Golf Psychology: Case study

[G_Mulligan]

Hi all

As promised I will be posting regular updates on how the sessions with Norman are going in his quest from 26-10.

I have posted our second session write up but also an update from the man himself regarding his first lesson and practice. Our session was between his two write ups which I have grouped together, so apologies if their is a time line issue but think it is easy to follow.

Here is the link

http://www.thegolfpsychologist.co.uk/blog/

and again I hope you find it interesting and perhaps help you all in your own quest to improve.

 

[G_Mulligan]

feedback with regards to the write up (or anything else) would be greatly received as it is not a writing style I am used too so especially blog writers could give me some pointers.

 

[tsped83]

It's very well written fella, although for me, some of the advice seems common sense?

 

[SGC001]

Are all 3 of you working together on this then?

 

[Allanxyz]

I'm no blog writer, but found the style very good... Informative but not too long... Wouldn't want it any longer but that's just my opinion.

As for the content, really interesting stuff. I like how the approach is integrated with lessons, although this obviously makes it trickier to attribute any successes.

As as for the comment about common sense... To me it is common sense...or at least it makes good sense. If a teaching pro is good, what they tell you to do should also make sense and sound like 'common sense'.

To me there is nothing wrong with this, if we all did what makes sense or used our common sense effectively we wouldn't need much help, but that just isn't the case to my mind. If we can proactively work on the mental game, which in my opinion not many do, then I think there will be benefits.

keep up the good work and good luck Greg and Norman

 

[SVB]

Greg,

Please don't take this the wrong way but does 'Norman' exist or is this a case study of how your work could integrate with a set of lessons?

S

 

[G_Mulligan]

It's very well written fella, although for me, some of the advice seems common sense?

yeah a lot of what I do is common sense, I think a poor psychologist tries to over complicate things and always use clever techniques all the time perhaps in an attempt to justify what they do. As the process goes along I intend to introduce some more complicated imagery techniques and eventually work on flow which should be the ultimate goal of all sport psychologists in my opinion.

 

[G_Mulligan]

Are all 3 of you working together on this then?

I think working together is a bit of a stretch but we are certainly not working against each other. Norman hires us both to do our own thing but I see part of my job as merging technique and mental processes together to get the most out of practice, improve quicker, and put it into play. I have discussed this with the pro and he is happy with the situation and is interested in what I do.

Greg,

Please don't take this the wrong way but does 'Norman' exist or is this a case study of how your work could integrate with a set of lessons?

S

haha no problem but I can assure you Norman is very much real although he is not really called Norman. One of the reasons I asked him if I could make this into a case study/blog is that I could see it was going to require a number of different techniques and help showcase what I do. Plus he is just so enthusiastic about his goals I really wanted him to share it and perhaps inspire others.

 

[Foxholer]

Seems pretty good stuff.

Interesting about practicing dodgy lies etc. I can certainly see the benefit of this and practiced some of them when particularly serious.

As an expert at 'cocking up' a golf swing though, why aren't my scores better?

 

[3565]

I'm interested in your views to some of the psychology books available right now. At the moment I'm reading Pia Nielsson and Lynn Marriott Golf 54 Every shot has a purpose, but I've also got Rotella, Dr Joseph Parent, and Karl Morris.

 

[G_Mulligan]

I'm interested in your views to some of the psychology books available right now. At the moment I'm reading Pia Nielsson and Lynn Marriott Golf 54 Every shot has a purpose, but I've also got Rotella, Dr Joseph Parent, and Karl Morris.

I am a big fan or Rotella and Morris, I think the key to them is to really engage with the subject. Dont just read them and head to the course. Think about the content and compare to your own thinking and how it can differ. Zen Golf is pretty good too, there is a lot of little snap shot techniques in there to help keep calm and focused under pressure. It is a good one to pick up and put down every few weeks and keep reminding yourself what to do.

I have not read the golf 54 books so can't give an opinion but the write up looks interesting if a little bold but will try and read it at some point and see what techniques they use.

I would also highly recommend Golf Flow by Gio Valiante as an excellent book on playing to your very best more often. I am a huge believer in flow and he covers the subject very nicely.

 

[Simbo]

It's very well written fella, although for me, some of the advice seems common sense?

It's unbelievable the amount of common sense that goes out the window when we have a golf club in out hands! Lol. Reinforcing common sense like this guy is doing will be a great help IMO.

Seems well written article though mate, and a lot of sense in there. I'm kinda 50/50 on the practicing bad lies/stances etc though. This should only account for a very small proportion of practice time.
How are you going to judge how well you are doing with your client? With pro lessons and with you it will be difficult to distinguish Whis actually making the difference???? And people in the 26 cap range can improve rapidly with little or no help at all. No offence intended I'm genuinely curious.

 

[G_Mulligan]

It's unbelievable the amount of common sense that goes out the window when we have a golf club in out hands! Lol. Reinforcing common sense like this guy is doing will be a great help IMO.

Seems well written article though mate, and a lot of sense in there. I'm kinda 50/50 on the practicing bad lies/stances etc though. This should only account for a very small proportion of practice time.
How are you going to judge how well you are doing with your client? With pro lessons and with you it will be difficult to distinguish Whis actually making the difference???? And people in the 26 cap range can improve rapidly with little or no help at all. No offence intended I'm genuinely curious.

good question with regards to improvement, I guess as and when his handicap starts to come down both myself and his pro will be claiming the accolades

I will be relying mostly on client led feedback to tell me if the techniques are working or not. We will discuss how the new techniques are going and how they are changing his thinking processes on the course and in practice. I also have a questionnaire (the peak performance profile) which I will use both to help make certain decisions along the way but also track improvements by having him complete it again at a later date. I can do the same for self-talk, confidence, imagery, and flow, plus a few others as and when required.

 

[fundy]

An interesting read Greg, be good to see how things develop over the year, the blog is very clear and concise and easy to read, good luck with it

 

[Rooter]

An interesting read Greg, be good to see how things develop over the year, the blog is very clear and concise and easy to read, good luck with it

fundy has pretty much said what i was going to say! so carry on the good work! and as others have said, no longer on the blogs either, perfect size to be read in a couple of mins, not war and peace!

 

[3565]

I am a big fan or Rotella and Morris, I think the key to them is to really engage with the subject. Dont just read them and head to the course. Think about the content and compare to your own thinking and how it can differ. Zen Golf is pretty good too, there is a lot of little snap shot techniques in there to help keep calm and focused under pressure. It is a good one to pick up and put down every few weeks and keep reminding yourself what to do.

I have not read the golf 54 books so can't give an opinion but the write up looks interesting if a little bold but will try and read it at some point and see what techniques they use.

I would also highly recommend Golf Flow by Gio Valiante as an excellent book on playing to your very best more often. I am a huge believer in flow and he covers the subject very nicely.

Thanks for your reply, Golf54 is good, it still says similar things that you find in Rotella, Morris and Zen Golf, which I agree with you is a great book. I've just got golf54 play your best golf now which incorporates a golf app for your practise sessions and tells you what to do and you can leave notes on your session. It's pretty comprehensive but will give a more direct focus on your range work instead of just scrape n hit.....

 

[beck9965]

I'm interested in your views to some of the psychology books available right now. At the moment I'm reading Pia Nielsson and Lynn Marriott Golf 54 Every shot has a purpose, but I've also got Rotella, Dr Joseph Parent, and Karl Morris.

We had Karl Morris at our club last night, very interesting, entertaining and charismatic, he made a lot of sense and certainly changed my outlook on golf and the way I will play in the future.

 

[G_Mulligan]

An interesting read Greg, be good to see how things develop over the year, the blog is very clear and concise and easy to read, good luck with it

fundy has pretty much said what i was going to say! so carry on the good work! and as others have said, no longer on the blogs either, perfect size to be read in a couple of mins, not war and peace!

cheers guys I appreciate the feedback it is not something I have done before much more used to academic writing. I was a bit worried about it being a bit long but if that is about right I will just make sure I don't go any longer in the future.

 

[G_Mulligan]

Thanks for your reply, Golf54 is good, it still says similar things that you find in Rotella, Morris and Zen Golf, which I agree with you is a great book. I've just got golf54 play your best golf now which incorporates a golf app for your practise sessions and tells you what to do and you can leave notes on your session. It's pretty comprehensive but will give a more direct focus on your range work instead of just scrape n hit.....

sounds good and something I see as very important to making the most of practice time and ingraining actions. I will give it a read when I get the chance but I have 4 or 5 others in the cue.