Effective communication

As I write this week’s edition of GolfWeekly, I am halfway through a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner’s course.

NLP refers to how our brain, the language we use and our behaviour are all related to one another. 

Therefore, if we understand the benefits of speaking and thinking in certain ways, there is a much greater chance of us succeeding. 

As a golf coach, NLP will prove to be very useful as my goal is to help you learn new skills as efficiently as possible. The best way to achieve that is through very effective communication.

NLP can be used to analyse people’s language patterns to determine if what they are telling themselves (verbally or subconsciously) can be influencing the outcome of a particular action. Today, I’d like to highlight the things that I often hear on the course that will be negatively influencing your golf. 

Don’t think of a giant brown dog. I would imagine that most people reading this will have in fact, just imagined or thought about a giant brown dog. 

The same principle applies to golf. When I get the chance to play golf with the members at Awali Golf Club, I am amazed at how many people say (loud enough for me to hear standing 20 feet away from them!) things like ‘Don’t hit it into the left hand bunker’ just prior to hitting their shot. 

So, as opposed to telling your brain what to do – for example, ‘let’s hit it at the dark patch of sand in the middle of the fairway’ – most people tell their brain what not to do. 

That simply cannot be a recipe for success. In addition, if the last word your brain hears is bunker, then it stands to reason that the ball has every chance of going there! In golf, it is very important that you fill your brain with positive, realistic and specific information prior to executing the shot. 

Another fantastically detrimental type of sentence I hear from members when approaching the tee box of a particular hole is: ‘I always slice it to the right and out of bounds here’ or ‘I always hit it into the trees here’. 

The word always suggests that it happens every time and there has never been any other outcome. So if you are one of these people who have a ‘bogey’ hole, the next time you are on the tee ask yourself ‘Has there ever been a time when I have hit a good drive on this hole?’ 

If the answer is yes, then try to visualise the flight of that shot in your mind prior to executing the shot. If the answer is no, then visualise a ball that starts down the left side of the fairway and curves back into the centre ...  and, book some lessons!

I am not trying to claim that simply thinking better will guarantee you a great shot every time.

That is unlikely to happen. Improving your golf requires physical practice on the driving range and short game area. However, removing negative information from your brain and filling your mind with positive thoughts has got to be of benefit to you. 

Make sure you are focusing on trying to hit a good one, not simply trying to avoid hitting a bad one!