One of the key techniques in the application of golf hypnosis is the use of metaphor to communicate a concept that may be rejected or over analysed by the conscious mind. As an example, if I wanted someone to swing their golf club naturally and unconsciously, I might talk to them about the way they throw a ball of paper into a wastepaper basket or skim a stone across a pond – without any conscious thought.

So I’m always on the lookout for a good metaphor and right now I need one to use in my golf hypnosis to help people with their post-shot routines. In particular, to help them to learn whatever they can from a bad shot and then forget about it and move on "in the zone" or "in the now" to their next one. Perhaps that’s too difficult a concept for many of us and it’s always difficult to remember to forget something when you’re blowing a fuse after hitting a bad shot.

So, imagine my delight when I was listening to Nick Faldo on the television commentating on the Tour Championship. Tiger Woods had just pushed his tee shot way out to the right and was just in the middle slamming his driver into the ground with a dramatic lunge. Then suddenly he just seemed to switch off, his eyes glazed over like he was in a light hypnotic trance and he calmly bent down, picked up his tee and walked off in the direction of his ball. As he did so, Nick commented about Tiger hitting the "reset button" and getting back "in the now". A very large, if metaphoric, light bulb lit up in my head and I just knew that I have to include that idea in my work.

So, the next time you’re feeling bad or angry after a bad or unlucky shot, just mentally hit your "reset button" and learn from the shot, consign it to the past where it can’t hurt you and step back into the now.

But how do I do that, Andrew? Well, you could try in vain to consciously remember a time when you hit a bad shot and followed it with a good one, but it would probably be in vain as you’d be consciously pre-occupied with your anger and forget.

The best way, if you’re familiar with self hypnosis, is to incorporate it into your hypnotic post-shot routine and it’ll just happen unconsciously. Alternatively, you could create your own "reset button" with an NLP anchor that fires off automatically whenever you’re in that situation.

Now in NLP and golf hypnosis, we have many ways of managing a person’s fears. If it’s a full blown phobia, we can deal with that easily. If it’s a habit or belief that’s blown out of all proportion, we can help there too using techniques like the NLP Swish Pattern. If we need a skill that someone else has we can use modelling and Richard Bandler’s "Stealing a Skill" technique. If the fear is doubt related and, as we might say colloquially, there’s a part of me that wants to play a risky shot and another part that’s saying it’s too dangerous, then we’ve got the NLP Visual Squash parts integration technique. And there are many more NLP tools we can use before we even start looking at golf hypnosis.

So why not use one of these techniques to manage or eliminate fear? Well, you can use these techniques and if they are really deep-seated fears, you may need them. But what about nipping the fears in the bud, so that we don’t have to remember them every time we come to play a similar shot? After all, didn’t I read somewhere that Tiger Woods says about hitting bad shots, "I hit it and forget it?" You can’t go back in time and replay a shot, so just forget it and move on." If there’s a way to forget our bad shots, then surely we don’t need to fear them.

Now that reminds me of a story I’ve used many times before about Jack Nicklaus genuinely only remembering the putts he holed, never the ones he missed. So has Jack ever missed from inside of six feet on the last hole of a major? Of course he has! Does he remember it? Not a chance. And do you think he cares that he can’t remember? Some people would probably say that Jack is deluded in his thinking, that it is not based on reality. Well, we all create our own realities and Jack’s seem pretty good to me! You can read the full story in my earlier article entitled Better Putting in your Golf Mind with a little help from Jack Nicklaus.

So where is all this going, Andrew, I hear you ask. Well, we hear and read a lot about pre-shot routines and most of the people I know now use them diligently. But few if any use any sort of post-shot routine. They usually just replace any divot, put the club back in the bag – sometimes firmly, sometimes gently – and either, walk forward happily or trudge forward miserably. Of course some rant and rave, but we’ll ignore those for now – seems like good advice to me.

If you react positively after hitting a golf shot, your brain produces lots of happy chemicals and associates those good feelings to the shot you’ve just hit and to the hole you’ve just played. The next time you play that hole or a similar shot, you have the opportunity to unconsciously remember that feeling and the associated result. In NLP we call this anchoring. Something similar happens if you react badly after hitting a shot and that bad shot can get anchored too. So my recommendation is to really enjoy your good shots – you want to remember them – and release the bad shots to the past without any emotion, like someone else hit that bad shot. You can’t go back in time and replay a shot, so just forget it and move on.

Now I don’t like prescribing detailed pre-shot routines to people as it is far better to develop your own one from what works best for you. I think the same applies to a post shot routine, so I’ll just list these few simple pointers:

1. Identify a specific trigger for the post-shot routine, like seeing the ball stop moving
2. If it’s a good shot, then really feel good and replay the shot in your mind just as it felt when you hit it
3. If it’s not a shot to remember, then don’t react at all and just see it briefly as if you were watching someone else play the shot
4. Good or bad, consciously release the shot to the past and relax as you start walking forward to the next shot.

For many people the buzz is part of the enjoyment. Perhaps that’s what Mark Twain was referring to when he wrote that "Golf is a good walk spoiled" and HRH Princess Anne meant when she said “Golf seems to be an arduous way to go for a walk. I prefer to take the dogs out."

Personally, I feel that if I’m not nervously shaking when I get near the end of a seriously good scoring round or close game of match play then I might as well give up golf and go and do something else that excites and inspires me. Jack Nicklaus knew that if you didn’t feel nervous at the end of a tournament you’re trying to win then there’s something wrong with you – he thrived on it. It’s said that he stopped winning golf tournaments when he no longer got so nervous in competition. And you don’t have to be winning to get that feeling, just competing hard in some way. If you watched the duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson during the last round of the 2009 Masters, you’ll know just what mean.

The important thing to remember is to channel that nervous energy into an enhanced state of focus using self hypnosis with deep breathing is one of the best ways I know for doing just that. Alternatively, you could follow the instructions in my earlier post entitled Balance your golf mind and body for better golf – focus on your Hara. Now anchor that feeling and add it to your unconscious golfing resources. Now you can access the great feeling, that Jack Nicklaus loves so much, whenever you want it or need it.

Like so many of the things I have learned as a golf psychologist, I do so wish I’d known about all this wonderful NLP and golf hypnosis a long time ago when I got so nervous at Hexham, playing with Tony Jacklin at Brookmans Park and whenever I seemed to be on the first tee anywhere!

As an amateur golfer, although my golf is very important to me, my livelihood does not depend directly on my ability to score well. However, I can think of many times, especially in my younger days, when I was uncomfortable, nervous, scared and downright terrified on the golf course.

Those of you who subscribe to my Golf Hypnotist Ezine will have read in a recent post about my nerves on the first tee in the Golf Illustrated Junior Vase at Hexham in the early 70s. When the starter announced on the loud speaker system that they were expecting great things from me after my hole in one there the previous day, I could hardly stand up, let alone hit a good drive down the middle.

I’ve experienced similar feelings when I’ve arrived on the first tee and found I was playing with some or other golfing celebrity. I’ll never forget Bill Shankland, my then golf coach, asking me to stand in for him in a game in late-June of 1970. Bill explained that he was injured and could I take his place in a friendly fourball the following day. He went on to explain that there’d be no pressure as I was playing at my home club and partnering the club pro, Colin Christison, a man I’d played with many times before. Bill also mentioned that one of our opponents would be Ian Connelly from Welwyn Garden City, later to become Nick Faldo’s first coach and someone I also knew. I was a bit nervous plying with two pros I’d watched playing in the Agfa tournament at Stoke Poges, but I knew them both and felt I could handle it.

The next day, I got to the club and as I joined my playing partner Colin walking to the first tee, I noticed that there was quite a crowd of my fellow club members behind the tee. I nearly collapsed when I walked through the crowd and Colin introduced me to our other opponent. It was Tony Jacklin, back in the UK to prepare for the British Open after winning the US Open a few weeks earlier. I was terrified and it took a lot of quiet calming words from Colin to get me through the first nine holes. I started to enjoy the experience as I loosened up on the second nine.

Like most people back in the early 70s, I had no knowledge of golf psychology and the best advice available was to pull yourself together and get on with it. That was difficult and the effect didn’t last!

I’m sure that I would still be very nervous if I found myself unexpectedly playing with a US Open Champion. The difference is now that I have the means to relax myself using a variety of golf psychology techniques and really get the most from the experience. I’d probably play my normal game.

So what techniques would I use? Well the quickest technique would be to use my finger-thumb NLP Resource Anchor that would both relax me and get me into a confident and resourceful state. If I was still nervous, I could use self-hypnosis, some simple deep breathing exercises or, even better, the Balance your golf mind and body for better golf – focus on your Hara technique from an earlier blog article.

In the About the Golf Hypnotist page on my website, I outline my experience of using anchoring resources to talk about using NLP resource anchoring to build and hold together a really good round of golf. The words I used there were

“I was just so calm and composed. Despite not hitting the ball that well, I hit 16 of the first 17 holes in regulation and hit a long drive up the middle on 18. That’s when I suddenly realised what was happening and I started thinking “all I need is a par” to have my best round here. I completely lost it for 3 awful shots then suddenly remembered about my NLP skills and got back in the zone and almost holed a tricky shot from the over the back of the green.”

This article takes that idea a lot further by providing a self-hypnosis script that installs that concept in your unconscious. That makes sure that you don’t have to consciously remember to use your anchor whenever you need it. Your unconscious is programmed to make it happen.

Now I’m making the big assumption here that you know how to take yourself into hypnosis – If you do, then you know what to do with the script below. If you don’t, then find someone to help you or learn how to do it for yourself or just give it a try – what have you got to lose?.;

Assuming that you’re relaxed, and whether you’ve formally taken yourself into hypnosis or you’re just sitting there relaxed, just continue with these words:

“Now relax as you travel through all those wonderful golfing experiences in your memory and your imagination. Relaxing more and more, as you are seeing those courses and imagining talking with those friends and golfing partners – the people who make your golfing experience so good. If you’re not familiar with self-hypnosis, just relax, switch off the phone, turn down the light and just quietly read these words slowly to yourself.

And as you see all those wonderful golf courses, you are building an image of the most wonderfully relaxing golf course. And I don’t know if you are imagining your perfect golf course and clubhouse or if you are remembering your favourite one, while you are relaxing deeper and deeper and more and more contentedly into the armchair in your favourite clubroom. After a few moments relaxing there, you see a door and realise that it’s the door of the locker room and when I count to four, you’re going to step through it.

Relax more deeply and allow your mind to drift down to golfing heaven as one… two… three… Four! You open the door and step through and as you look around, you see your friend and playing partners and as they greet you warmly, you feel a warm glow of relaxing confidence as you know, just know deeply, that you are going to have the most wonderfully relaxing game of golf ever.

As you look around, you see another door and realise that it’s the door to your locker, even if you don’t have a locker, and as you count from one to four, you reach forward happily and expectantly to open the door and look inside, knowing there are some powerful messages there for you.

And as a result, you relax even more and allow your mind to drift down, as one… two… three… Four! You open the door and find your golf clubs, the clubs that remind you and fuel your imagination of all the golfing abilities you use to get the most out of – your rounds of golf: your relaxed grip, the stance that provides the relaxed balance and stability to your swing and that wonderful tempo that smoothly swishes the club through to a perfect finish. And most importantly, you are relieved to find those most reassuring course management skills that let you get the most out of your mind as you play.

As your mind wanders, you look deeper and deeper down into the locker and notice a special journal, real or imaginary, and when you count to four, you are going to pick up and open that book.

One…two…three…fore! And you open that special journal, the storehouse of all your most wonderful golfing memories; the greatest shots you have ever played and imagined. The memories wash over you and imbue you with a feeling of more and more relaxed confidence.

And as you step out onto the first tee, taking out your driver, planning the shot carefully and preparing to repeat the best driver shot that you have ever played or imagined. When you’re ready you step forward into your stance, you see the ball there glowing white and illuminating the area where you take your stance. It doesn’t matter now if the ball is on a tee or sitting on the tee, as you step into the glow, take your stance, swing smoothly and watch the ball sail perfectly down the fairway or to the green. And as your friends and playing partners congratulate you and you feel a warm relaxing feeling of contentment well up inside you, you bring your hands gently together into your grip and gently squeeze your hands on the club as you hang on to the wonderful feelings for a few moments, before stepping out of your stance and the residual glow from the ball, a s you feel yourself putting the club back into the bag. That’s right.

Now, you are surveying a long fairway wood shot into a distant green and you take out your fairway wood, plan the shot carefully and prepare to repeat the best fairway wood shot that you have ever played or imagined. And as you step forward into your stance, you see the ball there on the fairway glowing white and illuminating the area where you take your stance. I t doesn’t matter now if the shot is over bunker or lake, or whether it’s a more straightforward shot, as you step into the glow, take your stance, swing smoothly and watch the ball sail perfectly onto the green. And as your friends and playing partners congratulate you and you feel a warm relaxing feeling of contentment well up inside you, you bring your hands gently together into your grip and gently squeeze your hands on the club, as you hang on to the wonderful feelings for a few moments, before stepping out of your stance and the residual glow from the ball. Before putting the club back into the bag. That’s wonderful … great golf is so relaxing.

Further into the round, you are facing a mid-iron shot into a smallish green, it doesn’t matter if it’s a 5, 6 or 7-iron that you’re choosing. You are relaxed and confident as you plan the shot carefully and prepare to repeat the best iron shot that you have ever played or imagined. And as you step forward into your stance, you see the ball there glowing white on the fairway and illuminating the area where you take your stance. And it doesn’t matter if you plan to land the ball gently by the flag or caress it and let it run up there smoothly. As, you step into the glow, you take your stance, swing smoothly and watch the ball sail perfectly onto the green and finish really close to the hole. And as your friends and playing partners congratulate you and you feel a warm relaxing feeling of contentment well up inside you, you bring your hands gently together into your grip and gently squeeze your hands on the club as you hang on to the wonderful feelings for a few moments, before stepping out of your stance and the residual glow from the ball, putting the club back into the bag. You just know that’s how a great golfer plays mid-irons.

You’re now on one the large undulating greens, looking over a longish putt. And it doesn’t really matter if you are planning to play the putt, gently taking all the borrow and letting the ball just drop slowly into the hole or if you are taking a more direct route, as you confidently plan the putt and prepare to repeat the best putt you have ever played or imagined. And as you step forward into your stance, you see the ball there glowing white on the green and illuminating the area where you take your stance. As, you step into the glow, you take your stance, putt the ball smoothly and watch it roll steadily and unerringly into the hole, as you punch the air in delight. And as your friends and playing partners congratulate you and you feel a warm relaxing feeling of contentment well up inside you, you bring your hands gently together into your grip and gently squeeze your hands on the club as you hang on to the wonderful feelings for a few moments, before stepping out of your stance and the residual glow from the ball, putting the putter back in the bag. Tiger woods dreams of moments like this. Doesn’t he?

Now, imagine your next round of golf. It doesn’t matter if it’s next weekend or some other time in the future. And as you prepare to play each and every shot or putt, you see the glow of the ball on the ground illuminating the area of your stance and when you are ready to take the shot, you step into the glow, take your stance, feel the relaxing glow all around you, and as you bring your hands gently together into your grip, gently squeeze your hands together on the club, remembering all those feelings of relaxed confidence and elation. And you hit the best shot ever, continuing in this way and completing the best round of golf you have ever played.”

Now’s the time to thank your unconscious mind for this self-hypnosis experience and ask that part of you to repeat this wonderful experience for you with every shot and round of golf that you play.

And as you emerge from self-hypnosis in your normal way or by counting from 1 to 5, you just know now that your golf is improving and more confident every time you play.

Now that’s a new experience. Isn’t it?