In my last article post I finished with suggesting a mantra for life - what the mind can perceive, the mind can believe, and the mind can achieve. Have you noticed how true this is? What is in your mind, your thoughts, your memories, and the things you know to be "right" are simply your own perceptions of reality.

You and I could be standing at a junction and you see the traffic light is red and I see it to be green. It all depends upon the angle from which you are observing the lights. It depends on your perspective. You could, of course, choose to walk to the other side and view it from a different angle.

I would like you to take one minute now to carry out a simple task. Wherever you are at this moment in time, take one minute to look around you and notice, really notice, what around you is the colour blue. Notice as many things that you can that contain the color blue. Spend a full minute really noticing everything that is blue...and then read on.

Now, without looking around again, can you list what is the color red? This simple exercise should demonstrate what happens in everybody's mind ALL of the time. Our observations and the judgments which we make of "reality" are shaped and colored by what we are focusing on, by what we expect to see or happen. Thus our perceptions are not only shaped by the angle of observation but also by our expectation, our underlying beliefs – we see what we expect to see. This is true of everything in life, not just golf. But in golf the effect is so very noticeable!

As Kendal McWade, the genius behind Instinctive Golf, states "Golf balls always do what they are told". Now, if you are telling yourself that you are a bad putter, what are you telling the ball to do? Putting can so ably demonstrate the doubt and fear that holds us back in everyday life – emotions which can literally stop us in our tracks.

A child is not born with fear. We learn fear. Sometimes fear is a useful emotion and protects us from danger, but let's face it, a putt shouldn't be fearful. Even Tiger says that when he was a teenager he would hit the first putt so solidly that if it missed it might go five feet past the hole, and would simply rap it back into the hole without worry or fear...but that as he has got older he isn't quite as fearless. Fears can creep into even the strongest of minds...if you allow them to do so.

So how do we remove fear when it's not needed? How can we change state easily and quickly? Awareness is all important. Most of us are not really aware of the thoughts that are running through our minds. And yet your thoughts create your emotions and direct your actions (and the club and the ball). Let us try another exercise. Stop reading and spend the next minute just observing your thoughts. Notice just how many thoughts pass through your mind in one minute.

How many did you have? I bet there were quite a few. How many thoughts do you have in the very short time in which you swing a golf club? Or, more precicely, how many thoughts do you try to have whilst swinging the club? And how many thoughts run through your mind as you are setting up to the ball, be it for a tee shot or for a putt? Five, ten, fifteen?

Once you become aware of these myriad thoughts, it is easy to understand why the outcome of the shot can be unpredictable to say the least. All of those thoughts can be likened to ants running through your mind, each competing for your attention and focus, thereby taking your awareness away from what really matters - the ball and the target. These two things never change; or, at least, they shouldn't change, assuming you have taken the time to select an exact target.

So the question is "how do we stop these ant-like thoughts from crawling all over our minds?" Cast your mind back to when you were a child and the answer should come to you quite easily. Children's emotions change quick as a flash, crying one moment and laughing the next. They change state easily, quickly, INSTANTANEOUSLY; you and I were born with this ability; it's an instinctive part of us. When a child falls over and scrapes their knees, they cry, and what does the parent do? The adult offers a sweet, they DISTRACT their attention away from the knees that are hurting.

The easiest way in which to displace a negative thought (or a selection of negative thoughts which are competing for your attention) is to give your mind something clear and precise to do. Give your mind something meaningful, interesting and relevant to do, something that is fascinating.

Fear is a function of either the past or the future. Fear does not exist if you are focusing on the now. Think about that for a moment. What are you afraid of on the golf course? The putt not rolling in? That's in the future. The memory of the last shot sailing into the trees? That's in the past. Making a fool of yourself? That's in the future.

So when you are approaching a shot on the golf course, allow the "child" in you to surface - the part of you that's fascinated, curious, the part of you that's "in the now". I was playing with a friend the other day and when we reached the green and saw where my ball was I said something to the effect of "oh, wow! This is an interesting one!" My playing partner's response was "is that a new reframe for "Oh Hell?"!

Try it...and notice the effect. Because if you are "in the now" you will be aware of what you need to be aware of - the ball and the target. And if you are sizing up the situation with child-like wonder and fascination, you will be thinking "how can I get this in" or something to that effect, rather than being a puppet manipulated by A-N-Ts (Automatic Negative Thoughts).

Being "in the now" is a wonderful place to be. It allows you to be aware of what is really happening around you, to appreciate each moment for what it is. It allows you to notice when a rhododendron leaf glistens in the sunshine, or water sparkling as if thousands of stars are twinkling on its surface, and so on. It allows you to notice the feel of the fairway beneath your feet, the feel of the club in your hands, to notice the feel of your swing. (And wouldn't greater feel come in handy?) Being in the now allows you to enjoy the time between shots, remaining relaxed and peaceful; it allows you to fully enjoy the game of golf, AND the game of life. If you aren't in the now, you aren't really living.

Another wonderful thing about being in the now is that you reap the rewards immediately - literally in the now. So many people say that it is impossible to change without hard work and effort. What can be hard about noticing what's happening now? What can be hard when you are interested and curious and fascinated? When you are in the now, past beliefs cannot hold you back.

Are you ready to control your golfing destiny? Are you ready to make a commitment to yourself to play golf "in the now"? Are you willing to allow the natural instinct for wonder and fascination to come to the forefront of your mind? Are you ready to enjoy your golf and play better golf than ever before? Because you are the only person who can choose your thoughts. All you have to do is to choose to do so.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.

With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and sports psychology, and a great passion for golf, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading golf psychologists. You can get a free hypnosis download from http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com and view the GolferWithin golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis downloads.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/making-golf-childs-play-998301.html

Have you noticed how good some of the leading professionals are at grinding out a good score, even if they are swinging the club below their best or downright badly. It's interesting to note that the real greats like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus always seem to be able to do this, however they're playing, and whatever the "rub of the green throws" at them when they get to the last nine holes of a championship.

If I look back to my early years in golf, before I had any thoughts about golf hypnosis or golf psychology in general, I was lucky to have a fair amount of natural ability. At the same time, I was rather too inconsistent for my liking. It seemed that if I started out a round playing really well, but not scoring that brilliantly, then my golf would gradually go from good to bad to worse and I'd have a frustratingly high score. On the other hand, if I started off playing relatively badly, but scoring ok, then my golf would often improve as the round went on and I'd have a bewilderingly good score. What was really odd was that my score after 6 to 9 holes in these two types of round was often similar.

Back in those days, I was a member at Brookmans Park Golf Club and there was a fairly long and secluded walk around a small lake between the fifth green and the sixth tee. It was also quite common for there to be a bit of a delay on that tee, so all in all there was plenty of time to think. Over a couple of years I began to notice that I could predict my final score when I got to that sixth tee. If I was two over par or better and playing badly, I'd break 80 easily. If I was over par, even by just one shot, and playing really well, then I'd really struggle to break 80.

Now I'm an expert in golf psychology, what do I think I was doing back then and what could you do to avoid the same trap? Well, if I started out the round playing well and scoring badly, I used to interpret that as bad luck or blame the condition of the course for my dropping shots. I also tended to feel that my normally excellent short game had deserted me and try to find out what I was doing wrong. These thoughts rapidly become self-fulfilling prophecies as I found more and more external reasons for my poor scores. I was probably not a nice person to be with!

On the days when I started playing poorly but was scoring reasonably well, I used to marvel at how well I was scrambling. I just seemed to know that if I hit a bad shot, I could scramble a par and move on. As a result, the pressure to hit the ball well went away and I started swinging much more freely and naturally - today I'd call that trusting my unconscious golf mind.

There are many golf psychology, NLP and self hypnosis techniques that can help you if you have a similar problem. One of the best would be to regularly listen to a golf hypnosis audio programme. Other golf mind techniques you can use for this include

• perceiving your bad luck as being good luck, as described in my earlier article entitled Positive Reframing for Better Golf Performance like Justin Rose
• using an NLP resource anchor to help you manage your state. There's a self-hypnosis script for this in my earlier article entitled Anchoring Resources for Better Golf - an Experience with Self Hypnosis for Golf.

Andrew Fogg, the Golf Hypnotist, is an enthusiastic golfer, hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner. He is a practicing golf psychologist and author of a soon to be published book The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf and a series of golf hypnosis MP3 programmes.

Visit his website for information on how to get the most success, pleasure and enjoyment from the wonderful game of golf. More specifically, it is about how to improve your golf by working on the 90 percent of the game that is played in the 6 inches between your ears.

Sign up for the free Golf Hypnotist ezine at http://www.golf-hypnotist.com/ and get your free 25- minute Your Own Virtual Caddy golf hypnosis MP3 that goes with this article.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/grind-out-a-winning-score-using-golf-psychology-and-golf-hypnosis-997663.html

<p><strong>TaylorMade golf clubs</strong> are used by some of the best names in the sport including the likes of Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose to name but a few and each of these players put their faith into <a target="_blank" href="http://www.golfbuyitonline.com/Taylor-Made-Golf-Drivers.php">TaylorMade drivers</a>.</p>
<p> Clarke uses a<strong> TaylorMade Burner TP Driver</strong>, Goosen uses a <strong>TaylorMade r7 SuperQuad Driver</strong>, Garcia uses a <strong>TaylorMade Tour Burner Driver</strong> and Rose uses a <strong>TaylorMade R9 9.5 Driver</strong>.</p>
<p> At <strong>Golfbuyitonline</strong> you’ll be able to find a fantastic selection of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.golfbuyitonline.com/Taylor-Made-Golf-Drivers.php">TaylorMade drivers</a> at fantastic prices will help your game in different ways.  These include:</p>
<p> •    <strong>TaylorMade Burner</strong> – Promotes more forgiveness, more consistent distance on off-centre hits, explosive swing speeds, faster ball speed and added distance.<br />
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•    <strong>TaylorMade Tour Burner TP</strong> - Features Inverted Cone Technology that dramatically expands the portion of the clubface that delivers high COR for consistently longer drives on off-centre hits.<br />
•    <strong>TaylorMade R7 CGB Max</strong> - promotes faster swing speed for added drive-crushing distance and its triangular head shape incorporates an exceptionally far-back CG location makes it easy to launch the ball high and super-deep.</p>
<p> You may not know, but <strong>R7 drivers</strong> were released in 2007 and <strong>R9 drivers</strong> were released in 2009.</p>
<p> To decide which <a target="_blank" href="http://www.golfbuyitonline.com/Taylor-Made-Golf-Drivers.php">TaylorMade driver</a> is best for you, look for the right combination of loft, shaft material and shaft flex.</p>
<p> <strong>TaylorMade</strong> are clocking up plenty of wins at the moment.  Christian Cévaër won the European Open in 2009 and was using his <strong>TaylorMade R9 9.5 Driver</strong>.  It is claimed that more PGA Tour Professionals play TaylorMade drivers than Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Nike and Ping combined which is pretty good going!</p>
<p> <strong>Golfbuyitonline</strong>’s professional members of staff are on hand to assist with any queries regarding any of their products.  You’ll be able to find out more about each of the <strong>TaylorMade drivers</strong> that are available by clicking onto <strong>Golfbuyitonline.com</strong>.</p>

http://www.golfbuyitonline.co.uk/articles/taylormade/article-taylormade-drivers.html

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/taylormade-drivers-say-hello-to-your-little-friend-991318.html

A golf swing slice can be very frustrating for the passionate golfer. To improve your game and lower your scores it is very critical and important to know how to correct a slice and fix it as fast as possible. If you really want to better your game and fix your slice then read on and use these 3 tips and techniques.

The first tip I would like to show you is the easiest one. Simply film yourself or ask a friend of yours to film you. Do your swing and after your training session have a look at the movie and analyse your moves. This is very helpful and you can see what went wrong with your golf slice. Like I said, it is simple and funny too.

Let us go on with the next tip. You need a good stance to stop slicing. Your shoulders have to be up and aligned to the ball or target. The right foot has to be pointed straight ahead and your left foot slightly to the left. Such a stance can make big difference to your game. A proper golf stance can lower your scores and your golf swing slice will be fixed quite fast.

The third tip I would like to give to you is a proper golf backswing and downswing. A proper backswing has to be a smooth move and starts with your arms and then the shoulders. Keep your eyes on the ball. Downswing is followed with the hips and arms. Again keep your eyes on the ball and do a proper golf swing.

If have listed some 4 bonus basic tips which you can use to lower your scores.

1. Doing some sports outside your golf game. As I mentioned above fitness is important to get a good stand while swinging. I would suggest to go cycling or play tennis. Just something you are interested in. Fun is a big point here. I like playing soccer.

2. You need your own clubs. Try a few clubs that fits to your needs. Are you tall, then you need longer ones. Do not expect good results when you use your friends clubs! So, get a own set of clubs.

3. When you buy clubs you have to consider the shafts and the materials. This depends on your needs like height, weight and swing speed. There are quite a few more factors you have to take care of.

4. At least but not last, your mental fitness has to be good. Concentration during a game is crucial if you want to beat your competitor. There are some good guides that may help you. Some of my friends are doing yoga, but that is not for me.

You see the right training can stop your golf swing slice. Regular training systems can do wonders.

Next, you want to go on and see what kind of training guides and methods are available to correct a slice.

Mark Langer has helped a lot of people to improve their golf swing and showed them how to swing a golf club. Marks Free Online Course and his recommended Golf Swing Guides are jam packed with golf swing tips and techniques. Take advantage from a Golf enthusiast here http://www.golf-swing-guide-reviews.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/how-to-correct-a-golf-swing-slice-991380.html

A golf swing slice is one of the most common mistakes a golfer can do. If you know how to fix a slice then you will see fast improvements in you game resulting in lower scores and better results.

But how to stop slicing in a correct way. Some tips on this topic can you find in this article. You can use them to train your technique and better your golf swing slice.

I would like to start with the aspect of a good stance. This is vital to your success. Put your shoulders up and stay ahead to your target. The stance should be about as wide as your shoulders. The right foot straight ahead and the left one a bit to the left. This stance can help to fix a slice.

These changes in your stance can make big differences in your game and where your ball will end up. A proper stance can be trained at the driving range pretty easy.

Another point is the correct grip. Your hand has to be in the right position if you want to stop slicing. The left hand has on the club right in front of your eyes when you look down. Now wrap the right hand over the left hand and leave your thumb into your right palm. There are some great videos and courses to illustrate this. If you do this right your golf swing slice will be better after a while of training.

Practice the proper golf swing at the driving range to find out why you slice the ball. Ask some friends what they can see when you hit the ball. Maybe they know how to correct your golf swing slice. I know that a golf grip or stance seems to be very simple but it is one of the most common errors a golfer can do. And so, correcting this is one of the best ways to fix a slice.

Okay, here is one bonus how you can get a proper golf swing.

Set yourself a goal you want to reach. Maybe you want to lower your scores a few points in 1 month. Set your goal, but it has to be reachable! This is a mental aspect you have to keep in mind. As I mentioned mental golf fitness is important.
So take this seriously.

Next you will want to know what kind of training methods and guides are there to better your golf swing slice.

Mark Langer has helped a lot of people to improve their golf swing and showed them how to swing a golf club. Marks Free Online Course and his recommended Golf Swing Guides are jam packed with golf swing tips and techniques. Take advantage from a Golf enthusiast here http://www.golf-swing-guide-reviews.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/golf-swing-slice-how-to-fix-a-slice-991404.html