Everyone now knows the importance of psychology when it comes to improving your performance, and as a result far more amateur sportsmen and women are following the professionals and having specialist sports performance coaching to assist them with their mental approach.

In particular, golfers do all sorts of things in order to feel comfortable over the ball. When Paul McGinley was asked how top level golfers kept their cool under such enormous pressure during the Ryder Cup a few years ago, his answer was simple: they follow their process. Although most people will assume this involves following their pre-shot routine, what many people don’t realise is that a pre-shot routine involves not only what you do with your body, but also a psychological process.

Though people’s initial response is often to assume that the problem with their play is down to the fact that they aren’t practising enough or that they aren’t good enough technically, you only have to look at the professionals to see how large a part psychology can play. Think of Rory McIlroy’s collapse at the Masters in 2011 and his recovery after employing inner game strategies at the US Open, or England’s woeful penalty record in recent decades. Sportspeople at the top level clearly have enough technical skill to avoid these situations; it is their mind-set that makes the difference between the winners and losers…

What Magenta’s sports performance coaching does is to help identify your problem areas and what needs to be done to resolve them for you. This may involve teaching state control techniques, anchoring or deeper processes in order to ensure self-sabotage does not occur at crucial moments.
My confidence in the effectiveness of NLP training and sports performance coaching stems not only from the positive feedback of clients and my record working with top golf coaches Paul Ashwell (UK top 25 coach) and Jamie Donaldson (Europe’s No.1 green reading specialist), but also the impact it has had on my own enjoyment of the game, as I find myself now playing off the lowest handicap I have ever achieved.

For more information on how sports performance coaching can take your performance to the next level, just visit www.magentacs.co.uk, where you’ll be able to request your free copy of our new information guide.