The “Own the Putting Green” golf hypnosis programme includes three powerful golf hypnosis sessions that address putting confidence, your belief in your putting and your trust in your instinctive green reading abilities. I’ve also included a very effective and imaginative technique for you to learn and take out to the greens to help you make the most of your unconscious putting abilities. The programme is available in MP3 format for download, with each session running for around 20-25 minutes. I developed these sessions on similar lines to the “Your Own Virtual Caddy” programme. You should already have downloaded that free after you signed up for the Golf Hypnotist Ezine. I have outlined the purpose of each track later in this email.

I will also be publishing a further 6 new Golf Hypnosis audio programmes over the next couple of months. As with “Winning Golf”, “Overcome the Yips” and “Own the Putting Green”, I will be including 3, and in some cases, 4 new hypnosis tracks in each programme. Although the programme names may change a little before release, here is the full list I’m working on:

• Winning Golf (Released 15 October 2010)
• Overcome the Yips (Released 30 October 2010)
• Own the Putting Green (Released 4 November 2010)
• Confident Golf – Free From Fear (Released 11 November 2010)
• Anger Management for Better Golf (Released 16 November 2010)
• Golf in the Playing Zone (Released 20 November 2010)
• Overcome the Shanks (Released 24 November 2010)
• Visualisation Skills for Golf (Released 2 December 2010)
• Better Golf with Less Practice: Practice and Play Golf in your Mind
• Learn Better Golf with Your Golfing Heroes

So what’s the “Own the Putting Green” Golf Hypnosis Programme all about? 

I’ve noticed that the older we get, the more us golfers tend to forget how easy putting really is. We also forget how good we used to putt, maybe when we were younger and more carefree. You often hear the golf pundits on television talking about how some up and coming young professional hasn’t yet learned how difficult putting really is. They sometimes go on to talk about how the accumulation of years of missed putts slowly frazzles the nerves and undermines the confidence of the older and more experienced golfers..

So is there any truth in this? Well yes there is and the good news is that for most golfers it’s all in the mind and that’s where golf hypnosis really can help. However, it’s not a good idea to tell anyone that it’s “all in the mind” after they’ve just missed a putt!

And what’s included in “Own the Putting Green” I hear you ask? 

Well, I’ve included three powerful freestanding golf hypnosis sessions that address putting confidence, your belief in your putting and your trust in your instinctive green reading abilities. I’ve also included a very effective and imaginative technique for you to learn and take out to the greens to help you make the most of your unconscious putting abilities.

Remember you’re a Great Putter - because just like Jack Nicklaus learned to only remember his good putts, this session helps you to do the same, as you unconsciously learn how to remember and imagine all your great putts, while at the same time systematically forgetting all those other putts you’d prefer not to remember. The session continues to build an unconscious shield to protect you from the putts you’d prefer to forget and build your putting confidence.

Believe in your Putting Stroke - regardless of how technically correct it is. Billy Mayfair has a fairly eccentric and very effective putting stroke, but the only problem he ever had with his putting was when he started listening to the so-called experts. This hypnosis session helps you to build that same unshakeable belief in your putting stroke, protecting you from your own doubts and the doubts of others.

Reading your Putts Instinctively - the third golf hypnosis session starts out by helping you to expand and develop your peripheral sensory awareness through your eyes, feelings of touch and balance and even your hearing. This allows you to unconsciously take in more of the information that’s available to you, as you approach and stand on the putting green. The second part of the session reinforces your trust in this unconscious awareness, allowing you to read the green instinctively, quickly and accurately, using your powerful unconscious resources.

Better Putting in your Unconscious Mind – The three golf hypnosis sessions in "Own the Putting Green" work primarily with your unconscious mind, building your putting confidence, your belief in your stroke and your trust in your green reading. Sometimes, especially in the early days of using this programme, you may need a bit of conscious help out on the golf course and that’s why I’ve included this technique for you to use consciously and conscientiously on the greens to give your unconscious mind the opportunity to participate more in your putting and reinforce the work of all the hypnosis sessions.

Go to the “Own the Putting Green” page at the Golf Hypnotist Store for more information about this exciting new golf hypnosis programme and the other products in the series. You can buy “Own the Putting Green” there for instant download and have the opportunity to become your own King or Queen of the Putting Green.

Well today is different, as the man who can give such an effective putting tip that it helps Phil Mickelson to win the Tour Championship just has to be seen and heard. So here’s a brief video of Dave Stockton describing his approach to putting.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Don’t worry, as I’ll be back on track with Golf Psychology and Golf Hypnosis in my next article.

You’ve probably heard about Phil’s putting woes and his comments about how "I’ve hit the ball so well and yet my scores haven’t reflected that." You’ve probably also heard about how "Bones" Mackay, Phil’s longstanding caddie, urged him to get help the week before the Tour Championship from Dave Stockton, one of the best putters in golf and twice a major winner. As if those weren’t sufficient reasons, Stockton also putts a bit like Phil does when he’s at his best.

So what major flaws did Dave Stockton notice in Phil’s putting stroke and what major changes did he prescribe? You’d expect them to be fairly severe given Phil’s recent comments about the inconsistent putting that has plagued him off and on over the last two years. He’s also talked about how his poor putting has detracted from the progress Butch Harman’s been making with his swing over the same period.

Well, Phil described the change in an interview as a "minor tweak" and went on to say "No, it’s very minor. It’s very minor. But [my] hands are back ahead like I used to putt, and the ball is just rolling much better." In another interview, he talked about Dave Stockton’s comments just "reaffirming the way I’ve putted since I was a kid."

So what golf psychology lessons can we learn from that then, Andrew, I hear you say? Well first of all, it confirms that if you’ve hit a particular shot well in the past, then you already unconsciously know how to hit it that well again – without changing your technique. All you need to do is to vividly recall one of those earlier successful shots and allow your unconscious golf mind to get on with the job as you get back into your comfort zone. I’d certainly include this type of visualisation in your pre-shot routine.

All that probably happened to Phil was he missed a few putts, lost his confidence and started to fear putting rather than enjoying the challenge. When that happens with any part of our golf game, we stop enjoying ourselves as much as we did and we start consciously analysing things. It doesn’t take too long before we start thinking there’s something drastically wrong with our swing or putting stroke and we start changing things, even though we seemed to have a perfectly effective method before.

This doesn’t just happen over a long period of time. For many of us it can happen in the middle of a round. Have you ever had the experience of playing a series of shots quite well and then hitting a bad shot, maybe a big slice? Did you badly pull or hook the next shot? If you did, you probably consciously thought you needed to make a swing correction, despite already knowing how to hit the ball quite well unconsciously. Well, you did say that you’d hit a series shots quite well, didn’t you.

Another golf psychology lesson was written on Phil Mickelson’s face all day on Sunday, not just when he won. He was clearly enjoying himself immensely, even before he started scoring well. After the round, he commented that, "Today was a lot of fun" and that’s not the way he’s been talking in recent weeks. Isn’t it odd how golfers seem to play so much better when they’re enjoying themselves, even if some, like a certain future Ryder Cup captain, have a hard time convincing us of that fact.

In my humble opinion, Lee Westwood is striking the ball as well as he ever has, especially in the major championships. As a result, he keeps getting himself into contention in the last round before throwing away the opportunity in the last nine holes on Sunday. How many times did he miss apparently easy putts at Hazeltine, including a three putt from not much more than 3 feet? At the Open Championship we saw him three-putt the 72nd hole after recovering well from a few bad putts earlier in the round. The same sort of thing has plagued him for such a long time that it can’t just be coincidence and I keep reading about Lee working with golf psychologists, so it can’t be that; or can it?

Well, I’ve seen Lee’s name mentioned as a client of a number of high-profile golf psychologists here in the UK, like Dr Karl Morris and Jamil Qureshi, the official psychological performance coach for the European Ryder Cup team last year. I also noticed, in the Westwood Academy page on Lee’s website, that the list of sessions participants will receive includes psychology.

Imagine my surprise when I heard about Lee’s comments about golf psychologists in an interview at Hazeltine. "Look at them all," he said, "They all look a bit odd, like they need to see somebody, I find it hard to take anybody like that seriously." He continued by saying, "Well, they do. I’m sorry. That’s the way I see it. I’ve always felt mentally quite stable. Don’t feel like I need it.” He must have forgotten what he said in an interview at the PGA Championship 4 years earlier when he explained how he was using a golf psychologist to help him think a little bit clearer.

So Lee, if you aren’t using a golf psychologist, then perhaps you need one now. And if you are using one, maybe you need more help in that area.

So, taking my tongue firmly out of my cheek, I’ll move on quickly to Vijay Singh.

Vijay was majestic all through this year’s PGA Championship, as he almost always is, from tee to green. Sadly, trying lots of golf psychology tricks, doubtless including telling himself what a great putter he is, his putting was absolutely awful. In fact, if he’d putted in all four rounds as well as Tiger did on Sunday, he would have won by a street.

Now clearly Vijay is very strong psychologically and that shows through in his focus and belief in his long game. Any lesser mortal would be so overwhelmed by his psychological failure on the greens that they would lose their long game confidence as well. He’s also strong physically and we know how hard he works on his game. So why doesn’t someone help him to apply that psychological strength to his putting. I’m not a teaching pro and I can see that there’s nothing much physically wrong with his putting stroke, whichever length or style of putter he’s using.

So does Vijay make use of the services of a golf psychologist? Well, my research says yes. And it also says no! Yes, Vijay is a long term client of Dr Joseph Parent, the highly respected corporate speaker, PGA Tour instructor and best-selling author of "Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game." He’s also often quoted in support of Dr Parent’s work.

On the other hand, in an interview at the 2009 Masters, when asked if he works with a sports psychologist, he responded "Not really. I can’t say I’ve actually worked with anyone." He added, "I’ve worked with Joe Parent, who wrote Zen Golf, two or three years ago, but we kind of discussed – he probably learned some from me and I learned some from him. So it was kind of a give-and-take thing."

I was also intrigued to find the marketing blurb about Dr Parent’s "Putting with Confidence" video and read the question, "Tired of missing short putts under pressure? Learn how to turn those "knee-knockers" into "tap ins" and never miss a three-footer again! Does your putting frustrate you?" I guess that Vijay ought to watch that video!

So far, the only golf psychology quote I’ve found from Vijay about putting suggests that he’s been using affirmations to convince himself that he’s the best putter. How exactly is that going to work when he consistently disproves that with his poor putting?

So what’s the solution for Lee Westwood and Vijay Singh? Normally, I’d recommend they see a golf psychologist. They already seem to be doing that and with highly respected and well qualified golf mind coaches. The problem appears to be that whatever they’re doing it’s not working automatically at the most critical time for these players. That means it’s not part of their unconscious habits and beliefs.

All three golf psychologists are very experienced with a wealth of wonderful golf psychology techniques to help their clients. So it looks to me like these clients are trying to implement the techniques consciously using will-power. If you’re a regular reader of my articles, you won’t be surprised to hear that I think that Lee and Vijay should be using hypnosis to install these ideas into their unconscious golf minds – as habits and beliefs.

I can’t say how delighted I am to see Darren’s back competing in the 2009 US Open at Bethpage Black after qualifying as one of the top 15 in the European Money List last year. He’s only played in the US Open once, in 2006 at Winged Foot, since he pulled out at Pinehurst in 2005 to be with his wife who was seriously ill.

Moving back to Darren’s putting psychology problems, I was interested to hear that he has considered putting to be his Achilles heel for most of his career. I was also interested to read how hard he’s been pushing himself over the years to improve his putting. It’s interesting to note that Bob Rotella has tried to get him to go much easier on himself. In fact, Darren’s been quoted recently as saying "He says just go and play and let the results happen themselves." That sounds like good advice to me!

It’s intriguing how similar that is to what Bob’s been telling Padraig Harrington about his over practising and excessive focus on his swing changes. As I suggested in my earlier article, entitled Play your Best with Golf Psychology Before Changing your Unconscious Golf Swing, the destructive shots you hit are more likely to come from your conscious thoughts than from your unconscious golf swing.

If I was advising Darren Clarke "blind", so to speak, then apart from helping him to use golf hypnosis of course, I’d encourage him to build on a couple of mental golf approaches from the great Jack Nicklaus. Firstly, I’d suggest that before he strikes a putt he imagines "seeing" the line the ball will run on and "watching" the ball rolling along that imaginary line and dropping in the hole before popping back out and running back along the line back to his putter head.

Secondly, I’d help him find a way to remember every good putt he’s ever holed and to develop amnesia for every bad one. There’s a story I’ve heard about Jack Nicklaus that illustrates this perfectly.

Jack was giving a presentation to a group of eager and attentive golfers at his son’s university. During the speech, Jack makes the comment that he has never three putted on the back nine of a major championship or missed from inside of six feet on the last hole.

As Jack opens the floor to take questions, a man puts up his hand and says "Jack you say you have never missed from inside of six feet on the last hole in a major, but I was watching you last year in the US Seniors Open and that’s exactly what you did." Jack looked at the man with those piercing blue eyes and repeated what he had said. "But Mr Nicklaus," the man insisted, "I saw it, I have it on film, I can send it to you if you like." "No need", Jack replied, "I have never missed from inside six feet on the last hole of a major. Any more questions?"

Now, 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!

Here’s hoping that the weather clears and Darren has a good US Open at Bethpage.

Nowhere is this more true than with putting, the game within the game of golf. Putting is the great equalizer in golf and we all have the opportunity for success, regardless of age, sex, build, health and level of fitness. Putting also accounts for approximately a third to a half of our total score. The lower your handicap, the larger the proportion of your score will be putts.

Golfers typically take as many as thirteen other clubs with them when playing golf, and yet it’s rare to see anyone take more than one putter. In addition, most of those other clubs are pretty similar to everyone else’s. My 3-wood is unlikely to be substantially different from your one in terms of length, loft, size, shape or weight and the same is true for every other club in the bag – apart from the putter. How many times have you played in a fourball and every player has had a similar style of putter, let alone the same model. Do you often come across mallet-headed drivers, centre-shafted woods, broomstick sand wedges or long-irons with two-thumb grips?

You’re also likely to see much greater diversity in how people stand, grip and swing their putters than you ever see with the rest of the clubs. That’s probably why Dave Pelz, one of the leading short game experts, can take 387 pages in his Putting Bible to explain the complexities of the "flat stick."

So it should be no surprise that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to putting psychology – any good work here needs to be interactive and iterative. To demonstrate what I mean, here’s my reply to a single-figure handicap golfer who wrote in to tell me about how his putting Yips was driving him away from golf after more than 20 years of enjoyment.

I know what you mean about having the Yips. I remember having putting problems like that back in my younger days when I was playing off a handicap of 2. I still can’t believe that for over 25 years as a category 1 player, I averaged around 35 putts per round. I can even remember going round in 1 over par with 38 putts! Thankfully, that was before I got into golf psychology and things have improved quite a lot for me in that area.

So what can I suggest to help you overcome the yips? Well, it would help to know a bit more about how they started for you and what you’ve tried in your quest to get rid of them. Working face to face or even on the phone, I could soon develop an approach to help you. Now, in the absence of that information, here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Putt while looking at the hole or your target spot, rather than looking at the ball. The separation of the conscious task of looking for the result and the unconscious task of swinging the putter certainly helped me when I used the technique.
2. Relax yourself in a comfortable location and recall some good putts from your past or imagine what they would have been like. Just imagine you were hitting those putts again. It may help to do this after listening to my golf hypnosis recording. You don’t have to listen to the full 25 minutes, just listen for about 10 minutes and then do some putting visualisation in your mind. When you are physically practicing your putting or out playing, imagine the putt you are about to hit and "see" the ball rolling along your chosen line and falling into the hole. Then just step into the shot and let it roll.
3. When you hole a putt, replay it in your mind both at the time and later when you review your practice session or round. If you miss a putt, just imagine that you holed it and replay the imagined successful putt in your mind.

Another, possibly even weirder, approach is to use a technique called EFT. Some people say it’s like a version of acupuncture, except you tap the meridian points with your finger rather than uYsing needles! For me it works like hypnosis, in that you consciously have to focus on the tapping sequence while you unconsciously think about the problem you want to correct – the Yips.

I’ve already documented the process in a series of four articles I posted on my blog back in March. The process requires you to use a "Setup Statement" that’s explained in Part 3. I would suggest that you start out using a simple setup statement such as "Even though I have this putting problem, I completely and utterly accept myself." Now I know this sounds a bit daft, even though it works wonders!

The four articles on EFT for Better Golf are:

• Part 1 – So what is EFT
• Part 2 – Let’s Get Tapping
• Part 3 – Tapping it all together
• Part 4 – Tapping for Golf Success

So, there are a few suggestions to be going on with. If you would like me to give you some more specific suggestions, then email me some more background information or give me a call.