March 2010

Issue 47

DESIRE
Some of you may be familiar with the Pia Nilsson conceived concept of Vision 54. Vision 54 is a concept that every hole on the course is birdieable. When Pia was the coach of the Swedish national team in the late 1980s, she felt that many of the Swedish players had a slight inferiority complex when it came to competing internationally, and Vision 54 was her coaching idea for her players to think big with the feeling of unlimited potentiality. So you may ask what is Vision 74? Well first of all Vision 74 is totally unrelated to Pia Nilssonss concept and ideas of potentiality. The concept is based on learning to take the pressure off yourself. At our Academy Programs both in Australia and Europe, many of our players are low handicap amateur players or young professionals. A problem we often see is that in their quest to move their game up to the next level, many of these players pile the pressure on themselves. They get the mindset that they have to hit the ball perfectly, swing the club perfectly, and in tournaments play mistake free golf. As soon as they make the slightest mistake they then undermine their own confidence in their game by putting on labels such as my swing is not working and I need to fix it, or I cant hole anything on the greens today. Does this type of thinking help them play the remaining holes to the best of their ability? Absolutely not! Last summer in Evian I had several interesting conversations with Jean-Francois Remsey. Jean-Francois has had a successful career on the European Tour over the last 20 years, and is a 3 time tournament winner. Hes of small build, and is one of the shorter hitters on Tour. I was interested to learn about his mindset when he plays in tournaments, and the attitudes he surrounds his game with. Jean -Francois provided a great insight into the thinking pattern of a successful tournament player. He said that you have to feel the swing you have that day, not fight it, and just look to play with a repetitive flight pattern. He said always look to take the easy choices, remembering you cant make a great round on one hole but you certainly can stain a great scorecard on one hole. He said off the tee look for the target zones that you feel comfortable with. When hitting to the green dont base your clubbing on having to hit the shot perfectly.

The monthly newsletter from the Elite Coaching Golf Academy

Vision 74
He said invariably these days the flags are tucked into the corners of the greenhis advice was to look to identify the easier target zones on approach shots. He advised that if you are faced with a chip shot to a tight flag, look to hit the ball a little past the flag. On putting dont get overzealous with trying to hole everything, but instead look to get the ball consistently in the zone behind the hole. Are you getting the gist of his advices?? Its all based around taking the pressure off, and playing easy golf. I see many of our young players overtrying, consistently choosing the low percentage shots in their management decisions, and then as their scorecard begins to drift then make even more low percentage choices as the round progresses, and then surrounding this with trying even harder to make perfect swing. perfect shots etci.e. the opposite of the mindset of Jean-Francois. You cant make a great round on one hole, but you certainly can ruin a good round on one hole Jean-Francois REMSEY, 2004 and 2005 French Open winner Well, if we take a critical analysis of junior, amateur or even young professional golf, a stroke average of 73 or 74 would mean a decent starting level. Now that does not mean I dont want players to have ambitions and big dreams and spire to shoot low scoresI absolutely do want thisbut the concept of Vision 74 is to learn to play easy golf and play during a tournament with a functional, mistake accepting mindset as opposed to a strict, perfectionistic mindset, whereby even the slightest mistake creates a lot of self criticism and frustration. And when players play with this less perfectionistic mindset on tournament day, its more likely to help them concentrate better as the player will be under less stress, and then the scorecard will take care of itself and produce a great round. Interested to learn more about developing your success mentality so that you can become the player you aspire to be? Send an email to [email protected] and we will email you our free 15 page GMAP questionnaire, and then we will give you a free of charge mental game analysis.

Elite Performance Program

Did you achieve your golfing dreams in 2009? If not why not? Are you doing the same thing in 2010, but expecting a different result? Sometimes I see players with lots of talent and lots of dedication, who put a lot of energy and time into their game throughout a season not make any long term progress. One of the reason's for this can be that the player fails to have a good plan of where they want to go and how they are going to get there. Having a good map of where you want to go (Inner Vision map), and then how you are going to get there (Skill Development map), is one of the basics that many players overlook. The clearer your direction, the easier your path will be and the more likely you will be to achieving your vision. In business every successful organisation works to a detailed strategy plan. A military general would never go into battle without a battle plan, and so it follows an elite sports person should also work and develop their game with in the framework of a specific plan. Key Benefits. Have someone in the background to help keep you on the right direction Work monthly to a plan to help get the most out of the effort you put into your game

How it works The player completes a 15 page GMAP (questionnaire) on their golf game. This is then followed up with a 60 minute telephone session to help talk through and identify the key issues, with the view of the player completing a detailed vision map and skill development map for the 2010 season. Then each month the player fills in tournament and practice statistics, and at the end/beginning of each month we touch base with a 30 minute telephone session.

What it costs 495 euros per season, in return for; GMAP analysis 180 minutes of telephone sessions Practise and tournament statistic software Development of an Inner Vision and Skill Development map for the 2010 season ECGA Player filofax, together with document templates Unlimited email support

Interested to know more? Send an email to Jon at [email protected].

Join us for a trial training for one week!

Interested in building your skills in order to make 2010 the year you dream it to be? We are offering players the chance to join us for a one week trial training. Almost all calendar weeks are available, and students can then join one of our training weeks, Mon to Fri to see if they feel they can benefit from our holistic approach. We have programs ranging from Tour Pro performance programs to junior camps. The prerequisites we demand from potential players are just ambition, discipline and desire.

Personalised and individual solutions based on performance coaching Multi cultural learning environment Emphasis on personal development and integrity Lifetime experience Professional Golf Diploma Program availableentry dates January and May each year

Interested in learning more about our Academy? Send an email to [email protected]

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