Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [24]
Stack the emotional feelings of about ten different successful shots in the same anchor.
Practice “firing” the anchor three or four times a day for a week or so—at home, in the office, on the course, wherever. By then you should be playing on automatic pilot.
If occasionally you lack confidence in a particular shot, you can consciously fire the appropriate anchor before going through your preshot routine. An especially difficult shot or a string of bad holes might call for this sort of thing. It’s always better to fire your anchor instead of your caddy, or your clubs. However, in tournament play, don’t go through this process, or any other metaskills techniques for that matter. They’re meant for practice, to tune your unconscious mind to operate automatically.
The length of time Randy and I spent building his golf-shot resource anchors was extensive. He had the luxury of belonging to a club and had lots of time to practice. So what about public-course players squeezed between a slow foursome and an anxious posse of swift shooters behind? Most courses are already plagued by slow play; more excuses for delay simply won’t be tolerated.
That’s one reason why I’ve emphasized the abundance of time that exists between shots. Those cumulative minutes average out to about thirteen a hole. Use the time getting to the ball, on foot or in a cart, to develop this anchoring process.
You’ve already assimilated lots of useful information from watching the previous shot come to rest. From 150-plus yards, for instance, you know whether the ball is in the fairway or rough, and whether the next shot will be with a wood, long iron, or more lofted club. With this in mind, even before you’ve put the club back in the bag and moved a step forward, you can be thinking about a previous shot similar to the one you’ll be facing. Like Randy you’ll be surprised at how quickly one will surface. Most golfers play on a “home” course, public or private, which makes recall even easier.
Competitive-State Anchor
Teeing off on the first tee is frequently an anxious moment for many golfers, amateur and professional. Often the anxiety is a manifestation of a lack of confidence, if only for the moment. As most golfers know, when we lose confidence, our golf swing often goes kerflooey. However, if the first hole is played well, we get confident again, and usually the rest of the round goes well. What’s necessary is the ability to be competition-keen and stay that way. An anchor can do that.
A competitive-state anchor can be created by playing in your mind a complete and successful round of golf (on the tournament course) the day or night before a tournament, paying attention to the positive feelings generated during the fantasy round. These positive feelings of the fantasy round can be anchored in a common, ordinary movement, like stroking your chin, folding your hands, interlacing your fingers, pulling an ear, scratching your head, or making a fist.
The idea is to play each hole mentally with successful shots, stacking the feelings of accomplishment and confidence in one anchor as you go along. If, in your mind, a shot doesn’t turn out right, replay it several times until it does. If a particular shot continues to be a bad one in your fantasy, never mind. Go ahead to where it lies and make a good shot, anchoring that good feeling. Later on you can devote practice time to correcting the errant fantasy shot.
When finished, you will have anchored (stacked) good feelings of confidence 72 times, more or less, and you will have mentally reviewed the course in advance of the tournament. Practice firing this anchor several times a day until it generates confidence in a matter of seconds.
When you arrive at the golf course on the day or days of the tournament, and as you approach the first tee, fire the competitive-state anchor. If you become overly anxious while playing, fire the competitive-state anchor again to swing you back to a better frame of mind.
COMPETITIVE-STATE ANCHOR
Fantasize playing a complete round of golf on a tournament