____________________________________________

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you

to enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

Kahlil Gibran

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Introduction

It has often been said that golf is a mental game, but I don’t “think” that is accurate or true. I “feel,” instead, that golf is an emotional game; one in which performance is

“Channeled and purposeful emotion transforms ordinary into

exceptional, replacing a purely intellectual and thought-driven

process with one where we believe – we really begin to feel – that our crowning achievements have already arrived.”

– Spirit of Golf’s “Thoughts of the Day”

ultimately powered - or disempowered – because of inner qualities surrounding emotion, attitude, temperament, and mood.

Indeed, our ability to focus, process, analyze, and make sound decisions – what I think of more as mental qualities – is decidedly hampered whenever we are in the midst of an unhappy or even volatile emotional space (remember, for example, the last time you were in the throes of a heated argument with yourself or someone else and the quality of the thoughts you were thinking).

It is not until we regain our emotional composure that we are able to start thinking clearly once again, at which time we align with a more precise internal energy that allows us to tap into empowering states of clarity and calm.

It is my firm belief that emotional mastery – the hallmark of what is shared through Spirit of Golf – will become the next frontier for improvement in the game.

Swing instruction has never been better, equipment more technologically advanced, bodies more fit.

And yet, there seems to be something seriously missing from our games, requiring us to look more deeply inside ourselves if we are committed to improving performance; not just in golf but in every aspect of our lives.

It is my firm belief that emotional mastery will

become the next frontier for improvement in golf. Swing instruction has never been

better, equipment more technologically advanced, bodies more fit. And yet,

there seems to be something seriously

missing from our games, requiring us

to look inside ourselves if we are seriously committed to

improving our games and our lives.

Spirit of Golf

Skills and Drills

Peak Performance Techniques for the Athletic Mind

Tim N. Kremer, M.A.

President and Founder, Spirit of Golf

Table of Contents Front Nine

1. Why Do I (Really) Play Golf?

2. The Illusion of Control

3. Believing is Seeing: Learning to Tap into ‘The Flow’

4. The Pre-Shot Routine

5. The Post-Shot Routine

6. The Emotional Scale 7. Language, Self-Talk, and the Incredible Power of Words 8. The Breath 9. Meditation

Back Nine

10. Tapping into “The Zone” 11. The Goal Setting Process

12. The Manifestation Process

13. Action vs. Imagination 14. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Feel No Evil 15. Keeping Emotional Score 16. Act (Feel) As If 17. As Seen on TV 18. Telling a New Story

2 The Illusion of Control

It is paradoxical not only in golf but in our everyday lives how much emotional energy we waste by getting upset trying to control conditions that were never within our control.

Traffic, the weather, what gets reported in the news, caring what others think about us and our performance and score; thinking that we can control any of these conditions becomes an exercise in frustration and futility, not to mention a severe emotional energy leak.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I

cannot change, the courage to change the things I

can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

- 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

In golf, it would be safe to say that some 99% of all negative emotion surrounds our attachment to conditions that are totally outside our control: course conditions, score, winning, the competition, how our bodies move during every swing, ultimately where a golf ball goes (other than maybe a six-inch putt).

While we can still get by and play adequate and at times great golf in spite of a moody disposition, we will never be able to optimize performance for very long with an attitude that is ornery and behavior that is out of control.

In truth, most of us have no idea how much powerful life-force energy we waste during a typical round of golf. Time and again we complain and beat up on ourselves in highly unconscious and addictive ways, overlooking the reservoir of power that we always have available to us that would enhance every aspect of our games and lives.

_________________________________________________

The $100 game …

Imagine that you were given a $100 bill before a round of golf. You get to keep whatever money is in your pocket after the round is through, but there are a few “fees” for some emotions and behaviors along the way.

Here is a price list for what things cost:

A strong, angry reaction - $15 (add $5 for slamming or tossing a club)

Steaming on the inside and thinking that by not saying anything you’re off the hook - $10

Berating yourself (silently or out loud) or bad mouthing someone else - $10 Complaining about course conditions, slow play, or club politics - $5 Making any excuse - $5

Analyzing a shot in hopes that someone will commiserate with you or that anyone else really cares - $5

Ask yourself, “How much money would I have left over after my round?” If the answer is $0, at what point during the round would I have run out?

(The joke with this game is that most of our pockets would be empty by the end of the third or fourth hole.)

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The Practice

Step 1: Make a list of four things you want to accomplish in your game the next time you play. For example, “The next time I play golf, I want to:

Break 80 Hit at least 10 fairways in regulation Have no more than two three-putts Have more fun

Now it’s your turn.

The next time I play golf, I want to:

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

4

The Pre-Shot Routine

What I have discovered over my years as a peak performance coach is that most golfers have a very repeatable pre-shot routine. It might not be a great routine, a good one, or even one that looks like a routine, but it still repeats itself time and again.

“Each of us could make it a part of our games to ‘front load’

powerfully-focused emotions into the pre-shot routine. Otherwise, we

leave the door wide open to old emotional patterns that often include

impulsive and habitual reactions filled with judgment, criticism, anger, and

blame. The decision to remain centered and calm has to happen long

before we hit the ball, however, in much the same way as we keep the

gasoline far removed from an open flame.”

- Spirit of Golf’s Thoughts of the Day

What I’ve also found with most pre-shot routines is that they match a player’s abilities and goals. Lower handicap golfers often have more focused and deliberate routines, whereas higher handicap players become a little less disciplined (they become consistently inconsistent) with the mental and physical preparation that goes into

their routines.

What I have yet to find however – even among the best players in the game – is a mindful and deliberate attempt to “front-load” positive states of emotion into the pre-shot routine. Instead, emotions are conditional and often left to circumstance and chance, resulting in happy feelings when we are playing well and not-so-happy feelings when shots are errant and out of control.

The bottom line is that most who struggle with anger, frustration, anxiety, and other negative emotions have not been coached

or taught how to effectively deal with emotions relative to their games.

Seldom do we consider the powerful effect that the unseen world of emotion has upon performance and success. What we also fail to understand is that all negative emotion – which is truly nothing more than a state of mind – could be diffused or avoided long before the energy gains too much momentum and steam.

By learning to retrain the body/mind to “feel” states of emotion – especially emotions unrelated to golf – we can bring these high flying “un-conditional” emotional states into our games. Hence, the value of a solid pre-shot routine.

Seldom do we

consider the

powerful effect

that the unseen

world of emotion

has upon

performance

and success.

The Final (and most compelling) Step:

Front-Loading Positive Emotions into the Pre-Shot Routine

The most compelling step in what is about to become “My New and Improved Pre-Shot Routine” begins as we deliberately front-load positive, feel-good emotions into every shot. This process effectively becomes the single-most important part of the pre-shot routine!

The purpose of “front-loading” emotions is to consciously (not accidentally) create a highly powerful, Zone-like state of mind. In effect, we use “emotional imagination” to feel as if something good is about to unfold; at which time the tangible, physical proof of the shot begins to arrive. (A concept that cannot be emphasized enough.)

It often helps in the early stages of this emotional work to practice feeling emotions in a calm, neutral setting away from the golf course (what I like to call away from the scene of the crime). This is particularly helpful if we have typical emotional reactions that run volatile and hot.

The goal of this process is to eventually learn to separate emotion from performance, at which time we feel positive emotions so powerfully that no shot can throw us or our games off track. By releasing and letting go of old habitual emotions that form

The goal is to

eventually learn to

separate emotion

from performance,

at which time we

feel positive

emotions so

powerfully that no

shot can throw us or

our games off track.

tension and resistance throughout the body, we access a natural reserve of energy that feels confident, focused, and alive.

Keep in mind throughout this process that the emotions we front-load into the routine will often change during the course of a round and even on a single hole (don’t get stuck picking an emotion before you get to the course or on the first hole and think that this will be your emotion for the rest of the day). Just as there are many different types of golf shots we can learn to play, we want to be able to pick and choose our emotions depending upon how we want to feel about the shot at hand.

A case in point …

“Jeff” is a highly-talented mini-tour professional who, not unlike others at this level, struggles with impatience and frustration when things are not going his way. He liked the idea of front-loading positive, feel-good emotions into his pre-shot routine; something he had never considered before.

Jeff made it his goal to play with an emotion of fun (not surprisingly, an emotion that had been absent from his game for quite some time). While he was able to stay in a self-described “happy place” for the first few holes, after a few shots got away from Jeff, his emotions did too. He quickly reverted back to old emotional patterns of orneriness and frustration, and he lost his ability to stay in a good mood.

As we walked to the next hole, I had Jeff switch his pre-shot emotion from fun to one of acceptance. I was not asking him to “like” his bad golf shots but instead to tap into a feeling of “OK-ness” (acceptance) with whatever the golf course threw his way.

It was within a few shots that both Jeff’s emotions and his game were back on track, and he was able to dial back into his game feelings of enjoyment and fun.

Building an emotional base …

A solid foundation is the most important part of constructing any new house. With a solid footing, the building can remain functional and livable for a very long time. It is when the foundation is structurally unsound (or shortcuts are taken) that what is built on top of it begins to weaken and collapse; not always immediately but certainly in time.

There is simply no way to begin the building process with a compromised foundation and hope for what follows to remain stable and strong.

As it might seem, a golf game is constructed – or deconstructed – in much the same way. If we start each shot from a position of internal strength and power (a rock- solid emotional foundation), what follows physically (mechanically and technically) often thrives.

It’s when we begin the process with a weak emotional foundation that our games leak energy and quickly fall apart. (It’s also why even the most beautiful swing in the world cannot keep a game with a shaky foundation – belief system – from eventually toppling to the ground.)

Tapping into the grid …

The Emotional Grid on the following page offers a variety of emotions we can begin to front-load into the pre-shot routine. The grid becomes a particularly helpful list for those who struggle may not be used to identifying emotions and how they want to feel.

As you use the grid, pinpoint any of the emotions (or come up with our own) as a starting place for how you want to feel in your routine.

As you go to your next shot you’ll pick and choose another emotion or use the same one and go through the process again.

10

Tapping Into “The Zone”

Just about every athlete in any sport has at one time or another experienced the powerful feeling of playing in “The Zone.” While many have tried to describe with words the often indescribable feelings and sensations of The Zone, several qualities seem to stand out time and again.

“The Zone is not some mysterious peak performance state over

which we have no control. It is not a mind state that has to be

left to chance. Instead, The Zone is a state of beingness that

we can learn to tap into in any moment in time.”

– Spirit of Golf’s “Thoughts of the Day”

The Zone is a highly euphoric, blissful, and hypnotic state of peak performance; a total body/mind experience of heightened awareness where critical thinking dissipates, movement flows effortlessly, performance optimizes with ease and flow, and time stands still.

There is not an athlete who does not love playing his or her sport from inside The Zone. How could they not?

The Zone offers us extremely powerful feelings of serenity, flow and ease; energies that mirror the deepest and most powerful essence of who we really are.

How does it happen ?

When I ask players how they got into The Zone, most don’t have a clue. Most, in fact, tell me that it was either by accident or a mystical experience that somehow found its way to them (most just as mysteriously fall out of The Zone with little idea why).

While I agree that The Zone can at first seem elusive or hard to tap into, I also know that it is a mind state that we can begin to consciously and deliberately access more and more of the time.

"The Zone" is a peak

emotional state that

constantly and

patiently wants to

express and show

itself to us, but it is

we who must first

become an

emotional match to

its positive and

calming influence

(energy) before it

can come our way.

As with all emotional mind states, The Zone is not a vague “out of body” experience waiting to happen to us, but rather an “in here” state of beingness that is patiently waiting to express itself in our games (or for that matter, any part of our lives).

What’s important to understand about The Zone is that we cannot grind, chase, or struggle our way into feeling it (negative emotional energy of any kind will not let us into The Zone; it will also immediately kick us out.)

In order to “feel The Zone,” we must first get out of the analytical, self-critical, thought-driven energies of the head (it is not a mental state that we can “think” about and find).

Rather, The Zone is an emotional state that we must learn to gently “feel” our way into as we allow ourselves to access emotional states of trust, acceptance, and letting go. It is then that we are free to move into the more powerful feelings that can only be accessed through our emotions and from inside the heart.

The Zone is not a

mental state we can

“think” about and find,

but rather an emotional

state of beingness that

we must learn to gently

“feel” our way into as

we allow ourselves to

access emotional states

of confidence, trust,

acceptance, and

letting go.

Zone-like competitive rounds …

For the time being – and what I strongly believe will someday change – golf scores of “59” represent a mythical level of performance and are synonymous with achievement of emotional and mental mastery during a given 18-hole round. Scores at this level in competitive tournament events have been accomplished on only seven occasions on the PGA, LPGA, and Web.com Tours. Although it is impossible to truly know the mindset and emotions players experience while shooting these scores, it is highly likely that the rounds were played in states that mirror The Zone. Below is a review of these occasions:

PGA Tour: · Al Geiberger - 1977 Memphis Classic, 2nd round · Chip Beck - 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, 3rd round · David Duval - 1999 Bob Hope Invitational, final round

LPGA Tour: · Annika Sorenstam - 2001 Standard Register Ping, 2nd round Web.com Tour: · Notah Begay III - 1998 Dominion Open, 2nd round · Doug Dunakey - 1998 Miami Valley Open, 2nd round · Jason Gore – 2005 Cox Classic, 2nd round

· Will Wilcox - 2013 Utah Championship, final round · Russell Knox - 2013 Albertsons Boise Open, 2nd round

Nature and "The Zone" …

In nature, energy unfolds and unleashes its tranquil or violent power in an unforced, effortless way. Nothing is hurried nor is it slowed down – even the most ferocious storm has a life and power of its own – and there is simply a natural current of energy that nature accepts and does not fight or push against.

Most of us on the golf course are not playing with this natural (balanced) sense of flow and ease. Instead, we activate subtle or not-so-subtle internal energies of justification, judgment, impatience, rationalization, and blame; emotional states which are the antithesis of what it takes to tap into and remain in The Zone.

It is not until we feel a more peaceful and natural flow of emotional energy that we can deliberately access The Zone. Even then, The Zone will befriend us only when we are being very kind and gentle with ourselves.

Getting Into The Now …

There is a simple guiding principle that is necessary to understand if we want to intentionally play golf from inside The Zone: All of our power is here and Now.

We push away The Zone whenever we push away “The Now,” which is another way of saying that we spend more energy focusing on unhappy and unproductive stories surrounding past or future than we do on what feels empowering and “in-powering” right Now.

As we soften any mental and emotional tension and resistance we become much better able to deliberately tap into The Zone. It is then that we begin to feel, maybe for the first time ever, what it means to play golf more mindfully and on purpose (“one shot at a time.”)

About the Author

Tim N. Kremer, M.A., is a visionary peak performance consultant/coach with locations in Florida and Ohio. He is president and founder of Spirit of Golf, LLC, a program utilizing innovative and pioneering techniques which help participants (both athletes and non-athletes) learn to achieve greater success and joy in both golf and life.

Tim is an author, lecturer, and national keynote speaker who has presented before athletic, educational, corporate, and not-for-profit organizations, inspiring non-athletes

with the same messages he shares with golfers through Spirit of Golf.

In 2013, Tim presented before both the PGA and LPGA Teaching and Coaching Summits. He and Spirit of Golf are also featured prominently in independent Los Angeles film producer Erik Anders Lang’s visionary movie, “Golf: The Hole Story.”

In addition to his speaking and writing schedule, Tim works privately with a growing number of golfers on most of the major golf tours as well as an increasing number of athletes in other sports. He has touched the lives of thousands of people utilizing his background in golf (as competitor, coach, and instructor), Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Transformational Communication, hypnosis, meditation (a 25-year practice), breathwork, writing, and the martial arts. Tim also is a licensed instructor for PAIRS International, a program which utilizes couples communication skills.

Tim is a former mini-tour golf professional and has competed successfully as an amateur at the national level. He continues to maintain a scratch handicap and plays

for fun in tournaments as his schedule allows. Prior to his golf career, Tim worked in corporate communications and as a communication consultant with clients across the country. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism/communications from the University of Iowa.

Tim’s deep passion for sharing the concepts of Spirit of Golf combines his playing and teaching career in golf with his practice as a performance coach focusing on interpersonal communication skills surrounding present moment awareness. He remains at the leading edge of transformational life coaching by attending workshops and learning from others, including Jerry and Esther Hicks, Abraham, Eckhart Tolle, Joan Borysenko, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Gregg Braden, Candace Pert, Joe Dispenza, Ram Das, David Morehouse, Deepak Chopra, Brian Weiss, Carolyn Myss, Rosemary Wolff, Jon Connelly, Sri Vasudeva, Nayano, and many others.

His life experiences have helped Tim create a fun, unique, and entertaining coaching/teaching style appreciated by the athletes and others whose lives he has touched.

A free “Thought of the Day” email is read by thousands throughout the world each day (available in Books I, II, and III). Tim has also produced numerous DVDs and audio CDs that highlight the concepts taught through Spirit of Golf workshops and clinics, and he conducts webinars and instructor certification for those interested in teaching mind skills to their students.

Audio music CDs also have been produced which incorporate sound and music into leading-edge brain entrainment technology.

All Spirit of Golf materials, as well as a link to sign up for the free “Thought of the Day,” are available through the Spirit of Golf website at: www.myspiritofgolf.com.