Post No.1 - The Diary of a Golfing Hypnotherapist...

Day 1 - A Mental Golfing Experiment

I was first introduced to the game of golf at the age of 13 by my Uncle Peter. He was the only member of the family who played and had bravely agreed to take me to his club (Glossop Golf Club) after my parents had given me a half set for Christmas. I was full of anticipation as we drove up the sweeping entrance to the club (pictured), when my uncle abruptly pulled to a halt alongside the 18th green, where two ladies were putting. 

They completed the hole and then turned and waved to us. Uncle Peter looked at me and said in his broad Derbyshire accent, "That's your first lesson Gerrard, ETIQUETTE." He did not expand on this and I remember feeling decidedly uncertain as to how this first lesson related to golf, as he parked the car. I don't remember too much about our game that day, but I do know that it was the start of a life long passion for this frustrating, humbling, cruel and addictive game that I love.​​

For the next 40 years I have played off and on with friends, golfing societies and for the last few years as a member of Downes Crediton Golf Club. Good times and there are stories aplenty, all of which make me smile. Unfortunately the story of how I once mastered the game by shooting level par or better, is not one that I can truthfully recount.
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A strange coincidence...

I have, in my life, shot two rounds in the 70's, both were 78. The first was at Taymouth Castle in Scotland on 28th September 1991 and the second at Downes Crediton in mid Devon on 28th September 2016. Freakishly these two best ever rounds were exactly 25 years apart.

​My current CONGU golf handicap is 15. At the start of the season on 23rd March 2016 it was also 15. My actual handicap was 15.2 and over the year I managed to reduce it by 0.6 shots to 14.6.

Downes Crediton, Devon 
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Taymouth Castle, Scotland ​

This tiny improvement is particularly disappointing due to the fact that I worked hard on my game in 2016. I played an average of 2 to 3 rounds per week in the spring and summer, competed in 27 competitions at my club and practised regularly at home in a net in my garden. I also took a 'life changing' bunker clinic with our pro Barry Austin and studied various teaching apps to improve my game.

When I'm not playing golf, I work as a clinical hypnotherapist and, not surprisingly, creating a golf self hypnosis track has been on my to do list for a while. It was whilst I was studying the 2016 stats of my year's golf on the Downes Crediton Golf Club website, that I had an idea. This idea then quickly evolved into an intriguing golfing experiment.

What would happen to my game if I visualised myself playing that perfect round of golf every day for a year?

As a cognitive hypnotherapist I explain to all my clients that the subconscious cannot determine the difference between what is real and imagined... therefore if we imagine something again and again, the subconscious will not only believe each experience to be real, but it will also expect the same thing to happen when we do whatever we have been imagining in the real world.

My experiment will 'officially' start on the 1st January 2017. On every day of the year, I will listen to my Golf track and visualise myself playing the perfect round. 

Alongside this I will play at my club with friends and in competitions. I will keep an online diary of my year and hopefully it will result in a dramatic improvement in my golf and provide me with a 'Miracle on the 17th Green' type of story .

To keep the experiment honest, I will use exactly the same equipment as I did in 2016; a 1 2year old set of Callaway Big Bertha irons, various Callaway Big Bertha metal woods, a Ping hybrid, a variety of wedges and more than my fair share of putters!

​Here are my key stats from 2016, which will be used to compare with my performance in 2017.
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1. Lowest Playing Handicap - 15
2. Best round with friends - 78
3. Best Competition round - 83
​4. Worse Competition Round - 96
​5. Average Competition Round - 87.9
6. Midweek - 3 wins  in 17 competitions
7. Saturday - 0 Wins in 10 competitions

My blog, however, starts today, the 10th December 2016. I have just finished recording my golf smart relaxation track and will have my first listen and perfect mental game today. ​Over the next 12 and a bit months, I will keep an online diary of my golfing adventures and best of all... now when I'm loading my clubs into the boot of my car, I can cheerfully tell my wife that I am off to work! 

My next game will be on Wednesday 14th December and is the first round of the Stumpy Clark Winter Foursomes at Downes Crediton...

You can follow my progress here and on FACEBOOK and TWITTER