In his 4/5/10 Time Magazine article, “Tiger at the Masters: An Ultimate Test of Toughness,” Sean Gregory discusses the challenge Tiger Woods faces as he returns to golf. He includes the advice of hypnotherapists in the excerpt below.
When Woods was a teenager, he worked with a hypnotist to help place his mind in the proverbial zone. And given his recent revelations that he’s reconnected with Buddhism, it’s fair to assume that Woods is doing a fair amount of quiet introspection. Do more of it, say the psychologists. With practice, you can enter an altered, hypnotic state on the golf course, though not to the point where you’re barking like a dog on command. “You are aware of what’s going on,” says Ken Grossman, a Sacramento, Calif.–based hypnotherapist who has worked with many athletes. “You’re not out in left field.”
For example, Jennifer Scott, a golf hypnotherapist from Phoenix, suggests staring at some object on the course — perhaps a leaf on a fairway tree — and taking a deep breath while waiting to take a shot. “Your eyes are very powerful,” she says. “If you’re darting your eyes back and forth, you lose focus.” Summon the subconscious and give yourself a mantra. “Think peace, harmony, relax, relax,” Scott says. “The golfers I teach love those words.” Denise Silbert, a hypnosis expert from La Jolla, Calif., recommends selecting a physical trigger, like holding a golf ball while walking down the fairway, which will signal your brain to slow down. “As I hold the golf ball, I feel a calm energy,” Silbert says. “I let go of the conscious riffraff, I’m reprogramming the unconscious mind. The verbiage in my mind is affirming: ‘Fairways of power, greens of solace.’” Are you in a trance yet? For Woods, Scott suggests a less hippie-sounding mental chant, perhaps, “I’m the greatest player in the world, see each shot as it lands.”
While affirming his greatness, Woods should also visualize his most triumphant moments. “I’d have him channel a mental movie,” says Grossman. “While he’s in that relaxed state, he should recall his 2008 U.S. Open championship win against Rocco Mediate. He would want to remind himself he won that with a broken leg, and here at the Masters, he’s not even feeling any pain.” Read the whole article here.
