| I was working with a client recently who wanted golf | | | | FC. Oddly, he had a footballer friend called Billy |
| improvement without formal hypnosis for a | | | | Wright, who I also used to play golf with, but he |
| destructive problem he had when playing golf. Let's | | | | wasn't the famous one who used to play for England |
| call him Alan for the sake of client confidentiality. I've | | | | and married one of the Beverley Sisters! |
| changed a few other details as well for the same | | | | Now Dexter told me once about a really talented |
| reason. | | | | footballer called Laurie. Laurie played a really good |
| Alan's an enthusiast at everything he does - from | | | | game of football, "much better than I did" Dexter |
| work to golf to family. The priority sequence | | | | told me. He had all the skills and the knack of being in |
| changes, but the enthusiasm's consistent across all | | | | the right place at the right time. But Laurie was failing |
| three. He's also as honest and true to his friends as | | | | to fulfil his promise. If he was faced with an open |
| the day is long. | | | | goal, he would try to hammer the ball into the far |
| So let's focus on golf. Well Alan's a hard-working | | | | top corner rather than just roll it safely in. If he could |
| golfer, practising or playing most days, somehow. He | | | | head a cross easily past the goalkeeper, he would try |
| has a good swing, is excellent around the greens and | | | | an overhead scissor kick. Of course he often |
| is an instinctively superb putter. He's good at | | | | missed, but when he scored in his own sensational |
| visualisation as well and practices stepping into the | | | | way, he forgot about all the misses. Sadly, Dexter |
| shoes of his golfing heroes. He often practices on his | | | | told me, the selectors didn't. They knew he was a |
| own with two balls - one played in his mind by Tiger | | | | talent worthy of selection, but they couldn't afford |
| Woods and the other by Jack Nicklaus. He also | | | | for him to waste what might be Hendon FC's only |
| works hard on his physical fitness with long | | | | opportunity to score in a tight match. |
| cross-country walks and almost daily workouts in the | | | | I later found out that Laurie later worked as a |
| pool - whatever the weather. | | | | toolmaker at a big machine tool company in the |
| Alan's problem in golf is that he consistently scores | | | | Hendon area. I'd been telling the story to my father |
| much worse than he should due to unforced errors - | | | | and he recognised Laurie as a man who worked in |
| accidents you could say. The main causes of these | | | | the company he ran. He checked out Laurie's past |
| accidents are his desire to overcomplicate the shot | | | | and it turned out that I'd met Laurie when I worked |
| he needs to play and the resultant lapses of | | | | there before going up to University t Imperial College. |
| concentration. Instead of hitting a normal shot, that | | | | The crowds loved Laurie too, when he was on |
| he can regularly execute consistently well - he | | | | target, but they began to boo him loudly when he |
| suddenly decides to try something more complicated | | | | wasn't. Finally, Dexter told me, Hendon dropped him |
| on impulse and doesn't think the shot through. You | | | | after he reacted badly to adverse comments from |
| won't be surprised to hear that these shots are | | | | the manager. Fortunately for him, Laurie had a good |
| normally disastrous and expensive! | | | | friend outside the team who helped him to realise |
| Now Alan presented me with a few problems. It | | | | that what he loved most was playing for a winning |
| would be easy to help him overcome his problem by | | | | team - much more important to him than scoring the |
| using golf hypnosis, but he seemed alarmed at the | | | | occasional outrageous goal. Without the need to look |
| idea of formal hypnosis. Maybe he'd had a bad | | | | for sensational opportunity, he found his |
| experience with stage hypnosis, or some "well | | | | concentration improved and with it his consistency. |
| informed" religious advisor telling him that he shouldn't | | | | Laurie's new found success in reserve games quickly |
| have anything to do with hypnosis! But he'd come to | | | | persuaded he manager to bring him back into the |
| me through a friend and I'd agreed to help him | | | | club team and the national manager started to notice |
| without using formal hypnosis. | | | | how easy Laurie made the art of goal scoring. The |
| The solution was to prepare a therapeutic metaphor; | | | | national manager called him up for the England team |
| a complex story or set of stories. The object is to | | | | and he rapidly became the regular winner that he |
| keep his conscious mind occupied with the complexity | | | | always wanted for club and country. |
| of the story the unconscious mind finds the literal | | | | He continued to try out his more sensational goal |
| meaning hidden in the central story. That allows the | | | | scoring techniques, but not in the course of a game. |
| unconscious mind to find it's own way for him to | | | | He tried them on the practice ground for his own |
| overcome the problem. I knew that if I embedded | | | | pleasure and for the amusement of his friends - "you |
| the story in the middle of several other loosely | | | | never know when they might come in handy and |
| related stories, I could keep his conscious mind | | | | they keep me sharp", he would say. But he knew |
| sufficiently occupied while my hidden message could | | | | that his real satisfaction came from winning." |
| get through to his unconscious. | | | | We finished off our quiet conversation talking about |
| So what metaphor should I use? I knew that Alan's | | | | this and that and went our separate ways. A few |
| an enthusiastic football supporter as well, so I | | | | weeks later, I heard from Alan. He told me that he'd |
| decided to use a football metaphor. Now some of | | | | started winning more and playing much more |
| the story's based on facts I remembered and other | | | | consistently. He even told me that he'd got over |
| parts are just made up, so don't write to me to tell | | | | some of his eccentric play - he'd never described it |
| me that's not what happened! | | | | that way before. He went on to suggest that maybe |
| I had an initial meeting with Alan and we sat down in | | | | there was no need for us to meet up for our first |
| a quiet corner of the golf club and at the appropriate | | | | golf psychology session as his problem had gone |
| moment when he was relaxed in conversation, I | | | | away. Thankfully, he had paid me up front and he'd |
| brought the conversation round to this story. | | | | got a good return on his investment. It seemed a |
| "I used to play golf with Dexter Adams, a former | | | | shame to tell him that we'd already done the work, |
| Captain of England at football in the 1950's- even | | | | but I had to - to justify my fee. |
| though he was an amateur and played for Hendon | | | | |