Darren Mc Loughlin
PGA Professional
HDipSportsPsychology
086-1713465
darrenmcloughlinpgapro@hotmail.com
Skype: darrenmcloughlin
Facebook: Darren Mc Loughlin Pga
Twitter:@DarrenPGA
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Breathing exercise
Pre / During-golf breathing exercise
It is very important that your physiology is is a calm state to reach peak performance on the golf course. There are numerous ways we can do this this , but, having control of your breathing can help numerous elements in trying to achieve maximum results. This exercise is designed to be used everyday 3 times a day minimum. When you are feeling anxiety , fear or uncertainty it can get you into a state of calm & to be in the now. For, golf it is a fantastic aid to focus on the task at hand, as , sometimes the mind can wander & you need to be in the present to attain the correct result through the process.
1: Breathe in expanding your stomach outwards ( like a baby does) not through your chest. Breathe in for for a period of 5 seconds.
2: Hold the breath for 7-8 seconds while placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth & touching the top front teeth.
3: Exhale pushing the air through the gap between the tongue & the top teeth making a hiss noise until the lungs have been completely emptied.
4: Repeat this exercise 10 times. Some people may feel light headed , but do not worry. The exercise will bring an air of relaxation & calmness to your physiology & will have a calming affect on the mind.
Darren Mc Loughlin
PGA Professional
HDipSportsPsychology
086-0827800
darrenmcloughlinpgapro@hotmail.com
Skype: darrenmcloughlin
Facebook: Darren Mc Loughlin Pga
Twitter:@DarrenPGA
Look me in the eyes
Look me in the eyes.
But we're scared for different reasons.
I'm scared of what I won't become,
and you're scared of what I could become.
Look at me.
I won't let myself end where I started,
I won't let myself finish where I began.
I know what is within me,
Even if you can't see it yet.
Look me in the eyes.
I have something more important than courage,
I have patience.
I will become,
what I know I am.
It's okay if you're scared,
So am I.But we're scared for different reasons.
I'm scared of what I won't become,
and you're scared of what I could become.
Look at me.
I won't let myself end where I started,
I won't let myself finish where I began.
I know what is within me,
Even if you can't see it yet.
Look me in the eyes.
I have something more important than courage,
I have patience.
I will become,
what I know I am.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Monday Practice Tip for the week
TARGET AWARENESS DRILL
Do you know where the target is? You probably feel like you do, but what we feel isn’t always real.
On the practice range , tee up the ball. From behind the ball, pick out a target in the distance. Then address the ball with your driver(or the usual club you tee off with.) Now close your eyes. Without moving anything else, take your target-side hand off the grip and raise your arm to shoulder height. Keeping your eyes closed, point your index finger at where you feel the target is. Then keeping your arm and hand in that same pointing position, open your eyes and gently turn your head to see where your finger is pointing..
Do you know where the target is? You probably feel like you do, but what we feel isn’t always real.
On the practice range , tee up the ball. From behind the ball, pick out a target in the distance. Then address the ball with your driver(or the usual club you tee off with.) Now close your eyes. Without moving anything else, take your target-side hand off the grip and raise your arm to shoulder height. Keeping your eyes closed, point your index finger at where you feel the target is. Then keeping your arm and hand in that same pointing position, open your eyes and gently turn your head to see where your finger is pointing..
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Golf big mind exercise
BIG MIND EXERCISE
On a level area of the putting green, place a ball about twenty feet from the hole, with the flag removed. Set up for the putt, focusing on the hole, & get a feel for the distance from the ball to the hole. Instead of stroking the putt , stand up & face the hole. Now close your eyes, walk toward the hole, &, holding the putter by the head , try to put the grip end of the putter into the hole. (Don’t count your steps; just put the putter grip down when you think you’ve gotten to the hole.)
How did you do? Most people stop short of the hole. They may start taking smaller, tentative steps as they get near the point where they think the hole is, as if they’re not allowed to go past it. The hole is the assumed limit, the end of the “box” they can’t go outside of . Their mind is only as big as the space between the ball and the hole.
Now set up to the putt again, but this time look beyond the hole. Expand your view to the far edge of the green, then come back to the hole, seeing it within the larger space. Now walk again with the eyes closed and try to put the grip end of the putter in the hole.This time you were probably much closer to the hole , or even a little bit beyond it. That’s the impact of letting your mind be bigger.
When you focus tightly on the hole, your mind is smaller and your world is more constricted. The first time you did the exercise you probably slowed down as you thought you were getting near the hole. If the hole were at “the edge of the world” you would be careful not to go beyond it and fall off.
If we focus so tightly on the hole that there’s nothing in our mind past it, it becomes the edge of our world. We don’t want to send our ball over the edge, so we subconsciously try to barely get it to the hole.
There is an optical counterpart to this psychological effect. Visually focusing tightly on an object foreshortens the perceived distance to that object. In other words, it looks closer than it actually is. Combine that with being afraid to go past the hole, and the ball never gets there. That’s one reason why we leave our putts short so often.
When getting ready to putt, let your view include more of the green and see the distance to the hole within that bigger space.
Bigger space, bigger mind. Bigger mind , better results.
On a level area of the putting green, place a ball about twenty feet from the hole, with the flag removed. Set up for the putt, focusing on the hole, & get a feel for the distance from the ball to the hole. Instead of stroking the putt , stand up & face the hole. Now close your eyes, walk toward the hole, &, holding the putter by the head , try to put the grip end of the putter into the hole. (Don’t count your steps; just put the putter grip down when you think you’ve gotten to the hole.)
How did you do? Most people stop short of the hole. They may start taking smaller, tentative steps as they get near the point where they think the hole is, as if they’re not allowed to go past it. The hole is the assumed limit, the end of the “box” they can’t go outside of . Their mind is only as big as the space between the ball and the hole.
Now set up to the putt again, but this time look beyond the hole. Expand your view to the far edge of the green, then come back to the hole, seeing it within the larger space. Now walk again with the eyes closed and try to put the grip end of the putter in the hole.This time you were probably much closer to the hole , or even a little bit beyond it. That’s the impact of letting your mind be bigger.
When you focus tightly on the hole, your mind is smaller and your world is more constricted. The first time you did the exercise you probably slowed down as you thought you were getting near the hole. If the hole were at “the edge of the world” you would be careful not to go beyond it and fall off.
If we focus so tightly on the hole that there’s nothing in our mind past it, it becomes the edge of our world. We don’t want to send our ball over the edge, so we subconsciously try to barely get it to the hole.
There is an optical counterpart to this psychological effect. Visually focusing tightly on an object foreshortens the perceived distance to that object. In other words, it looks closer than it actually is. Combine that with being afraid to go past the hole, and the ball never gets there. That’s one reason why we leave our putts short so often.
When getting ready to putt, let your view include more of the green and see the distance to the hole within that bigger space.
Bigger space, bigger mind. Bigger mind , better results.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
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