes the latest student to ace Pro Golf IQ test with flying colourshe’S barely hit 13 years of age, but already lawry Flynn is thinking like a pro out on the course with a level of maturity beyond his tender years.

The Dalby Golf Club prodigy is the latest success story to come out of the Pro Golf IQ ranks after he and his parents decided to ‘give it a go’.

like all kids, lawry struggled with his temperament and concentration out on the course and often let one bad shot ruin the rest of his round.

But since beginning the Pro Golf IQ program, Lawry has obtained some dramatic results that have left those around him shaking their heads in disbelief.

A former 20-plus marker, Flynn now boasts a handicap of 8 with a host of accolades:

• Won the Toowoomba Golf Club Junior Stroke Play Championships

• Won all matchplays to be the undefeated #1 darling downs Matchplay Junior

• Is the Captain and a member of the undefeated darling downs Junior Pennants Team 2011 from Toowoomba Golf Club

21The ProGolf Mind

Take it from someone who depends on golf for a living ... this will be the best money you have ever spent Terry Price Australian & European Tour Pro

Londoner Kevin McCarthy couldn’t break 100 off the stick a few months ago.

A struggling newcomer to the game without a handicap, Mc-Carthy heard the good news about Pro Golf IQ and decided to give it a crack in an auda-cious bid to take up the game.

His decision reaped immediate rewards.

“This program makes me so relaxed and allows me to think about my shots when I’m out on the course,” McCarthy said.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t have a handicap, and I couldn’t shoot under 100.

“Just last month I went and shot an 86 off the stick around Sanctuary Cove, and I have also had an 89.

“I’ve now got a handicap of 21 and I’m enjoying the game, which is the most important thing and it’s all thanks to Pro Golf IQ.”

McCarthy admitted he was so relaxed initially that he actually fell asleep listening to the audio sessions in his first week.

He is now hoping to get his handicap down to 16 by the end of the year and is confident he can with the help of his new favourite ‘music’.

“Unfortunately in golf, you don’t get a second chance when you hit a bad shot,” McCarthy said.

“But Pro Golf IQ stops those bad shots by eliminating all your negative thoughts when you are ready to hit the ball.

“The bunkers and water around the green that I used to look at and think about have now been replaced by the green itself. It has totally changed my game and thought processes.”

For more information on the product that is taking the golf world by storm, go to www.progolfiq.com.

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