WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.799 Golf Smarter number four hundred and forty five, originally published 2 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.000 on July fifteenth, twenty fourteen. 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.240 Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain 4 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.880 insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the 5 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:21.920 Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets Old. Our 6 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.800 interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations 7 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:30.399 like this that are no longer available in any podcast app. 8 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:33.880 There's acceptance and then there's release. But what I'm trying 9 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:37.159 to explain to people is that acceptance is not a 10 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.479 passive week term. Acceptance is a very peaceful warrior like 11 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.640 term because you come to grips with the reality it 12 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:49.880 is what it is. You don't have to like that 13 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.560 you just double boge the first hole, but you must 14 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.880 accept it. If there's one mustism in golf, you must 15 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:59.479 accept it's history. It's a done deal. The last hole 16 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.759 when whatever you made is Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, it's history. 17 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:05.719 It's a done deal. You need to put it behind 18 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.480 you and move on. And when you accept and your release, 19 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.439 you now have closure on that event and you can 20 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.760 now move into the new shot, re energize reinvigorated and 21 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:21.120 ready to play with confidence and ready to play with 22 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.000 new enthusiasm for the upcoming shots. And that's really what 23 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:28.599 the invisible ink. You dismiss it, you get it through you, 24 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:29.560 you move through it. 25 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.959 Mistake Free Golf with Sports Psychologists to the pros, Doctor 26 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:38.760 Bob Winters. 27 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:40.560 This is Golf Smarter. 28 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:45.079 Welcome back to Golf Smarter for members only, Doctor Bob. 29 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:48.079 Fred. You know, it's great to be with you. 30 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:49.359 Thank you so much. 31 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.920 It has been a long time since you've been on 32 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:55.799 the podcast. I was going back in the files and 33 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:58.640 for those who don't remember or haven't had a chance 34 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:01.879 to hear you before, you go back to the first 35 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:04.519 time you were on episode number thirty nine, the Ten 36 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:08.319 Commandments of Mind Power Golf and then on episode number 37 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:11.719 one hundred and fifty one mental coach for David Ledbetter 38 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:15.319 Golf Academy at the time. And now we talk about 39 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.719 your brand new book, Mistake Free Golf. 40 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.240 Well, I'll tell you what you know it. You know, 41 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:21.960 it kind of takes me back a little bit. And 42 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:24.680 it's funny that you say that, because you know, a 43 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.120 lot of water has crossed under the bridge since the 44 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.639 last time we talked and I had. You know, a 45 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:33.479 young sports psychologist came up to me the other day 46 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:35.319 and it was kind of funny and it sort of 47 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:36.199 dates me a little bit. 48 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.680 And he said, doctor Winners, I've seen you. I've seen you. 49 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.919 On the Golf Channel and I heard you on you know, 50 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.159 Golf Smarter podcasts, and they were talking of all the 51 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:44.800 things I've done. 52 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.080 They said, I really want to thank. 53 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.000 You for being one of the pioneers in the sport. 54 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.680 And I sort of took me back a little bit. Fred, 55 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:52.879 I'm sitting pioneers in the sport. He goes, yeah, you 56 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.840 like one of the first people out there, and that 57 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.199 sort of made me, you know, reflect that I've been 58 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:01.400 in this you know business for a long time and 59 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:03.400 I've done a lot of great things, met a lot 60 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:06.560 of great people, you know, such as you, and getting 61 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:08.919 a chance to give back, you know, to golfers. You know, 62 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:11.919 really what I've enjoyed over the last forty five years, 63 00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:14.919 you know, playing golf at every level and doing what 64 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.400 I do. So it's it's always great to be back. 65 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:18.439 Oh thank you. 66 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.719 So what is going on now? Where are you these 67 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.759 this summer? What are you doing and where can we 68 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.479 find you? Other than doctor Bob Winners dot com. 69 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:31.879 Well, I'm pretty much, you know, traveling all over, but 70 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:35.080 I am you know, stationed and based in Orlando, Florida. 71 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.360 I am the residence sports psychologist for you know, David 72 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:43.719 Ledbetter has Ledbetter Golf Academy World teaching headquarters at Championsgate, Florida. 73 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.080 I also, you know, travel you know, the tour at 74 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.479 different events, and I have a lot of great collegiate 75 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.800 amateur players and tour players all over the globe. But 76 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:56.280 you know, people have found me, you know, watching the 77 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.599 Golf Channel. They know, go into you know, the website 78 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:03.280 and they actually Google me and contact me, and so 79 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.319 you know, we're all over. Plus, I'm right now speaking 80 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.960 to you from my Nike Golf Schools, where I've been 81 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.520 affiliated with them for about twenty four years, and I'm 82 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.279 up here in the Berkshire Mountains right now for five weeks. 83 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.120 And this has sort of really started about twenty one 84 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:22.720 years ago doing these Nike Golf schools. 85 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.759 And as you know, I've always. 86 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.319 Told people, you know, I love to give back to 87 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.759 the junior golfers because the junior golfers are our future. 88 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.680 And every year I come back and this is sort 89 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.199 of the fountain of youth for me, the polt stale 90 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:41.519 leone up here in the Williams College up here in Williamstown, Massachusetts, 91 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.759 beautifully located in the Berkshire Mountains up here in western Massachusetts. 92 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.000 And so I get to see these beautiful young golfers, 93 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.000 you know, ages twelve to seventeen, and they have this 94 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:56.000 sense of innocence, this sense of naive ta, this enthusiasm, 95 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.199 and I always love to get re energized and kind 96 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.279 of you know, get get an inoculation, get another shot, 97 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:05.399 you know, all that great stuff that they have. Because 98 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.720 it seems like golf, because it's such a brutal and 99 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.639 emotionally tough game, it sort of, you know, kind of 100 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.759 wears us down. It kind of you know, scars us 101 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.839 up a little bit. So it's nice to get some 102 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:19.519 you know, fresh thoughts, some fresh blood and some fresh 103 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.959 ideas going. And plus, you know, it's a it's a 104 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:25.480 nice way for me to actually introduce my theories, my 105 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.040 philosophies to junior golfers and and see what their impressions are. 106 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.399 And we can actually start, you know, talking about a 107 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.240 lot of new creations and new intervention strategies. So they're 108 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:38.040 a great audience to introduce it to and then I 109 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.759 take it out on the tours and then we're having 110 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.040 a blast with it up here. 111 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.959 Very cool, very cool. 112 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.959 When you say their naivete, how is it that some 113 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.439 of these young players, like we had an eleven year 114 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:56.079 old girl on the at the US Open right for 115 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:00.240 for the PGA, the Women's LPGA US Open. Yes, how 116 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.160 is it that these kids and there's so many young 117 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:08.360 people that are getting onto the upper level, the top 118 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:12.160 level of golf competition. What is it about their naive 119 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:15.000 ta that gets them there? Or is it because of 120 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.759 their naiveta that allows them to compete at that level 121 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.160 and not feel the pressure, or let me ask it 122 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.000 a different way, do they feel the pressure that somebody 123 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:27.279 with experience feels. 124 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.279 Well, I think you have to understand really where fear 125 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.079 comes from, and fear sort of resides in the past, 126 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.680 and I think you know, when you have a young person, 127 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.680 perhaps they don't have that many learned fear experiences, so 128 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.120 they really don't have a backlog of negative memories. They 129 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.360 sort of have sort of a fresh slate. So when 130 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.120 you have I believe her name was Lucy Lee, who 131 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.680 comes in as inn the eleven year old, and I 132 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.399 love you know that she's shooting seventy seven, seventy eight 133 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.480 in the US Women's Open at Pinehurst number two when 134 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.160 they had the golf course really set up, and at 135 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:07.920 her post round interview, there she is, you know, being 136 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:10.839 an eleven year old, dripping ice cream over her golf 137 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:14.199 shoes and saying, well, my whole goal was to go 138 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.519 out and have some fun. So I mean, as far 139 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:21.279 as her expectations, her expectations weren't of shooting the lowest 140 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:25.360 score or winning the US Women's Open. Her expectation was 141 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.920 more of a task or focus expectation that she expected 142 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:32.279 to go out and have fun. She expected to go 143 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:35.519 out and test her talent. You know, she expected to 144 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:37.519 go out and beat the golf course and let the 145 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.560 chips fall where they may. And that sort of perspective 146 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.879 is really what I'm trying to do with the best 147 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:46.839 players in the world, because what happens a lot of times, 148 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:49.439 you know, you hear a lot of huff and puff, 149 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.600 You hear a lot of talk around the locker rooms 150 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.279 and oh this is going to happen, and Q school 151 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:56.959 is so tough, and it's just hell week and you 152 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.480 got to get through it, and you hear these war 153 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.079 stories and it starts to make you a little bit 154 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.959 more fragile as far as your psyche. So you've kind 155 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.079 of got to let that stuff go. And it's refreshing 156 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:11.279 when you see these young minds and the naivete is 157 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:15.639 instead of saying why why why am I not? You know, 158 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.920 why am I not succeeding, the young mind is saying, well, 159 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:20.519 why not? 160 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:22.000 Why not me? 161 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.000 And let's just go out and go play. And I 162 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.000 think Fred this is a huge thing when we start 163 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.399 getting people going to Q School for the PGA and 164 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.480 the LPGA tours or European, Korean or Japanese tour wherever 165 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.399 I'm working with them, and it seems to me like 166 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:40.960 the very first time that a player goes out and 167 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.039 goes to Q school, they really don't know what to expect. 168 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.000 So what we try to do is get them into 169 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:53.480 task expectations. Expect that you're going to give a great 170 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.039 effort into every shot. Expect that you're going to have 171 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.720 some fun. Expect that it will be challenging. Because what 172 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:04.320 happens as time goes on, you find that a lot 173 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:06.120 of people who don't do well at Q school or 174 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:10.080 don't do well at qualifying for US Open US Amateur events, 175 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.960 they almost find ways to sabotage, well, you know, I 176 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:17.360 failed before and this is the reason why. And instead 177 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.879 of actually learning from those failures, they start to create 178 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:24.840 this backlog of negative memories and they keep, you know, 179 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.960 replaying those tapes over and over in their mind. And 180 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.080 it seems like sometimes that the first time we do 181 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.559 a thing, you know, we do it pretty well because 182 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.120 we don't have that build up of fear or bad experiences. 183 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.399 I'm a little bit stunned here now. 184 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.799 You know that with a name like golf Smarter, that 185 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.600 the golf psychology, the mental part of the game is 186 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:54.799 a huge part of our content. I talk to a 187 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:59.840 lot of different people who focus on helping people with 188 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.200 their mental game. And you just talked about expectations, and 189 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.360 that means focusing on outcome, doesn't it, And isn't that 190 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:13.000 a no no? 191 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:16.799 Well, you know you have to also take a look 192 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:22.120 at that. Is that part of goals, goal setting, aspirations, expectations, 193 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:27.159 Because an expectation is a preset standard of really how 194 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:30.919 you think something should happen in the future. And so 195 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:34.000 when you talk about expectations, there's a lot of negative 196 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:38.960 expectations spread that golfers have, and the expectations that most 197 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.759 golfers have, I think what I call the ninety nine percenters. 198 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:47.279 They're always focusing everything around the results. They're focusing everything 199 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:51.879 around the score. They focus everything around you know, their reputation, 200 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:55.240 how they're going to look, you know, whether they win, 201 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.240 you know. And so it's a very much an outcome 202 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:03.799 focused expectation about something that they may or may not 203 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:07.600 do in the future. So when I talk about expectations 204 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:11.679 and what's the best type of expectation to have, it's 205 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:17.240 a task expectancy that is in this moment. You know, 206 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:19.960 I expect you to be totally committed to this shot 207 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.879 at this moment. I expect you to have a great decision. 208 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.159 I expect you to conduct yourself in a manner that says, 209 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.200 I know what I need to do with this shot, 210 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.679 and I'm going to stay in this moment and do 211 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.279 the very best I can, and I'll let you know. 212 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.000 The results speak for themselves. 213 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:38.919 And I also. 214 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:42.039 Expect at the end of this shot, I will accept 215 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.840 whatever result I have because the result it is what 216 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.559 it is. And so when we start talking about those 217 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:51.919 type of expectancies. We're talking about an expectation that's going 218 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:55.320 to happen in the immediate future or what we call, 219 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.480 you know, the upcoming present. So that's really you know, 220 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.159 kind of the difference there. One is a very far 221 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:05.159 futuristic expectation and the other is an expectancy about what 222 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:06.879 you're going to do with the shot in front of 223 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:08.120 you right now. 224 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:13.320 And are those the basic premises of or is that 225 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:17.559 the basic premise of your philosophy, your teaching philosophy. 226 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.039 Well, you know, my teaching philosophy is this fred is 227 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:24.159 that anything's possible, you know, like the PGA tour logo 228 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:29.679 and banner is Anything's possible. You know, I never say 229 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.320 never to any of my students, And what I want 230 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.639 them to, you know, to feel and to believe in 231 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:39.480 the philosophy we're working on is that it's about you, 232 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.960 your ball and the target and that's in your zone 233 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:43.559 of control. 234 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:44.679 So when you go. 235 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:46.720 Out and play, I want you to feel like you 236 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:53.120 can play anywhere, anytime, with anybody, under any conditions. And 237 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.600 when you have that sort of a personal playing philosophy, 238 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:58.960 it's a mission statement that allows you to go out 239 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.559 and play to your talent and it doesn't matter who 240 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:06.799 you're playing with, because what happens most golfers start looking around. 241 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:10.919 They start thinking these questioning thoughts, like who's watching me? 242 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.279 What do they think about me? Will I be able? 243 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.399 You know, to measure up? And really, if you are 244 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:21.440 totally taking care of yourself in the moment and being 245 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.799 right here in the moment, you don't have to worry 246 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:27.759 about anybody else because it is the most intimate relationship 247 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:31.039 you have in golf, and that is with you, your thoughts, 248 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:33.679 and your golf ball and the target. And when you 249 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:37.120 do that, I mean you were in the precious present 250 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:40.039 and that is the gift of the present moment, and 251 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:41.480 that's what you give yourself. 252 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:44.519 Let's get into your book. 253 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.879 I'm very excited about the new book called Mistake Free 254 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:53.519 Golf First Aid for your Golfing Brain. Very good title. 255 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:54.039 I like it. 256 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.720 It really tells a lot. 257 00:13:56.919 --> 00:13:59.279 Let's break it down. Let's hear a lot about it. 258 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.320 Please, Well, you know, a mistake for you golf. You know, 259 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:04.080 I have a lot of people say, well, where did 260 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:08.919 that idea come from? Well, even after I had written 261 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:11.679 you know, you know my other books, the mental Art 262 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.639 of putting, using your mind to put your best, the 263 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:18.960 Ten Commandments of Mind power golf and doing the putting genius, 264 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:22.399 you know, DVDs and writing you know, golf fitness books 265 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.039 and all of these other things I've done. I took 266 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:27.639 a look and I said, most of the sports psychology 267 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:29.679 books that we have, I mean, even starting you know, 268 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.919 with with the early ones, they were always talking about 269 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:39.000 these platitudes, these positivisms, these trite cliche expressions about be 270 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:43.240 the ball, be in the moment, stay in the present moment. 271 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.480 And even though I use these terms, what I really 272 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.840 wanted to do was I wanted to elaborate and I 273 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:52.279 wanted to have you know, the readers say, this is 274 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:54.799 really what it means when you say I want to 275 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:57.919 play one shot at a time. Because, as you know, Fred, 276 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:00.320 if you go out and play with your guys and 277 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.039 you say, hey, you just need to trust your swing. 278 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.639 I think when people hear that, they go, YadA, YadA, YadA, 279 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.480 trust your swing, blah blah blah, be in the moment. 280 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.639 They don't know really what those things are. So when 281 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:15.720 I had written Mistake Free Golf, I went around, starting 282 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.960 in two thousand and six, and I went and asked 283 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.279 the very best players in the world, a very simple question. 284 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.399 I even went to the most emotionally challenged, the worst 285 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.840 players that were playing at a high level and asking 286 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.399 them what you know, they were thinking about and what 287 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:36.360 was their greatest mental mistake that they committed during their careers. 288 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:38.399 And just by. 289 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.759 Asking that very simple question, almost to a man, woman, 290 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.000 boy or girl who I asked it, I got, you know, 291 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.320 an immediate response. It wasn't like something I had to contemplate. 292 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.960 They say, well, you know, my biggest mental mistake is 293 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.679 I just get ahead of myself, or you know, I 294 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:56.840 worry about what other people think about me, or I 295 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:58.360 just have too many thoughts in my head. 296 00:15:58.480 --> 00:15:59.639 So what I did. 297 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:03.360 I started collecting all these very you know, one on 298 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.159 one interviews and they were just based on one simple 299 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.639 question and going around to the best players in the world. 300 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:12.840 And so I started picking up all this unbelievable information, 301 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:15.639 all this great data, and so I put it into 302 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:19.600 a lot of different components titles, and I broke it 303 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:24.120 down into nine very basic mental mistakes that almost all 304 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:28.080 golfers make and mistake. Free Golf First Day for your 305 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.360 golfing brain is really, I think the very first book 306 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.679 and the only book that really takes a look at 307 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.200 the mental mistakes that golfers make, and it gets away 308 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.399 from the platitudes of positivity and it says, Okay, you know, 309 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:46.799 if you're bleeding right and you're having a mental breakdown 310 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.399 on the golf course, we need to apply a mental 311 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:52.639 tourniquet now. We don't need to know, get back to 312 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.639 the driving range and go see our guru here later 313 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.679 and kind of sit on the couns for two hours. 314 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.720 You need something right now to stop the bleeding. So 315 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.360 that's why I call it first aid for your golfing brain. 316 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.160 So really, what I take a look at, I take 317 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:07.720 a look at the you know, the nine most common 318 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:12.279 mental mistakes, and give very specific descriptions of what those 319 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.759 mental mistakes are, and then I give specific strategies and interventions. 320 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.440 Here's how to alleviate, here's how to stop, and here's 321 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.839 how to prevent those mental mistakes from happening again. Because, 322 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:26.480 as I say in the book in one of my chapters, 323 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.759 no one is immune from making mistakes. What I'm trying 324 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:33.799 to do is get golfers to stop making all these 325 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:40.599 errors of omission, the errors of carelessness, the errors of misjudgment, miscalculation, 326 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.640 and if we could actually just minimize a few mental 327 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:47.160 errors each day on the golf course, you will start 328 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:50.680 to play more consistently and more confidently. So that's really 329 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:54.119 what mistake free golf is really all about. 330 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:58.200 And isn't a successful golf all about playing with confidence? 331 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:02.160 Well, it is a about playing with confidence, but more 332 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:05.279 than confidence, because everybody wants to talk about playing with confidence. 333 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:08.839 Let's understand really what confidence is. Confidence is one end 334 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:12.279 of the spectrum. The other side of the spectrum is doubt. 335 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.079 It's worry, it's anxiety. So everyone wants to play with 336 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.440 confidence because why because it's the absence of doubt. And 337 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:22.519 so I'm really, you know, trying to get away so 338 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.240 much cam play, you know, having players play with confidence. 339 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:28.519 I want you to play with a focus for execution 340 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.880 because if you focus on executing the right things at 341 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.839 the right time, you will have success spread. And when 342 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:40.400 you start to have success, it creates a momentum of 343 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:43.799 more success, and then you have more and more success, 344 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.119 and then the residue at the end of the round, 345 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.880 after you've had all these many successes, the residue you 346 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.279 have is something that we call enduring confidence. Because what 347 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:57.119 I call the ninety nine percenters versus the one percenter 348 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:59.680 is the people that I work with. The ninety nine 349 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.839 percent have something I call conditional confidence, and it's a 350 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:08.359 false or spurious confidence. It's a pseudo confidence. And conditional 351 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.279 confidence says, well, if I start off great, I'll feel confident. 352 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.960 Then if I make that first three foot boy, okay, 353 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.519 everything's good. Now, if I hit that first drive off 354 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:20.319 of the opening tee in front of that gallery, okay, 355 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.680 I'm good for the day. But I always say, okay, 356 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:27.880 that's okay. Everybody understands that. But what happens when you 357 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.839 start off, you know, for the first day. 358 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.599 And you go bogey bogie double bogie? 359 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:34.759 You know, I mean, do they stick a fork in 360 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.720 you and put you on the barbie or do you 361 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:41.839 sort of rebound? And really, if you are psychologically hardy 362 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.759 and you're mentally strong, and you have what I call 363 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.680 true confidence, and you focus on executing your game plan, 364 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:53.079 you actually get through that bad stuff and you persevere 365 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:57.720 and through a determined spirit and a disciplined mind, you 366 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.720 actually start to play and you're now it starts to 367 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:01.119 come out. 368 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:02.680 In fact, this just happened. 369 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:04.519 I was talking to one of my players last night 370 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.559 and he was doing US Amateur qualifying and he's leading, 371 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.440 you know, after the first round of the thirty six 372 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:13.000 hole qualifying, and he said he started off bogey bogie bogie. 373 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.599 He then proceeded, you know, to do nothing different, just 374 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:19.400 stayed in the moment, continued to get to the next 375 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.079 shot and played the shot in front of him, and 376 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.519 he birdied four of the next five holes. So it's 377 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:29.000 sort of that consistency and it's disciplined and that's really 378 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.400 what mental training, mental skills training is all about. You 379 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:34.799 could sit here and talk until the cows come in 380 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.200 from the fields, Fred about you just got to be positive, 381 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:42.160 You got to do breathing exercise, sing a happy tune. 382 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.279 I don't tell people this, and I think people tell this. 383 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.000 I don't know really why they're telling them this, other 384 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.240 than if it makes them feel good. The point is 385 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:56.960 people need specific strategies. They need something right now that works, 386 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:01.000 that's effective, and they need also be away of what 387 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.440 they're doing, you know, when they're doing things well, and 388 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.720 they also need to be aware of what they're doing 389 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:07.519 when they're not doing it so well. 390 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:17.319 Dave Stockton was on the show a number of episodes 391 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:20.200 back and he talked about looking at the clouds in 392 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:21.000 between holes. 393 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.200 It's like, why would you what? 394 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:25.160 He says, just look at the clouds And I'm like 395 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.839 why And he says, so you don't have to, you know, 396 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:30.400 beat yourself up on what's about to happen next. You 397 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:32.640 just get your mind out of it for the moment 398 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:35.640 and just think of something else and then get yourself 399 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.359 back into it. 400 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.119 Well, I've heard all sorts of different things should people do. 401 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.640