POINT A is playing one shot at a time the only time it matters, which is playing the shot right here and right now. The last one is over and how this one will work out is unknown until it happens.

It doesn’t matter where your thoughts may have taken you in between your shots. Simply bring yourself back to POINT A, where you are present at the only shot that counts. Then you can count on a positively pleasing result!

Do you want learn to move without having to consciously “over think” your golf stroke when playing? Is this possible? It is, but how you spend your time and what you think about during your practice could be the determining factor.

First, let’s see practice a little differently. What if we called it training instead? Is there a difference in the two terms?

The term “practice ” suggests we are applying something; and the term “train ” has always suggested learning and developing something. For example, both medicine and law are practiced after they are learned. Baseball has spring training, but teams practice during the season.

Perhaps when we are learning something new we could tell ourselves we are “training”(developing and growing) something, then when there are missed shots our emotions will be accepting, because we are learning, not performing.

Training time is when you can learn and develop your trust in your golf motions.

This would be the time to have a picture of what you want to do and then just do it. You could simply do the movement over and over until the body becomes more coordinated with the motion and at this time you would not be making any evaluations. You give yourself the freedom to learn without criticism, analyzing or diagnosing your stroke.  

When you are training your golf strokes you are spending time doing things. You are chipping, putting, driving the ball or creating shots. During this time is when you can develop the kind of golf movements that you can trust so that you can accomplish playing without overthinking.

SUGGESTIONS:

Train with a quiet mind
Train with a picture of what you want the club to do and use no words.
Train to learn to be nonjudgmental.
Train so that you can make your shot without step-by-step instructions.
Train without analyzing, judging, or correcting.
Train what you WANT to do, not what you want to fix.
Train movements that produce different shots.
Train golf strokes that produce a highball flight, a low-ball flight, and shots of different distances with the same golf club.
Train your golf strokes to have a feel of a Beginning and an Ending, and nothing extra in the middle.  

Train so that when playing you put into practice a quiet mind, no “trying”, just allowing yourself to move with no conscious effort. A big benefit from Golf From Point A training is that you can trust what you have trained so fear has no place in your game!

Create “training” sessions that emotionally support the development and growth of what you want to put into “practice” when playing GOLF FROM POINT A.

Playing golf is basically hitting the ball from here to there. From here, you want the ball to go somewhere out there. Sounds simple enough but so many golfers never get the ball to there…because their thoughts are not here, where the ball is, at POINT A.

They are consumed with regrets over a shot that happened in the past or worried about a shot they’re about to make. Everyone’s done it. Learning not to do it takes a plan to be here… and practice.

Does this sound familiar? You’re in the fairway, 130 yards from the green. You’re looking at the pin placement, taking in all the negatives about getting the ball there and the flood of mental anguish begins. Enter confusion, doubt and anxiety.

“Is this enough club? What if I miss it right and it lands in the bunker? The last bunker I was in was a disaster. If I lose this hole I’ll go two down in the match.” Exit being here, trust, and confidence. You’ve just said good-bye to making your best shot simply because your thoughts were in the past or the future – not at POINT A, envisioning the shot you want to make.

Time to re-set. Take a deep breath. Let go of the errant shot that got you here and dismiss the thought of this shot going astray. Bring yourself back to here, to POINT A, and make the best shot you can.

From POINT A you can get from here to there all day long!

-Valerie Lazar

Your brain is changing all the time. This means you are changing also. When you take in new information the brain changes by making new brain cell connections. When new information is practiced and applied repeatedly, lasting changes or habits are being wired into the brain’s information highway. However, new information without applying it to action is quickly weeded out if it is not used. Use it or lose it is what brain science suggests.

Any habit is learned through repetition. Anything you want to learn is first learned through conscious repetition until it becomes an unconscious habit action. Habits, both good and bad, are developed by repeating something over and over until it becomes a learned skill and applied without conscious thought.

People’s reactions, both positive and negative, to situations are mostly habit based. You can change your reactions if you so desire. If you have decided that your typical reactions are not benefitting you then make the choice to do something different. This is the first step in making a change. I speak from experience that my experiences on the golf course changed drastically when my thinking changed.

When golfers hit a poor shot or make an undesired number and have a negative reaction to those realities, they are feeding a habit that may not be beneficial to them. The suggestion here is to make a conscious effort to react differently by having a preplanned action ready for use when needed. One idea is to play the “positive game”: after each shot you make a positive statement. If you make a negative statement you must put a predetermined amount in the till, maybe a dollar per negative statement.

Why is it so hard to change your habits or reactions that you have always done on the golf course? Because these habits through repeated use are hardwired in your brain. Nerve cells that fire together, wire together which creates a habit. A good way way to change a habit is through nonuse. Create a new pattern that is used instead.

In order to make a change, take the time to be aware of what your thoughts and behaviors are. This kind of awareness allows you to determine what you want to change. Deciding how you want to behave and think on the course before you even go out to play gives you the tools to make the change from damaging negative behavior to positive thought patterns.

Create a new thought pattern and repeat it throughout your round. As you use this new thought pattern, you are making new connections in the brain. You are actually changing your brain. The stronger these new patterns of thought become through repetition the less conscious effort it will take to think in the manner that you desire.

As you begin to interrupt and change your typical thoughts, you may hear a voice in your head that says, “Whoa, this is uncomfortable. I’m not used to reacting with that kind of statement. This feels different.” Then you may say to yourself, “I’m not sure that I can change, this is not me.” You may have a strong desire to get back to comfortable and use what is familiar. When you can make the choice to change your thought patterns it will feel uncomfortable and less predictable because this new way of thinking is not hardwired in your brain, it is not a habit, it’s not you yet.  At this moment you have two choices: to go back to familiarity or to move on to what is unpredictable, the new way of thought and a new you.

• You have the ability to change your thoughts and your behavior and create the picture of how you want to react to situations.

• You can choose to talk to yourself in a positive manner and forget the past and have no anxiety about the unpredictable future.

• You can choose to be at Point A, which is a brand new beginning with no baggage from the past.

• You can be in this moment right now with positive thoughts that you consciously choose to use and create the person and golfer you want to be in this moment.

Do you know where your golf ball will go? Can you control where it goes? Do the best players in the world know where their ball will go?   When we watch the pros on TV we are seeing the best players for that week in the last groups. When they make golf shots it looks as if they are throwing darts right at the hole and they never miss. But the reality is: they do miss. They hit poor shots even while winning a tournament. They do not know where their ball is going until after they make their golf stroke. They can not control the outcome but they can hope that it will work out!

Once you prepare for the shot, once you make a decision, take a deep breath and make the best stroke you can at that moment in time and hope that it will be good. Yes, hope. It seems like such a flakey emotion but it really is the thought you want to have and hope can serve you the best.

Look at the definition of hope: a desire for a certain thing to happen, grounds for believing that something good will happen. Yes, this is what you would like to feel; you would like to think that the shot will work out, that it will be good. Any other thought brings doubt, fear or confusion into play. A feeling of hope keeps those undesired emotions at bay.

According to C.R. Snyder, a psychologist that specializes in positive psychology, his research on hope has found that hope is not an emotion but a way of thinking. Hope is supported by emotions but it is a cognitive process. Hope happens when we have the ability to set realistic goals and then find a path to make it happen. One of the big things with this way of thinking is to be able to tolerate disappointment and then try again, to be able to stay flexible and find alternative routes that will allow for success. It is not about being perfect but being positive, persistent and tenacious.

Hope is having confidence in yourself: I can do this. Hope is having the perseverance to pursue your goal and believing in your abilities. Standing over a golf shot I want to have hope.

Joe was talking about how happy he was about the way he was playing golf and how he was playing golf from Point A. He said that it was such a more enjoyable way to spend his four hours on the golf course than when he wasn’t playing from Point A.

Here are some of his comments:

“I have gotten so much better at being at Point A. It is such a powerful tool. I have really learned to only be aware and focused on the shot at hand. I don’t care about the past events any more and I am not predicting what the future shots will produce.

In other words, when I am on the 16th hole I don’t add up my score any more and figure that if I just par in my score will be a 76. I now understand the only thing I can control is this golf stroke that is happening now so I don’t even think about the past shots or the future ones.

The most amazing thing is to observe my playing partners and see how they destroy themselves on the golf course. When Alex gets inside of 40 yards to the green he starts this ugly self talk about how this will be a quick double bogey because he hasn’t learned to chip yet. His self-talk is such a self-fulfilling prophecy that there is no way a positive shot can come out of that situation. And when Jordan hits a bad shot he just explodes with anger and then his round is over. He gets in such a negative state of mind that he’s not even fun to be with even though the guy is one of the nicest guys in the world.

My thoughts have really gotten cleaned up now that I am only thinking of what I want to do and not what I don’t want to do. I do my best to think in a forward mindset giving myself solutions but never dwelling on the problem.

For example, I missed a short putt on the 4th hole and then when I got to the 6th hole I had a similar putt. I did not think about how I had just missed the last short putt. I put my focus on making a good stroke right now and sure enough the ball went in the hole. The profound thought is that there is nothing you can do about the last shot, it is over, it can never be replayed and thinking about it isn’t going to help you so realize that and just get on with it. I train myself to just forget it and think about what I want to do right now. I have to consciously tell myself to forget and now I’m pretty good at it.

It seems crazy now that I am playing Point A golf to think about the past and predict my next shot from what has happened in the past. I realize that this is a brand new shot and I just want to think about what I want to do and I have the opportunity to hit a great shot any time from anywhere. Without carrying the past with me I feel so much lighter and freer when I play and I feel like I am giving myself a chance for success on each shot. My friends notice my attitude because they make comments on it all the time and my scores seems to be better but the reality is that I am just much happier on the golf course.

– Susie Meyers

I’ve been helping golfers with their games for so many years now it’s hard to count. I have assisted beginners in learning the game, 20 handicappers improve, high school golfers earn a place to play in college, young professionals secure their Tour cards and have even advised and guided Tour players as they achieved their first PGA Tour wins.

I realize I was destined to be a golf coach because that is what brings me so much joy. It wasn’t always like that though; in fact for 28 years of my life it was really all about me. Just me. I was learning the game and developing myself to play golf at the highest level. I was a determined and tenacious player that had to work twice as hard as all those players that possessed more talent.

It has been a joy and a journey to co-create Golf from Point A. My business partner, Valerie Lazar, has been a catalyst and an inspiration. She has brought so many great insights to this book and her humor, wit and creative knack has helped to make Golf from Point A a unique book about the thinking side of golf. From all of my golf experience and from feedback from others many concepts have evolved and have been applied to the students that entrust me with their games. My teaching philosophy has developed and been honed through the process of putting ideas from thought to paper.

Everything begins in the brain and what a golfer is thinking while playing this game will shape and form their golf stroke, their attitude and their belief system. It truly is your perspective that will make your four-hour journey either heaven or hell. You have the opportunity to change your mind and change your game. What you think, when you think and how you think are powerful determiners of how you will play.

– Susie Meyers

I was just in the gym where I met a gentleman of about 65 years of age that has  been playing golf most of his life.  He was explaining to me how frustrating the game has been and how he had continually tried to improve to no avail.  He was ready to give up the game but then thought, “Oh heck, I just will give up trying to improve and just play golf for fun.”  To his amazement his game began to improve!!   

I shared with him that he would enjoy the new book I just published, Golf from Point A.  How you think about the game will either help you or hurt you!!  To play golf in a state of allowing instead of trying is most enjoyable and that many things work better from that state of mind.  If you just “give up” the score, you can write it down but then just forget it, and move on to the next shot and do your best, then forget it and move on and do your best then forget it and move on…the game can be pure joy. 

Anyone can play this game and anyone can play well into his or her later years and enjoy the game as his or her perspective changes.  I asked this gentleman if his perspective had changed about other things from when he was younger and he said yes.  I shared that as I am now in my fifties I am playing the forward tees now, something I haven’t done since I was 14 years old. I do not feel I am failing because I moved up on the tee box in fact I recently shot a 31 by playing one shot at a time at Point A!! 

I was chatting with a professional in her fifties and she said she doesn’t play anymore because she can’t play to the standard she has set for herself.  That made me sad because her perspective is still from when she was playing in her 20’s and 30’s.  I also know gentleman that has played in 7 Masters Championships and still plays 2-3 times a week.  He is 94 years young and loves the game…he has moved up to the ladies tees!!  It is all about your Point of View!

Change your Point of View change your game!

-Susie Meyers

My friend, CG, is a golf professional now eligible for the senior tour. She played on the LPGA tour and has been a teaching professional for the last 30 years. As the daughter of a golf professional with a brother who is also a golf professional, it’s not a stretch to say that golf is her life.

Two weeks ago she shot back-to-back 64’s and told me she is playing the best golf of her life. So good, in fact, that she is going to return to competing. She told me, “I’ve got it! I’ve finally stopped concerning myself with technique. I know I can get it on the green from just about anywhere. The game is more in my head than it ever was.”

I showed her a pre-publication copy of our book, Golf From Point A, and she demanded that I give it to her on the spot. She said she has read almost every golf book ever written, owns most of them, and considers herself to be well qualified to critique the book. I told her that a few changes were already in the works and she should wait until it’s officially published. She ignored me and leafed through it. She alternately smiled, nodded her head in agreement, or simply said after reading the limericks, and several section titles, “this is great!” She wouldn’t take no for an answer, so the book left with her and I was left with the promise that she’s a quick reader and it would be returned to me the next morning. I knew she was playing in a tournament the next day and fully expected to have the book back in my safekeeping by nightfall.

The following is the wholly unexpected text conversation between the two of us the next morning:

CG: I am loving the book!!! I love the “connect the dots…Or not. Point A to Point A to Point A could be shooting 50. “Why link shots together, they have nothing in common”. Brilliant. I also loved “The golf ball is a brainless, dimpled sphere of rubber that doesn’t know where it is…”

VL: Thanks. Play well today.

CG: I just had a warm-up on the range…OMG it feels magical.

VL: Enjoy!

CG: I’m at my club, playing a quick few practice holes before the tournament from the blue tees and I’m 4 under.

VL: Awesome

CG: I have zero thoughts and my rhythm is unreal.

I found myself asking what more could be said in support of Golf from Point A than a professional, admittedly playing the very best golf she has ever played before embracing Point A concepts, taking her already topnotch game to new heights with Point A thinking.

Wow!

-Valerie Lazar

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