Today we are joined on the Brain Booster by former PGA Tour winner Richard Zokol the pioneer of what is called Mind Trak golf Richard won on the PGA Tour wearing headphones and we discuss how this eventually led to his discoveries around the mental game Richard Zokol’s PGA Tour career spanned over 20-years, winning twice on the PGA Tour (both wins in 1992) while competing in 412 PGA Tour events and winning once in 53 starts on the Web.com Tour (in 2001). Recognized as a professional golfer with a distinct perspective, Richard is one of the most dedicated and determined professionals in Canadian golf. Richard “walked-on” the BYU Golf Team as a freshman then by his senior year at BYU, he captained the team to the 1981 NCAA Championship—that team was inducted into the Brigham Young University Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Richard was also inducted into the British Columbia Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. Zokol’s passion capital served him well in PGA Tour competition and then as he transitioned into business. We discuss how you can get the very best from your game on the course with the TWO critical markers The ability to assess the shot The ability to EXECUTE the shot To get out of reactive thinking To reduce the excessive attention on RESULTS To REALLY tune in to the GOLF COURSE To be present to your assessment of the shot How to reduce emotional interference How to build a process on each shot you can then record   A great session with a deep thinker of the game Enjoy To find out more about Mind Trak go to www.mindtrakgolf.com   To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com            

Today we are joined on the Brain Booster by one of the legends of US coaching Jim Waldron for a fascinating discussion about the Mind Body connection Jim has spent most of his working life absorbed in the workings of consciousness and how it can apply to the game of golf In his early years he spent time with some masters of martial arts and applied key principles to his coaching He studied with some of the great meditation teachers such as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Suziki Roshi He has become very well known for his work with the yips in golf and also in numerous other sports such as baseball, basketball, darts and bowls We discussed: The two types of yips and why one type is very The origination of yips and what makes things worse What are the ‘fuels’ for the yips? The wrong use of the conscious mind The effects of negative emotion and the manifestation of FEAR Why people don’t yip on a practice swing The principle of Radical Acceptance How ‘observation’ can change everything Are you the ‘Hero’ or the ‘Victim’ of your story? The value of a mindfulness practice Understand your ‘focal point’ in the swing   So many wonderful ideas and concepts to consider Jim Waldron is a nationally acclaimed golf teaching professional, mental game coach, author, and lecturer best known for his pioneering research on the mind/body connection approach to learning and teaching golf. His holistic approach to golf improvement blends swing and short game mechanics, mental focus skills, physical fitness and emotional state control into a revolutionary golf instruction paradigm. He is recognized as one of the game's best golf swing instructors and swing theorists. To find out more about Jim Waldron and his coaching go to https://balancepointgolf.com/       To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com      

 Today we are joined on the Brain Booster by Marcus Bell from GRF Golf formerly Zen Golf I have known Marcus for many years and we have done a number of seminars together. It has been wonderful to recently see how much his coaching career has taken off as a result of his You Tube channel where he shares the content of his actual lessons as opposed to just giving out ‘technique tips’ It is a real ‘fly on the wall’ experience watching a top coach in action Marcus and his coaching is very different from so much of the information out there at the moment. He helps people tap into their own natural way of moving Exploring possibility We had had the chance to discuss: Why golfers have lost their true IDENTITY The endless search for information creates so much noise in the system Why being dependent on other people and their opinions can be so detrimental How you can learn to connect back to more of your AUTHENTIC golfing self Why movement doesn’t need language How we can stop interfering with the system and learn how to REACT better Pushing your boundaries and exploring movement in space How you can explore draws and fades Creating an environment of discovery This session will really encourage you to explore YOUR movements and what your body can ACTUALLY do as opposed to what you have been told to do   To find out more about Marcus go to GRF Golf on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/ To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com      

Coach Garret Kramer challenges our beliefs about the 'mental game' in golf. He discusses the dangers of a fixed mindset and the benefits of playing with a clear head and expressing ourselves. Kramer explores the concepts of self-exploration and non-duality, offering a refreshing perspective on performance and fulfillment.

How to develop STABLE confidence – Dr Raymond Prior Why is your confidence so unstable? Why do you have it TODAY and it is gone TOMORROW? What would it be like to have a STABLE confidence that doesn’t come and go? Today we welcome back onto the podcast one of the most popular guests over the past 12 months Dr Raymond Prior. Raymond is one of the most sought after mental performance coaches in the USA and he has recently published a wonderful new book called ‘Golf – Beneath the Surface’ which is a tremendous in depth study of what is REALLY happening in our brain when we are attempting to perform our best in sport. As the title says it is not about the ‘surface level’ techniques often dished out to players but a study into what has been found by science to be truly beneficial in helping someone deal with the challenges of the game. So much of what we have been taught about mental coaching turns out to be nothing more that myths and misconceptions. In our conversation today we drill down and look at a number of those myths to get to the heart of what will REALLY make a difference.  We look into:   The true nature of STABLE confidence. What it is and why it is so important to have it  Why we suffer so much with insecurity in our game  Unstable confidence: Why so many of us are looking for confidence in all the wrong places  Why ACCEPTANCE is such a critical skill to understand  What acceptance definitely is NOT  How the yips ACTUALLY manifest in our mind and why just working on technique will NEVER solve the problem Raymond’s new book is called: ‘Golf beneath the surface’ and is available on Amazon  A really tremendous session with a great Performance Coach  To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/  To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com  

Using the GOLF COURSE to TRAIN  Today on the Brain Booster we are joined by a really outstanding coach from the USA Tim Sheredy Tim has had outstanding success with his clients, especially junior players He has had a big influence on the careers of players like Jessica and Nelly Korda, CT Pan, Peter Uhlein and Ben An  We had a wonderful conversation about developing the game of golf and the most effective ways to train. Especially the importance of getting out on to the GOLF COURSE to train. To put yourself in LOTS of game situation to help you to develop the flexibility required to get the best from you game. Amongst many things we discussed: How do we build a really positive golfing experience? How can we be better golfing parents? How can we ask better questions to support our junior players? The FOUR GOLFING SKILLS Control the ball Emotional skill Mental skills Effective Training Skills   Effective Training 3 phases Technique Shot Creation Pressure training   Spending time out on the golf course TRAINING   3 shots from one location Draw Straight Fade   3 clubs from one location Developing imagination and creativity out on the course The importance of CLEAR INTENTION on EVERY shot How to build SHOTS not just swings   To find out more about Tim go to https://tsgigolf.com/ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/tsgi2010/ GOLF COURSE https://bucksrun.com/ To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/ To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com        

Today on the Brain Booster we are joined once more by my good friend Sam Jarman to talk about his new book ‘Getting out of your own way’ It really is a terrific read. It is a challenging book and a very informative book that will really get you thinking in a very different way about your game. More importantly it will challenge some of your existing concepts about how the mind works. Fundamental to this is the notion that we can actually control what we are thinking at any given moment when in reality, everyone of us if we look to our experience realises that this is a myth. Who knows what we are going to think next? The beauty of Sam‘s book and his work is to explain this in a way that allows us to be okay with the chaos that the mind throws up at times to be able to deal with it and move on and then more importantly to get down to the real job of thoroughly, enjoying and immersing yourself in the game of golf. We look at The myths about how your mind actually works The conversation in our heads and what it really means The awareness of your thinking and what we truly are How to have a different relationship to your thinking You relationship to mistakes and then what you DO next Understanding the role of awareness in learning Being clear on who you truly are Seeing golf as an opportunity to EXPRESS yourself    A really great conversation with a superb coach who is really making a difference to his clients. To find out more about Sam and his work go to www.samjarmangolf.com  The book is called Get Out of Your Own Way. It’s available as an eBook at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and Smashwords. Print versions are available again from Amazon or can be ordered at most book shops. The audiobook is being recorded and will be available in a few weeks.   To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/   To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com      

The silent epidemic why we should be concerned Today on the Brain Booster we welcome back my good friend Dr Izzy Justice to discuss golf and mental health. You wouldn’t ordinarily connect the two subjects together but as we discuss in today’s show there is currently an epidemic of mental health issues especially amongst young players. So many people have a brain that is totally overstimulated. The baseline EEG is way too high. Then we come to try to play a game like golf where we are REQUIRED to have low brain wave frequency in order to perform. We are consuming so much information and stumuli as a result of the amount of time we spend on our devices. Social media is saturating our brain with mostly useless stimuli What can we do about this problem? Is there a way out of the woods to better mental health and also better golf? Izzy has some wonderful suggestions: What does a GOOD day look like for our brain? The importance of a NEURO DIET Doing more things that help quieten your brain Simple DAILY strategies to help you reduce all of the NOISE Doing more of what you LIKE and less of what you don’t The importance of SLEEP The chronic problem of sleep deprivation Why our current baseline is contributing to sleep issues Why sleep gadgets can only do so much The GREAT SLEEP hack the FOUR, ONE, ONE How to get closure on the day This is a nugget of GOLD The key message of the podcast is to get your BASELINE down BEFORE you play golf The role of GRATITUDE in lowering brain frequency A really great thought provoking session To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/  To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com        

Great show for you to listen to today about the role of EMOTIONS and how they can have such an impact on your game What are emotions? What do they actually mean? How long do they last? More importantly what can we do about them? How many rounds have you played where emotions have triggered a cascade of poor shots and another score ruined? Can you look back on your golfing life and even begin to consider how much better you would have performed IF you had more ability to deal with and release your emotions. When emotions are running the show we can make some really STUPID decisions The show today will give you some GREAT answers Become an expert on yourself and how you actually trigger your emotions. Gain insights to YOU and how you ACTUALLY work on the golf course as opposed to how you think you work Understanding your emotions leads to INSIGHT Emotional regulation technique The 5 step PROCESS Location – where is the emotion located in your body? Contain the emotion – give it a shape Colour – Give the emotion a colour Name it – Give the emotion a NAME Do something with it – Allow the emotion to RELEASE Emotions only last for 7 seconds from a neuro chemical perspective, to hang on to them for longer than this is a CHOICE Why trying to contain your emotions can be so counter productive How anger can turn into DEPRESSION How golfing failure can create a traumatic event in the brain How you can use techniques to let go of the trauma. The use of EMDR A fascinating session with a top class coach   Alison is a PGA Master Professional in Instruction and a LPGA Master Professional. Being one of 9 women to achieve the highest PGA credential earned by an instructor and only 1 of 2 women to be a dual master professional in both organizations Alison completed her Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is a practicing psychotherapist in the state of California and currently works with adolescents, couples, families, and individuals in her private practice Curdt Performance Therapy, in Woodland Hills, CA. Alison strives to develop and coach golfers in all areas of their lives.    To find out more about Alison and her work go to www.alisoncurdtgolf.com To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new/   To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com      

Today on the show we have a very special guest in the shape of Martin Chuck one of the VERY best and most highly regarded golf coaches in the world.  If you want to take a lesson with him he is booked up literally months in advance Martin has an incredible story of how he developed both as a player and then to become a top coach. He spent a LOT of time with two absolute legends of the game Moe Norman and George Knudson. Martin shared those early experiences of spending time watching Moe practice and listening to his philosophy of how to play the game. Listening to the awesome quality of his ball striking. The way he just flushed shot after shot dead out of the middle of the club. Can you imagine how rich an experience that must have been? Spending time watching George Knudson teach. Soaking up the way he helped students and developed their game. The value of spending time with truly great people.  From a coaching philosophy Martin has some wonderfully simple and effective concepts. Most of them designed to help you hit the ball more often flush out of the middle of the club As he says, ‘Isn’t that what most golfers REALLY get a buzz from?’ Hitting the ball FLUSH out of the centre of the clubface.  He shares with us one AMAZING drill that will literally make you so much more aware of what is ACTUALLY going on in your swing  As Martin says he ‘can’t be embarrassed’ What a wonderful quality but as we discuss it is very much about changing your relationship with outcomes so the game doesn’t hurt you so much  How you can WIN on EVERY shot  Golf is right here and right NOW!! To hell with everything else A fantastic session full of great wisdom from someone who has developed a wonderful PRACTICAL coaching philosophy   Martin Chuck Martin has a knack to be able to communicate to the masses. While he has coached some of the best players in the World, he prefers to work with the average, developing golfer. The "puzzle" of providing the right information at the right time is a thrill for Martin... The homebase for his wildly popular golf school is at The Raven in Phoenix, Arizona and during the Summer months he takes his show on the round to escape a little of the Phoenix heat.   To find out more about Martin and his coaching go to www.tourstriker.com   To get a copy of the new ‘Neuro Putting’ program with Dr Izzy Justice and Karl Morris go to https://themindfactor.net/shop-new   To book your Mind Factor workshop get in touch with us at www.themindfactor.com