Published Articles
By Dr. William R. Morrow

“Hypnosis Helps Golfers”

Thomas Edison was not the man they say he was; he was more! When I took the tour of his laboratory at the Edison Home, there, in front of us, was his day bed right in plain sight. Our guide said he was known for his catnaps on that old pallet. I have another theory: He was the brilliant inventor of his time because he was spending time with his creative inner resources whenever he lay down on that creative cot. And, I recently learned that Edison was a loyal fan of hypnosis, confirming my long-held theory. He clearly knew how to tap the inspiration he needed when he needed it.

By this day in age, everyone knows that shifting mental activity into the right hemisphere of the brain turns on the inventive juices, and induces a state of consciousness that is both calm and creative. People seek Yoga meditation, mindfulness, and other disciplines to quiet the left-brain activity of worry and self-criticalness. Now, although many top athletes don’t reveal their mental secrets, more high sports performance is coming from “mind coaches” than performance enhancing drugs. A number of pro golfers, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson prepare themselves with an inner game rehearsal, which brings notable success. Tiger Wood’s eye blink, before a shot, is talked about as his form of self-hypnosis. Now, given our broader understanding of the man, we could imagine that he also had to sharpen his concentration, and clear his mind of his social- life imagery. Blink, blink! Change what you think!

While few golfers today would want his relationship problems, they have to admire his abilities to keep focus in the midst of more media attention than he ever bargained for. How does he do it? I say it is self-hypnosis. (And all golfers can learn it without having to endanger their marriage.) For his part, Woods has proven the effectiveness of his mental skills within the crucible of his present day struggles.

It goes without saying that golf is a mental game, once you get the basic skills down. Going from being a duffer to being a good golfer is a matter of understanding the stance, swing stroke, etc. (commonly known as “golf lessons”) But making the move from being a good golfer to a great golfer, requires a psychological approach.

This is because already acquired golfing skills are not accessible to a golfer if there is some form of stress or anxiety interfering with the performance. This performance inhibition is like stage fright: Your worst critic is watching you, like the worst coach you ever had, and it is all coming from your own head.

Some of it takes the form of a paralyzing negative self-talk, consisting of all your worst worries and fears, including memories of bad shots. There are subliminal inner voices that beleaguer the helpless golfer poised over the tee, like a 17th century criminal waiting for the guillotine to fall.

But (and here is the good news) self-hypnosis can save your neck, and bring calmness to the game right at the very point when you need it the most. The stress response can be retrained, and a relax/concentrate image anchored to a Woodsian eye-blink, or better your own personalized (and discreet) brain cue. Example: a special grip linked to your inner coach. Relaxation-on-command helps increase the body-mind connection found in super athletes. During the relax mode, left-brain chatter is diminished and a pleasant right brain image of the green or fairway looms into focus.

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