The Eagle Has Landed

An eagle in the world of golf is a coveted prize. It happens rarely and when it does, a surge of self-esteem, pride and feelings of self- assuredness are the gifts to the golfer. Pars are good but eagles are better.

At the Sportslink Training Center in Phoenix, Arizona, we coach golfers and other athletes for mental performances. The approaches we use can be incorporated into a hypnotherapy practice. Many of the visualization needs and positive reinforcement issues are already familiar. Learning to coach golfers and other athletes is a rewarding journey filled with excitement, frustration and pure joy.

It is important to learn that all golfers have a swing coach who is responsible for their pre-shot and playing routine. They are available when a game goes bad. Several holes gone bad is referred to, in the field of golf, as "bleeding." It is a very scary situation when you are trying to make a living hitting a little white ball down a large span of grass, ending up on an area of shorter grass while trying to put the ball into a hole. Such endeavors make men into boys very rapidly.

There are two mental skills that can be taught that insure a positive outcome for golf and all sports. Brain synchrony, or balance, and the development of a relaxation response. These two skills are the door and key to the zone.

Working with professional athletes has been challenging and has resulted in the realization that these mental skills should be taught by many more people and many other places. This is the reason for this article. I hope to interest you in joining me in the mental training field as a certified coach.

To understand the game of golf, and all those who play it, meet the golfers. A professional golfer is someone who has made money during a sanctioned golf game. Celebrity golfers playing on the Canadian Tour, the BUY.COM Tour, the PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour, and the LPGA Tour fall into this category. A club golfer is someone who plays weekly or more often at a country club or golf course. These groups are separated only by where they play, scores, and winning money amounts. All of them share the desire and need to win by the lowest score.

Golf has been played for hundreds of years. Clubs have changed. Balls have been improved. But not until the entrance of Tiger Woods did the mental side of golf become important. It was at this point that golfers realized that calmness, focus, and concentration were as important as how they held the club. When Tiger Woods began to win, sport psychologists were in high demand. Today, sport psychologists are losing their hold on the athletes and mental coaches are becoming very popular. Now, as you watch a tournament or championship game, you will hear mention of the mental side of sports and how important it is.

To be a mental training coach, a working knowledge of the brain-mind connection is mandatory. Developing relaxation abilities is paramount and brain training for synchrony is the important ingredient for success. All of these skills are present in those who practice hypnotherapy. All that is needed is the understanding of the sports involved and a protocol to follow.

As I spend my weekends sitting in front of a television screen, I flip back and forth between stations covering the PGA, BUY.COM, LPGA, and Senior Tournaments, watching the different golfers who have trained with me. It is a time consumer during the season, but it is also exciting and rewarding. At the present time, the NBA Basketball Championships and baseball are included, offering entertainment with concern.

Those of you who know me remember that I am always looking for new areas in which hypnotherapists can utilize audio visual stimulation and cognitive development. During the 2001 convention I was intending to launch the new Sportlink Focus Trainer and share new protocols for light and sound to enhance athletic performance. I apologize for my absence, but see the positive side of having more time to prepare this certification course.

Now I am ready to hand over the specific training protocols. For any of you who have an interest in becoming mental training coaches, this will not only give you the chance to become specialized in this exciting field, but it is also lucrative. Remember, a golfer does not hesitate to spend $300 on a new club or pay $150 for a round of golf. Thus, they think nothing of paying $75+ for a session that will help them win their club championship or be on the leader board at the next tournament.

To become a certified mental training coach it is not mandatory to understand all sports. I believe that golf is the place to start, since there are millions of golfers waiting for help to better their games. The club golfers fall within this group. They are always looking for an edge. They play for money and the honor of being among the top players at their club. Although their winnings are meager, the prestige is monumental. When the word is out that you know how to better their games, you will have many appointments with both men and women needing performance enhancement .

The secret to excellence in sports is the ability to maintain brain balance in a synchronous state. Couple this with a relaxation response and you have reached the Zone Focus state. This knowledge is gold to athletes since it provides them with an accessible mental winning state of mind. We teach this skill at the Sportslink Training Center in Phoenix. Athletes come here from all over the world for initial focus training. When they return to the different tours, they may need a tuneup. That is where you come in. When an athlete calls here for a referral, we can look up the city where they are playing and refer them to someone who has the knowledge base to help them. We also maintain a constant contact with our mental trainers to answer any questions or provide support through telephone and email. If you receive a call for help from a golfer with the Yips, you could call and we would explain to you that this means he is emotionally confused, anxious and needs help with this before the next day's round. There are definite approaches to this. Many solutions are within your grasp as hypnotherapists and can be coupled with the use of the Sportslink Focus Trainer. It is not necessary to restrict your practice to sports. Mental training is a big area. Attention deficit and corporate excellence are among the areas also served by mental training coaches using audio visual stimulation. Many parents are looking for alternative approaches to help their children with mental focus. The protocols are similar whether focusing in a classroom or in a competitive field.

I look forward to seeing you in October, and am anxious to share this exciting mental training approach to Peak Performance. Look up our website at www.gosportslink or contact me at opnet2@aol.com. I am the director of the Sportslink Training Center which services athletes from all over the world and is the first mental training coaching center. The Sportslink Focus Trainer is the newest audiovisual stimulation instrument developed especially for performance enhancement. To order go to page 15.

Rayma Ditson Sommer, PhD, is an IMDHA board member. She will do a one-day certification course, "Mental Training Coach" during the Annual Conference, October 24-29, 2002. Email opnet2@aol.com