Today on the show we are joined by top coach Nick Bradley to discuss a fascinating topic. MISTAKES and more importantly your relationship to those mistakes.  Nick sets the scene with a great story about challenging some of the best coaches in the world at the PGA show in Orlando about what they COULD have learned from their biggest mistakes. The question was largely ignored. An opportunity for everyone to learn was missed.  Why do we have such a poor relationship to our mistakes and more importantly what can we do about it?  How we stigmatise mistakes and the consequence of this limits our learning  How mistakes are so essential in our evolution as a player  Why we need to look at the journey of a player as opposed to just looking at perfect ‘swing positions’  Nick also gives us some great insights into working with top players  How a great relationship CAN turn sour and go in the wrong direction  The need for CLARTY on the financial side  How to keep challenging players effectively  How to become a better STUDENT  Why Butch Harmon is such a great coach  Why ‘method coaching’ can be an ego trip and intellectual snobbery  On the business side why it is important to consider ‘staying in your lane’ Nick Bradley is best known for his work with English golfer Justin Rose from 2006 to 2009, who he coached from rank 125 in the world all the way to 5th. Rose went on to win the European Order of Merit in 2007, the 2008 Ryder Cup, and his first and only US Open major championship. Over twenty-five years, Nick has trained over 400 professional golfers, including Sir Nick Faldo, Captain Paul McGinley, and Seamus Power. He’s coached his clients to multiple PGA Tour wins, a top-three placement at the US Open, eight amateur titles, two junior national titles, a world #1 rank, a European #1 rank, and two World #5 placements. To find out more about Nick Bradley and his work go to www.bradleygolf.com Twitter @thenickbradley 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          

How images make our body move Today on the Brain Booster we welcome back a great friend of the show Susie Meyers. Susie is one of the very top coaches in the USA and always brings some wonderful insights. Today was no exception. We had a great conversation about how to release your very best golf and how the latest neuroscience is pointing us towards the need to play from a quiet place in the mind. There are SO many GEMS in this conversation that really WILL make a difference to your game. Why an over attachment to outcomes and results is so counterproductive to freeing us up to play our best golf. The need to find balance both in the body and the mind. Why we are so wound up in our lives and what it is doing to our brain. The need to get back to a child like ‘alpha’ state The quiet and calm place where great golf can emerge Reducing the ‘noise’ on the golf course How closing your eyes can have such a dramatic effect on how much stimulus we receive  Why is there so much fear in the game? SO HOW we can play the game with less fear? Playing from Point A This shot in this unique moment. The Magic of the P Words PLAN PROCESS PICTURE POSITIVE   Living with the A Words AWARE ACCEPT ALLOWING Why we need to be aware of how talking about our ‘tendencies’ can get in the way of our progress How you can create powerful images that your body can RESPOND to The difference between ‘Backward Thinking and Forward Thinking’ What are the ‘Universal Truths’ about the golf swing? WHO are you going to be on the golf course today? COMMITTED CALM COURAGEOUS CLEAR CONFIDENT Being comes before DOING What happens to you is not so PERSONAL A really wonderful thought provoking and life enhancing conversation. To find out more about Susie go to www.susiemeyersgolf.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      

On today’s show we have with us a good friend of the Brain Booster in the shape of Mike Malone from Trackman to discuss technology in general and how it can potentially be either a FRIEND or a FOE to your game.  Over the past 10 to 15 years launch monitors such as Trackman have become a staple part of the coaching diet. Most people who go for lessons now expect they will be assisted by a coach using a launch monitor but what are the potential pitfalls to what can be an overwhelming array of information?  In the early days many people fell into the trap of drowning in the numbers. Thinking that more information would be better for their game. Yet as Mike explains, the really great coaches had an instinctive ability to limit the numbers to just a few key performance indicators.  We had a really great conversation about the very best ways of using technology and how there are many myths and misconceptions of what actually DOES change in your swing from shot to shot. What is CONSISTENT in your swing? There may be some surprises here  How you can improve the BIG THREE Ground contact Strike Location Face Orientation  Creating more effective CONSEQUENCE in your practice  How you can use technology to tune much more into the SHOTS you are trying to play  Using technology as an individual Many people now have some form of launch monitor for their own game How can you best use the technology in your own practice  Why you should STOP trying to dissect every poor shot  How you can actually manage your poor shots better  How using indoor simulators to play on golf courses can be so beneficial to your training Why it is important to feel what you are doing with a shot THEN use technology to back up your estimate as opposed to just relying on the monitor to supply all of the information What could the future of technology be from a golf perspective? How entertainment technology is helping more golfers get into the game  A fantastic conversation about how YOU can get the very best out of technology without getting lost in all of the information To find out more about Mike Malone and Trackman Go to www.trackman.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    

Your ENVIRONMENT and how it shapes your development – Dr Luke Benoit, Plus Internal Focus – External Focus – what is the real truth about what is best for you?  Today we welcome onto the show one of the best young coaches in the US. Dr Luke Benoit Luke is a great student of the game and brings to the conversation some wonderful research around effective learning environments. Research that challenges SOME of the existing theories around attentional focus  Should you be focused solely on EXTERNAL cues?  Is there a time and place for INTERNAL focus?  If you did want to change your swing what is the best way to go about it?  The ladder of improvement  Just how much does our environment affect our development?  How to shift your mind set from a training to a PLAYING attitude  Training for DISTANCE  The Rypstick and how you COULD hit the ball so much further  Creating a training environment to TEST your skills  Creating a very effective MENTAL SCORECARD Dr. Luke Benoit Ph.D. is a PGA golf coach with a diverse background of experience and skills. He has worked as a college coach, university professor and researcher, professional golfer, and Director of Instruction. In 2015, Luke began work as the Director of Instruction at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, MN (one of the top-ranked courses in Minnesota). In his position, Luke oversees instructional programs and teaches members. Luke boasts an impressive clientele of beginner, novice, and expert golfers. Through the success of Luke's players, Luke has been recognized as one of the region's top golf coaches and instructors. He also started a company called Ryp Golf that offers technology and training to help golfers hit the ball farther and straighter. In a very short period of time, Ryp Golf has evolved into one of the biggest swing speed companies on the planet, which has led golfers from all around the planet to travel to work with Luke. To find out more about Luke go to https://www.lukebenoitgolf.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          

Why Mindfulness is so important for the health of athletes  Today we are joined on the Brain Booster with Luke Doherty who has been doing some amazing work in sport applying the principles of Mindfulness  Luke Doherty trained as an elite rugby player and was capped for England under-18's. He earned a degree and Postgrad diploma in Law as well as advanced-level mindfulness training qualifications from Breathworks and the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre. He's since been dedicated to devising and delivering bespoke mindfulness programmes for some of the UK's leading athletes and forward thinking executives, working with Premiership rugby and football players, Olympians and Team GB athletes. His innovative approaches using mindfulness have received national media coverage and he's part of a consortium which advises the Dept. of Health and Social Care.  Luke has lived an extraordinarily varied life part of which was when he spent six years in a Buddhist Mindfulness Centre  We had a very important conversation about mental health in competitive sport and how Mindfulness can be such a valuable tool to stay connected to what is truly important to you  There is so much pressure these days on athletes to perform  Luke talked about some harrowing examples of players he knew in rugby who had committed suicide as a result of the anxiety created in the quest to win  We looked deeply into how mindfulness can be applied in high pressure situations in sport to allow the athlete to stay connected to their true values  How to deal with the game ‘after the game’  What do you do to settle the experience you have just had in your mind to allow you to keep going forwards to experience pleasure in the game  How the ‘body’ can let you know if you are off track with your life and your purpose  The mind body connection and how your body ‘keeps the score’  The amazing way that Luke has combined boxing and mindfulness to help young people in the community  The huge value in spending time mindfully in nature  The incredible value of a morning routine that really resonates with you at a deep level  A really wide ranging and fascinating conversation around mindfulness and how it can be applied on a very practical level to get the most from your game  To find out more about Luke and his work go to https://www.mindfulpeakperformance.com/about  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        

How you can LEARN to LEARN like Tiger Woods – Peter Arnott   Today we welcome back onto the Brain Booster Peter Arnott. Peter has been a previous guest on the show and in this session we get to discuss his fantastic new book called ‘Swing it like Tiger’ which he wrote in partnership with Ian Renshaw who is an expert on skill acquisition   As Peter informs us the title of the book is deliberately misleading to some people who do actually want to swing the club like Tiger Woods. When in fact Tiger has had multiple swings and indeed on every shot he plays he will adapt his swing in that particular moment to the very task he has before him. The book is very much about how you can LEARN to LEARN like Tiger How to TRAIN more effectively like Tiger We look in detail at how Tiger learned how to develop his game How the environment he and Earl created together was so rich in learning opportunity Steve Williams who was Tiger’s caddie for many years talked about how Tiger practiced differently from all of the other players he had worked with including Greg Norman and Raymond Floyd He challenged himself constantly with the QUALITY of his practice The challenges, the games Human beings are not designed to replicate movement precisely We are far better at ADAPTING to the challenge presented to us in any given moment We talk about the need for variability in your training environment How trying to go with ‘one shape’ can actually be very detrimental and what to do to bring your game back into balance How you can create your own PAR to suit your game instead of making poor decisions based on existing ‘par’ How elite golfers can make their own course more difficult to make their training more effective Seeing the golf course as an opportunity to be creative How to make your training come alive in a RICH environment Find out what you REALLY want from the game and then tailor your training more effectively How our environment will ALWAYS effect the way you move and what you need to do about it   A great session with a really well researched and well informed coach Enjoy Peter is a performance and practice golf coach based at Swanston Golf Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has a masters degree in skill acquisition and motor learning interviewing 7 top European Tour Players (+£15 Million won on Tour) on their development towards excellence. To find out more about Peter’s work and the book go to  https://www.swingliketiger.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      

How we learn to move – The new revolution in the way we practice sports skills – Rob Gray How you can TRAIN better to MOVE better. Today on the Brain Booster we are joined by a brilliant guest Rob Gray PhD He is a professor at Arizona State University who has been conducting research on and teaching courses related to perceptual motor skill learning for over 25 years. He has served as an expert consultant with Nissan Motor Corp, the US Air Force as well as many sports teams and organisations. In wonderfully insightful conversation we got the chance to discuss: Challenging the idea of an ‘ideal model’ as a way to learn sports skills Why repetition is not all it is made up to be How a Russian physiologist called Nicolai Bernstein changed the way we look at skill development Instead of trying to create one ideal solution understand the value of giving yourself PROBLEMS to solve and then allowing the body to figure it out Why ‘Drills’ are a very poor way of learning skills and even more importantly why drills do not transform to the playing environment The myth of ‘automaticity’ and why humans will never be robots Why it is so important to calibrate to what you have TODAY How VARIABILITY can transform your ability to acquire the skills you desire Exploring solutions to solve problems Why your body is not ‘listening’ when you are telling it what to do How the idea of having a ‘central command’ from brain to body is flawed The likelihood of injury of you keep trying to perform the ‘ideal’ movement What is ‘differential learning’ and how you could employ it to improve Why kids in Brazil tend to become better footballers Creating and designing great learning environments A really thought provoking session on how we can look at the way we train in a much more efficient way that is grounded in solid scientific research and not just old anecdotes and stories handed down over the years. To find out more about Rob Gray and his podcast go to www.perceptionaction.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 by a fascinating guest Tim Tucker the former caddie of the unique Bryson De Chambeau. As a partnership they won a number of PGA Tour titles including the US Open It was a great insight into a very different golfer and the way he formed such an effective partnership with his caddie How he was prepared to always do things his own way but also very open to taking on board good quality information from Tim How they worked out how to beat the golf course Bryson’s incredible body transformation and how he set about accomplishing it The way he deals with poor shots on the course His obsession with the Driver and how many balls he will hit in a day Why his putting is so underrated How they actually brought home the US Open trophy when the heat turned up on Sunday afternoon Bryson’s ability to leave no stone unturned. To sift through information and find out what is USEFUL for him A very unique and fascinating character. Also we discuss Tim’s own journey in golf from a background in the military to caddying at Bandon Dunes, learning Aim Point and then the partnership with Bryson. After the relationship with Bryson concluded Tim has gone on to invent and create the True Aim Marker A fascinating way to read greens that eliminates guesswork We go into some good detail on how it works Tim firmly believes that most golfers don’t need to spend more time on improving their stroke but they DO need to get better at reading greens. A lot of poor putting strokes are a result of VERY poor green reading. The True Aim Marker has the potential to massively improve your green reading Well worth taking a look To find out more about Tim Tucker and the ‘True Aim Marker’ go to https://trueaimmarker.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          

The evolution of a coach from Technical overload to effective Simplicity Today we are joined on the Brain Booster by one of the top young coaches in Asia Justin Tang. Justin’s journey as a coach is incredibly inspiring. He is a perfect example of someone who has a passionate desire to become the very best version of himself as a coach He has a background in the ‘Golfing Machine’ but he has looked very deeply into the nature of learning and how it is vitally important to ‘personalise’ the information you receive. He came to realise that the glue that holds all of the game together is the BRAIN Learning must be Brain Compatible The ONLY non negotiable in the swing The one fundamental that every player should consider Landing the club after the ball – such a simple principle but highly efficient in terms of BETTER golf shots Task based learning and how the body will organise motion We discuss the Performance Pentagon Made up of Technique Skill Emotion Fitness Strategic Planning   What kind of learner are you? How you can use ‘differential learning’ to trap the correct feeling in your swing How pinning all of the blame on the golf swing is a LAZY way to coach The danger of changing swings without understanding the whole picture How the mental game in golf is different from other sports and what to do about it Why the idea of ‘grinding’ can be so damaging for your game The ability to see poor shots from a different perspective Why you need to be aware of ‘time travel’ in your mind when you are playing golf Every golf shot is a ‘Problem seeking a Solution’ Divorcing yourself from the OUTCOME of a shot with probabilistic thinking The need to question our existing beliefs and ‘stories’ Celebrating individuality A really great session with a very forward thinking and effective coach   To find out more about Justin Tang go to Instagram  @elitegolfswing e-mail Justin@elitegolfswing.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 have a very special guest, Dr Joe Parent the author of the immensely successful book ‘Zen Golf’ which has sold to golfers all over the world for the past 20 years Dr. Parent is a renowned expert in Performance Psychology and has coached the mental game in golf, business, and life for over 40 years. He has worked with major champions, many other top golf professionals, and amateurs at every level. He has the singular distinction of coaching both a man (Vijay Singh) and a woman (Cristie Kerr) to #1 in the World Golf Ranking. Golf Digest magazine honored Dr. Parent in their list of “Top Mental Game Experts” in the world. We got the chance in our time together to look at the power of PERSPECTIVE How a slight shift in perspective can have a BIG effect on your game Joe described the humbling experience recently of hosting mindfulness sessions for people actually living in the Ukraine and the way they are manging to handle their lives in the most horrendous of conditions. How much do we take for granted in our own lives? In what way does this cross over to our golf? The dramatic impact of self talk Changing the definition of a ‘good shot’ Why the perception of what makes a ‘good day’ can make us so unhappy What perspective do we have on poor shots? How do we view the opportunity to play? What about the golf course itself? Do we view the course as an invitation to experience the possibility of expressing our skills or do we see the course as being something of a ‘war zone’ where are own sense of self is brought into question? How does the golf course want to RECEIVE your shots? The ‘don’t know’ mindset Be CURIOIUS instead of afraid The Zen of better putting How you can make EVERY putt Why it is so important to ‘begin with the end in mind’ The ultimate ATTITUDE to bring to your putting ‘Hit it where the putter is pointing’Love the way the ball leaves the putter LEARNING from every putt A really tremendous conversation with a legendary performance coach. You will want to listen to this over and over again To find out more about Dr Joe Parent and Zen Golf go to https://www.zengolf.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/