The Only Mental Game Coach You Actually Require (And It’s Not Andy)

New seasons underway ; performers excited to get going and see what their ’24 campaign looks like.

2/3 events in, pre season optimism fading quickly … and Andy’s inbox starts to ping notifications to me whilst I’m out and about with versions of ‘I’m struggling can you help me’ and ‘ pretty disillusioned after practicing well in the off season and was miles off today, can we chat please’

I do respond to each and every message but often to the incoming seeker , what goes back often surprises them . Some retain some curiosity and ask further questions, some are somewhat confused and dance around a little while before disappearing back into the search engine, some don’t even acknowledge a response ever landed. Such is Andy’s life 🙂

‘Thank you for your message and describing how it’s been for you until now; happy to chat but I can’t help you with your golf game! But I can point to a default setting where you already have all you require and as a result of subsequent insights around that, you take it from there’

As mental game guides go, whilst I do have a set of tools (collected in a previous life) I’ve come to see that the innate-ness of what we’ve always had, supersedes anything I could add from my intellectual pool .

Infact I’ve come to see that the very intellectual tools we’ve attempted to apply to our performance (under the guise of a self help strategy) are the very same tools which veil the same innate resources they are claiming to enhance, to train in, to install, to reinforce, to remember , to refer to when the game manifests ‘pressure’ .

“All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we are not.” – Jack Pransky

What if the illusion is the actual technique veiling our true nature/innate capabilities?

What if the illusion is the seeking of control, coping , fixing?

What if the illusion is anything under the umbrella term ‘mental game work’?

Over the years I’ve used the term ‘Blueprint’ and (partly due to Andy’s inability to consistently point to the formless nature that resides within us all using the form of language/partly due to the inevitable conditioning seekers come with) I suspect performers have taken that to be about THEIR INTELLECTUAL PLAN … rather than the UNIVERSAL , IMPERSONAL NATURE that underpins any plan

My sense is that any intervention temporarily veils innate-ness . For the most part I’d like to think that is an innocent ; I also sense some ‘coaches’ manipulate a seeker and keep then reliant by offering shiny promises and blowing life into the ego to ensure they stay in the conversation/on the payroll .

Yep, I said that out loud and wrote it down! Not all helpers are helping! 🙂

The coach/guide I’d encourage you to be looking to is not Andy, not the next self titled expert, not an author of the latest self help bible, not someone claiming to have found truth and packaged it into a course, seminar or retreat .…but the innate blueprint you ALREADY are in possession of

“All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we are not. Jack Pransky

It needs to be said again. You are already made of that which you’re seeking

Hiding in plain sight …in those words ! And nothing over the past 20+ years looking in the direction of mental performance/excellence has convinced me that interventions ever bring more value, more sustained longevity, more answers to the performance conundrum we all appears to be searching for.

So no, it’s not Andy you need .

Andy does not offer strategies becos, despite the mainstream claim, they do not allow true nature/innate resources to emerge .

For the seeker of control, coping and managing , this message will be dismissed . I am well schooled in being side-lined, being labelled a disruptor , not scientifically ‘proven’ (still makes me laugh given that ‘science’ in relation to the mental game remains a bunch of collective opinions with no fact at all) and that the majority who read this will still remain wedded to their habitual thinking and will put up with the limitations rather than dare to look elsewhere

But for the curious few …..consider the pointer that perhaps you are indeed what you’ve been seeking?

That our default resources are indeed peace, ease, flow, hope, optimism, security, wholeness …..and the illusion is anything that suggests you’re not?

You don’t need an external coach. 🙂

Andy will endeavour to keep pointing to the space where true nature resides and from where all enhanced performance springs from

‘Getting out of my own way’ ….aka getting out of my intellect and allowing true nature to guide .

If looking in this direction resonates for you, you’ll drop me a line and see where it goes

If looking in this direction just represents another brief stop along the search before you look at the next shiny thing, you won’t drop me a line 🙂

I don’t spend my time trying to convince anyone ; that takes me away from what this is and I will continue to look within, regardless of what the mainstream world suggests I need to be myself/ok

Thank you for stopping by

Andy

andy121morrison@gmail.com to share more time

The Illusion of Mental Techniques: A Consideration

To start, I encourage you NOT to take anything that follows on this blog to be true, a fact, or that Andy knows something you don’t

Just something to consider ….. take what appears helpful, discard the rest 🙂

Player A (let’s call him Andy ) is experiencing a low level sense of insecurity, un-ease and general agitation whenever he’s thinking about his golf game

This sense seems to be around more and more whenever he’s playing and starts to believe he needs help to fix his thinking/feeling . Loved one around him agree,(having experienced Andy being agitated alot of the time when events come closer) thus reinforcing the belief that it’s indeed necessary, it’s ‘true’ he needs help.

Whilst in his sense of seeking, Andy looks for a technique, a strategy , a coach to help him with his thinking/feeling.

Andy finds and hires a coach who promises their tools will help . Great ….the search is over !

Seeking ceases

Andy goes out and plays with chosen technique onboard (apparently there are a few to choose from IF the first one doesn’t work out: good to know they have back up 🙂 )

He feels freer, more at ease, appears to play better (or at least doesn’t seem as bothered by indifferent shots as he was previously )

Understandably, attributes the feeling freer/played better to the technique

Andy is now convinced it’s the technique, reinforced by the coach, (a fully grown adult displaying expert qualities) and starts to think ahead to all the upcoming events and what he can gain/acquire as a result of this new found ‘skill’.

Seeks similar feelings by repeating the technique next time out . #recreate #reinforce #reframe

‘Hmm, doesn’t feel the same, feel abit more agitated , seem to react more to the indifferent shots again’

Returns to coach with description of his apparent backward step, somewhat crestfallen as he compares subsequent performances to the original gold dust experience. What did I miss out, what did I do wrong!!

Andy is seeking again ! Technique seems not to work as before

Coach ‘ Keep practicing , and keep a track of your routine, of your visualisation, of your body language, of your self talk, perhaps start a journal, add pressure into practice ….it’s all part of the process !!

Andy considers a question

‘Thank you coach, but why did I feel so free, quiet, less bothered by indifferent shots (which i still hit) becos I wasn’t tracking my routine, visualisation, body language, self talk, journal, adding in pressure then ?

Coach ‘ You’ve not installed the technique fully yet ….tracking all the other stuff will help reinforce control and stop you being up and down .

Boo!!

Back in the real world, it’s widely accepted that the application of a mental technique can (and does) change state of mind and reverse engineer states of insecurity back to security (but only as long as we are diligent with said technique )

My assertion here (and again please don’t take my word for any of this without checking for yourself) is that it’s the CESSATION OF SEEKING that shifts perspective back to source , a source which is inherently peaceful (select choice of word to reflect what that is for you) and has nothing to do with the technique being applied .

And when we RESTART SEEKING, so our inherent peaceful nature gets veiled again ….. and insecurity becomes our onboard alarm clock alerting us to the fact, seeking is taking place .

Andy has long suspected that tools and techniques are steeped in misunderstanding (or rather those dispensing them misunderstand the nature of experience and the very human-ness of being a seeker

Andy collected and dispensed said tools and techniques for many years, and despite my best intentions, I DID NOT understand the human experience and how we misread the signals that arise and fall independently of any activity, relationship we just happen to be engaging in ….at the same time as that arising and falling.

Are mental techniques illusory?

Are mental techniques creating false hope that IF we apply them correctly for a particular period of time (lets call that time span ‘for the duration of a performance’) then we can indeed experience a preferred state and dip into excellence on a more frequent basis?

Are mental techniques a wilful manipulation from those who appear to know better ….or an innocent oversight full of good intention that on closer inspection offer little ‘proven’ evidence or appear to contain any longevity ?

You’ll have your own opinion on that …

My assertion is that the real change agent here is a deepening awareness of what a seeking ego actually is, to consider that perhaps a feeling of insecurity is a real time signal that seeking is taking place ….and just to know that is enough when it comes to the mental game exploration .

All of the interventions that have been assembled to control, cope with, reframe , resist, overcome a feeling of insecurity …. does that actually make sense when only the cessation of seeking appears to be a factor in explaining the arising and falling of the felt experience whilst out performing ?

Just a consideration of course …

Thank you for reading to here

Andy

andy121morrison@gmail.com to share what occurs to you 🙂

Mental Conundrums -Haha! So You Think You Can Gain Control ?

Now playing Agalloch ‘ Ashes Against The Grain’ 2006 🙂

Aside from the playing of music , particular quotes can often offer what I’d term ‘spiritual gateways’ in that they can point to something beyond the words ….and one of the current examples to be noted is as follows

‘Start to weave and the divine will provide the thread’ – Old Proverb

In my experience I’ve seen that as ‘show up, stay in the game and trust that something beyond your intellectual self will guide you Andy’ ….and invariably that has been how things played out. The barometer to when that shows up is indeed related to Andy’s willingness to simply allow ….to give up any notion ‘he’ has control in any moment. My ego is always trying to side step it’s way back into the driving seat, to claim credit for the ‘apparent control’ that looks so real when we are performing with the handbrake off. ‘I did that’ 🙂 . But you didn’t !!

A trust in something more profound that my temporary beliefs, concepts , ideas?

A trust in something not contained in a coping strategy, routine or control your thinking programme?

A trust in that which doesn’t come and go and appears highly responsive in the moment and bespoke to where I am/what I am up to in the world?

What if the ‘start to weave’ is indeed our willingness to just show up no matter what thought/feeling in the moment is being experienced …….rather than demand/hope we get into a particular state of mind/feeling state BEFORE we dare to show up . And by being open to whatever comes next, ‘ the divine will supply the thread’ ?

To me this quote shines a light on the accepted mantras around ‘preferred state of mind’ ‘process goals’ ‘pre shot routines’ ‘control and coping’…. in that we somehow have to go through a mental check list FIRST, before we can start to weave .

A mental check list to ATTAIN the correct/preferred state of mind which elicits control later

A mental check list to RETAIN the correct/preferred state of mind which maintains control for the duration of our performance

WE DO NOT PROVIDE THE THREAD which subsequently weaves as the game plays out …..we just believe/have been led to believe that in order to perform, control and coping have to be trained in and it’s implied we are indeed the supplier of the thread and the weaver.

It sounds valuable to attain and retain control … but is that simply a collective belief that on further inspection doesn’t hold up to any scrutiny when exploring the arising and dissolving of experience?

I suggest it is not true that WE provide the thread that is subsequently woven in as the game unfolds.

The divine provides that (true nature/wisdom/presence/peace of mind/love/God …..whatever word makes sense to you)

Are we ever in control of our mental game?

Of course not 🙂 But then you knew I was going to end on that

Be well

Andy

Tournament Support : What Does It Look Like?

It’s the eve of another weekend of tournament golf and players in the conversation have safely navigated their way thru the -4 cut line at the co sanctioned event in South Africa hosted by DP World Tour and SA’s Sunshine Tour .

For players IN the conversation, Andy’s approach and the type of conversation that takes place week to week is obviously apparent. 🙂

For players LOOKING IN on the apparent conversation , I suspect there’s a degree of guessing and assuming ;

‘I assume Andy is talking about their golf game! They are probably talking about the golf course, strategies , course management , relationship with their caddy, cut lines (on a Fri) prize money and OOM pts (on a Sunday ) where their golf swing, short game, putting is that, Decade , Aimpoint , equipment tweaks, dove-tailing with their other coaches and so on ….and on ‘

Well whilst all of those ARE discussed every now and again, that on average makes up no more than 10% of our shared time once they tee up on a Thursday.

It may come as a surprise that the vast majority of what is shared is not directed at their golf game at all …. that an inside-out conversation isn’t really about the FORM of what they do in the world for a living , but (as best I can) continues to point to the FORMLESS intelligence that underpins everything we subsequently do in the world.

The Backdrop To Everything

Whilst I do have an eye for performance in the world that is professional golf (25+ odd years around that field you tend to see abit if your eyes are open 🙂 ) I’ve come to see over the past 15 years that EVERY TASK, EVERY RESULT, EVERY PERCEPTION OF WHAT’S JUST TAKEN PLACE, is underpinned by the human experience …..given there is never a moment when a shot is hit when we aren’t experiencing this human condition .

And so , if the constant backdrop to EVERY SHOT is this human ebbing and flowing ….wouldn’t it make sense to make that the focus of any conversation , as a means to deepen understanding and offer explanations for ANY experience felt over the course of 36/72 holes?

Whether one of the stable put together 2 ultra solid rounds and saw themselves several shots inside the cutline …. or whether one had to wait 90 mins to see if his endeavours had been rewarded with weekend employment, the conversation is remarkably similar in post round recaps

Pointing To The Same Thing

If it’s true that there is a ‘divine intelligence’ informing us moment to moment, an intelligence bespoke to us (and therefore comes pre-loaded with authentic intent) an internal guide that should we enable it, informs decisions and infuses us with common sense …. wouldn’t it make sense to hand over the reigns to that , rather than encourage any of those I speak to this weekend to listen to any of Andy’s personalised beliefs or biases ?

Andy has his own personal opinions on what the weekend at Glendower GC in SA should look like . Andy has ‘evidence’ that becos he’s worked with tour players for 15 years his opinion should carry more weight. Haha …..oh the self centred view of my ego 🙂

However Andy also has had glimpses of where excellence, peace of mind, ease, grace actually emerges from ….and I can assure you it’s NOT via Andy’s intellect, personalised beliefs and predictions.

Andy’s ego loves that his mini stable of 5 players made the cut on the DP World Tour. Yay….hurrah for me me and me !

But I also know that feeling of glee, of self satisfaction, of apparent hierarchy is fleeting at best and cannot compare to the innate flow when falling back into the divine intelligence* behind all of life.

* That’s my description for ‘it’ . I’ve also heard it called Flow, Wisdom, Ease, Freedom, Essence, Joy, Love, God, Nature, The Impersonal, ….. what you call it is totally up to you but I am sure regardless of the description ,we’ve all had glimpses of that ‘something’ on and off the field of play ….however infrequent or fleeting that is for you.

And therein lays the essence of this conversation ……to continually point those in my care back to that default ‘state of mind’ that precedes all psychological activity , that underpins each and every human expression and is ready to serve us unconditionally anytime we become less and less bothered by anything we might be happen to think .

‘We Are the Sky; Everything Else is Just The Weather’. Pema Chodron

Every other mental performance conversation I had in relation to my competitive game seemed fixated on weather management. A fixation that ramped up a notch whenever an ‘important’ event came closer . I needed to dial in with visualisation the night before, I needed to be hyper aware of my breathing, of my self talk, of my body language, drill in my routines, re-acquaint myself with my process (sounded fancy but WTF is all that about …..I mean really about) . I spent ALOT of time thinking about my psychological weather …..I never really entered a competitive round feeling ‘divine intelligence’ (insert your chosen term) had my back. Insecure, worried, over-trying, over analysing ….. jeez this weather management was hard work

These Days

Knowing that adding to the weather didn’t help me AT ALL whilst competing, it makes no sense to impose a weather management project onto any player I happen to be sharing time as they compete. I’ve also seen/heard/read material from other mental performance coaches as ‘important/big events’ near ….and it looks/sounds/reads really complicated .

Maybe Andy remains as slow on the uptake as he apparently was in his late teens off scratch handicap ….couldn’t possibly have been the technique or the coach dispensing it that was inadvertently veiling the innate blue sky backdrop .

Well 35 years on from leaving my teenage chapter ….I suspect I am not mistaken now!

To share this understanding at the elite end of the game and have connections plying their trade week to week on the DP World Tour , would have been a total thrill had you told my teenage self this is where you’d be in 2024.

And whilst I am proud that I’ve stayed in the game and forced a career at the level …. none of those external markers, the calibre of players, the obvious talent, the connections Ive forged along the way ….have been as valuable/profound as the glimpses I’ve been blessed to experience

The real teacher in all of this ….Divine Intelligence

And so, if you really want to know what gets spoken in an inside-out conversation (which just happens to be around professional tournament pros) ….it’s a continuous description of what underpins all experience , a conversation about blue sky .

It just so happens, one of the by products of seeing true nature deeper is enhanced performance and feeling more ease whilst competing ….without the weather management system of control and coping required

I look forward to hearing from the guys over the weekend 🙂

I look forward to them playing, to see them testing their skillsets in a variety of situations, to get caught up in their descriptions, to fall back out of them , to be blindsided by the weather and to be blessed with more glimpses of blue sky

How wonderful to have a range of experiences and know they are always intact no matter

Andy’s CV out there in the world I suspect remains largely unknown/undocumented ….given I rarely commentate on personal connections. This weekend you’ll likely find Andy checking in with his own direct experience, falling into my world of music and reading ….and should any of the guys drop me a message/make a call ….I’ll simply point to the nature of all things …..pause ….listen ….and continue

The Conversation

Regardless of your background, of your skill level, of your status, whether you play golf or not, THIS understanding will inform you in ways no weather management system ever did.

Free of intervening, free of fixing , free of coping and control .

If that sounds like something that’s worth taking a punt on …..you know where I am 🙂

And if you are a pro golfer looking to tap into that game you know is there (you know the one only you have seen glimpses of when its just so bloody free) you bet your life THIS understanding will reveal that 🙂

Into the weekend we go. I suspect the lads will go close again .. Who know

Thank you for stopping by

Andy

andy121morrison@gmail.com

Do Mental Interventions Work? (Zero Apologies)

I’m not sure if it’s a British thing! (I suspect it’s not)

Have you noticed when in the presence of someone who’s in upset*, they tend to be the one who offers up an apology for being in upset, for revealing their felt experience in that moment to someone else, for being apparently unable to compose themselves ?

I also suspect it’s a veil of (innocent) conditioning driving that apology; apologising for apparently not being able to control themselves and struggling to cope …. blindsided by the illusion that ‘control’ and ‘coping’ should be on hand for situations where being out of control/struggling to cope may arise.

What if resistance to any human expression is borne out of mis-understanding?

What if the steps to regain control, to cope are steeped in the same mis-understanding?

*being in upset (to Andy) is a different conversation to ‘someone’ being upset!

Who is the one upset?

What if our true nature , our authentic being, remains perfectly intact no matter what is being expressed ….and it’s simply our innocent identification with our personalised story which makes it appear we are exposed, that we are expressing lack, that we need to hide away until said expression has been dealt with, until we’ve regained control and back in coping mode?

The blue sky appears to remain unperturbed with whatever flies across it ! Is it that much of a stretch to consider our true nature (the constant backdrop to ANY experience) is unperturbed by whatever thinking content arises in any given moment?

And therein lays my ongoing issue with the mainstream world of mental performance ; it’s based on particular thinking content BEING A PROBLEM in the moment, and that in any moment we have to be on alert for ‘less than productive thinking’ and intervene to move it along …..whilst simultaneously being on alert for ‘productive thinking’ and intervene to keep it in place.

Jeez …. that sounds like a full time job to manage ALONGSIDE whatever task/activity we are engaged in !! (nb I suspect we simply cannot be fully engaged in the task if we are continuously checking in with our thinking content as we go)

And so to my question ‘Do Mental Interventions Work? 🙂

Of course they don’t , we’ve just been led to believe they do!

Big statement Andy 🙂

Yep …and as I elude to above, I make zero apologies for sticking that out in the world for inspection, criticism (I can hear Mr/Mrs/Miss Annoyed firing up their devices as I type ….such a shame that words on a blog over here can have such an effect on someone else’s screen over there ! Perhaps they need to attend to their techniques to help them cope with Andy’s words and retain a modicum of control before firing a message over!) 🙂

Aren’t you being provocative just for the sake of it Andy? No; but I do sense being provocative to elicit curiosity/consideration is required right now …zero ****s given at this time also

Are you saying every other mental performance coach dispensing techniques/interventions misunderstands the nature of experience?

I cannot speak for anyone else , but looking back to my decade of collecting and dispensing mental game techniques (for both my game and others in my care) , no, I can see now I DID NOT understand the nature of experience .

I was doing the best I could given my mis-understanding …but once I’d seen the folly of such an approach, dispensing of techniques stopped over-night. It wasn’t a slow burner, waiting to figure out how my business model would look if I stopped dishing out fixes , no halfway house to appease my deceiving ego/protect my bank balance …. as soon as I saw the human experience required ZERO intervening in ….I ceased my quest to convince players in my care required strategies for their thinking.

Every week I get enquiries from performers seeking those same tools and techniques ; each and every one of them gets a response of ‘Not from Andy; I cannot endorse and take money for something that is fundamentally not true.

Within my chosen field of professional golf, there appears to be an explosion in individuals reporting a struggle with their mental well being whilst performing ….whilst simultaneously sharing that they’ve had a shed load of intervention coaching before appearing in my inbox. . (NB Clearly it’s a very small sample in relation to the whole world so probably nothing to see in that Andy)

But you know what, that is my sense . Mental performance techniques not only don’t work (as claimed on the pretty website landing pages) but they are perpetuating a sense of lack and keeping the illusory veil in place.

Andy please fix me

Andy please help me get better at being present

Andy please stop me feeling less than

Andy please help me feel I am enough

As 2024 starts to reveal itself, for the first time in 14 years (since having insights around the inner game free from techniques) I am questioning if I wish to continue on my current path. I’ve started to concede that the mainstream performance model has indeed gained too much traction, has convinced a legion of performers that they do lack, that they aren’t enough, that they need fixing and have to pay handsomely to have that taken away (or at least for long enough so for 18 holes they can play without apology)

Sorry my self talk was detrimental

Sorry my body language lacked grace and professionalism

Sorry I got sad for a bit out there

Sorry I got cocky and over confident

I’ve considered writing a blog like this for a while! I’ve asked myself if I am just being provocative for the sake of attention? I have questioned my place in the coaching field and whether the lack of traction with the inside-out message is down to my lack of skill, my lack of communication , my lack of visibility on social media platforms …. that conditioning to lack runs deep for all of us it seems .

I do sense the vast majority of mental performance coaches (like me for a decade) are 100% trying to help others,; I also sense a minority (like in any other walk of life) dispense their services knowing they are manipulating others and keeping them dependant … masquerading as an authority on the topic of mental game whilst laughing all the way to their bank .

I continue to share time with individuals brought to tears crying down the phone (such is the pull of the veil of lack) and encourage them NOT to apologise for being human, NOT to believe they have to resist or wish it were different ….but to embrace it’s ALL part of the game ….that EACH AND EVERY expression they feel is 100% relevant to where they are in that moment.

Early March 2024. Andy is somewhat disillusioned by what he’s seeing out in the world of mental performance . Andy could have written a ‘all is well , happy days are here’ kinda of post today …..but that isn’t my current experience .

The truth of our (human) experience is not wall to wall positivity and having everything in our lives in a ‘good place’ . It’s supposed to fluctuate , it’s supposed to arise and fall, it’s supposed to feel expansive and limiting , it’s supposed to be embraced regardless …..and all the while the backdrop of true nature remains intact and complete 🙂

I also know that the vast majority who read this simply won’t become known to Andy ; I do get it’s a message that will inevitably attract criticism as I dare question the authenticity of a mainstream model that continues to make a shed load of money on the back of reinforcing lack. Publicly aligning with Andy isn’t for the conditioned self ; true nature encourages me regardless 🙂

I will continue to reflect on whether ’24 will be my last hurrah before shutting up shop and living out the remainder of my life content in what I have seen to be true (even if no-one else is listening) 🙂

Andy makes no apology for writing this.

The mainstream mental performance model doesn’t work …..because it’s based on the false premise that performers lack and need tools to control and cope with their experiences . That’s simply not a truth .

‘People are sitting right in the middle of perfect well being; they just don’t know it‘ Syd Banks

Thank you for stopping by .

And if this simply causes you to pause and consider ….I’ve done my job

Be well

Andy

Paradox Of Mental Advice : Don’t Listen To Anything I Recommend

When new enquiries appear in my email inbox/mobile messages, they tend to come with a version of ‘Andy fix me’, ‘Andy I’m struggling mentally whilst playing , can we speak’ …..aka you tell me what to think and I’ll do more or that!

It can come as a surprise when what follows from me is a version of ‘No! You don’t need my instruction, fixing or improvement strategies ….you just think you do!

The paradox (to me) around the world of mental performance advice is this

When someone is overwhelmed, busy mentally, feeling a sense of lack in the moment whilst performing , they aren’t capable of reaching for a mental strategy to regain control, to cope ‘better’ , to reset perspective and clarity . I do get that is the claim made by those dispensing mental game strategies ….but that claim , even if true, isn’t helping a performer in overwhelm. It’s adding to the clutter

When someone isn’t overwhelmed, quiet mentally, settled, feeling a sense of connection whilst performing, it doesn’t occur to them to reach for a mental strategy to retain control, to continue coping. Why would we add anything to that naturally occurring space of presence; would that help ?

And yet we arrive at a landscape where it appears a performer requires advice to ATTAIN clarity (confidence- positivity- connection -presence) and advice to RETAIN clarity (confidence-positivity-connection- presence)

*nb Just repeating the same phrase in written form irritated me 🙂

I remember interactions with players/coaches who’ve hired me to observe in a competitive environment (aka made up label for an activity which is loaded up via importance and expectation) .

Often I get versions of ‘you didn’t really say much Andy, was that a strategy to get them to think for themselves’? Becos Andy MUST be doing something strategically right!!

No! I was simply observing.

Or ‘what would you advise them to be thinking about in this situation’ , ‘how can they cope in pressure situations to ensure they stay competitive for longer’

I don’t understand what you mean by ‘coping ‘, ‘pressure situations’ and ‘stay competitive’!

‘Again, is this a play on words Andy and you mean something else?‘

No! I genuinely don’t understand what you mean by those soundbites. Correction, I understand what YOU mean by that, I just know it’s steeped in mis-understanding and in terms of their moment to moment experience , NOTHING extra is required (in the form of advice)

Coping strategies pre-suppose the performer struggles to cope . Not true

Pressure situations pre-suppose ‘something’ outside of ourselves is creating a feeling within. Not true.

Staying competitive pre-supposes competitive-ness has a time frame which once we get into, we have to stay in/prolong when comparing our performance to someone else

How real all of these terms appear to be. So real that we require strategies, advice, action plans to attain and retain said mental qualities and give ourselves the mental edge over our fellow competitors.

Q?

If you stripped all of those terms and conditional predictors out of the equation, what would be left?

Is the seeking of advice from someone else actually veiling the emergence of clarity?

Is the implementation of someone else’s advice veiling the emergence of clarity ?

Is clarity a naturally occurring by product of a mind that has ceased seeking?

In my experience ……yes!

Andy’s ego loves the idea of having a call with a player who subsequently goes out and plays well and attributing their good play to the advice dispensed in a call X hours previously 🙂

Haha Andy; like YOU have that influence and power to claim their prolonged clarity x hours later and x thousand miles away has anything to do with YOU :) 

Prolonged spells of clarity, of connection, of confidence, of peace of mind…. has nothing to do with Andy; it’s simply that mind has temporarily ceased seeking and the innate intelligence behind life is informing them in ways an intellectual ‘follow my advice’ script can simply not compete with.

The paradox of advice is that the conditioned frame of hierarchy suggests Andy (the coach) MUST know better than you (the performer) and as such, interactions are entered into with the assumption that I MUST be the one advising you and you MUST be the one taking on the advice .

The subtle effect ? An innocent reinforcement of hierarchy (I know more) and reinforcement of your sense of lack (you know less)

In terms of the mental game, of understanding the felt experience, those two aspects are simply not true .

Andy in clutter is less equipped in the moment than you in clarity (given Andy is operating under the exact same principles when considering the human experience)

So ….when I notice an upscale of thought (ie where Andy has grabbed hold and personalised) me asking for advice is a terrible idea

So …when I notice an upscale of thought (when you have grabbed hold and personalised) me giving you advice is a terrible idea

Therein lays the paradox of giving and receiving intellectual advice when it comes to the inner game.

• As a mental coach, if you don’t understand the nature of experience and are merely dishing out ‘tried and tested’ techniques regardless of where the player is at ( or indeed where you are at)…. with respect you are not helping anytime soon .

• As a player, if you don’t understand the nature of experience and are blindly following someone else’s ideas without sensing where you are at ….with respect you are not helping yourself anytime soon

The solution Andy?

Deepen your own understanding of the nature of experience . As seeking lessens, clarity re-emerges …common sense will inform you and conditioning around ‘pressure’ ‘coping’ ‘control’ ‘fixing’ will be seen in a new light as it loosens it’s grip on you.

My advice?

Not worth the paper its written on 🙂

My ego would love to take the credit for any insights/realisations you subsequently have ……but I know it’s the intelligence behind life that will be informing you.

Andy …..just a pointer. 🙂

Thank you for stopping by

andy121morrison@gmail.com to receive no further advice 🙂

#GolfInsideOut24 : The Definitive Blueprint

Thru Dec 23 into Jan 24 , Andy has purposely taken time off the usual daily cycle of calls, emails , reading books /listening to podcasts in the field of mental performance I operate in.

Whilst I have continued with a skeleton version of that (given the professional game worldwide doesn’t have an off season) , I have taken myself off to reading for pleasure, not reassurance , listened to music content for entertainment , not sought other mental game coaches content for reassurance or criticism (both tendencies of Andy in ego 🙂 )

I’ve noticed how this ‘looking away from intellectual content’ has helped deepen my understanding each year for the past 14 years ….as the activities I invariably lose myself in require no analysis, judgement or skill on my part ….the complete opposite of trying to find myself in my usual work frame. In effect, I’ve lifted of the thinking pedal!

Over the past 4-6 weeks that falling out of expectation, of prediction, of judgement, of habitual tendencies has metaphorically enabled the mental bandwidth to widen and give space for new eyes to see and new ears to hear .

It’s less about what has emerged for Andy (insights/realisations)

It’s more about where those messengers emerge from (source/nature)

What emerges (as far as I can tell) will be unique/bespoke to Andy

Where it emerges from (as far as I have seen to date) is universal to us all

#GolfInsideOut24 : The Definitive BluePrint

Early Thoughts

It looks like a mini series spanning upto 6 weeks which points to where all creative sparks, authentic expressions (our true onboard navigation system) emerge from….

….. and as you are informed by this innate operating system , so it has the power to shine a light over all limiting beliefs, enables you to question long held concepts of control, managing and coping (which I am convinced more than ever simply reinforce an ever pervading sense of lack) and provides a constant foundation which travels with you no matter the fluctuating circumstances you find yourself in .

The Definitive BluePrint is not borne out of Andy’s personal preferences for how the mental coaching world should look/operate. Neither it is based on my personalised beliefs or path to this point in time.

The Blueprint being pointed to here is the universal backdrop that we are all hooked up to .

Innate Wisdom

Divine Intelligence

Authentic Expression

True Nature

God/Faith

Grounding

Flow

In The Zone

You can call it what you like 🙂 …. but I am sure we all kinda intuit that there’s ‘something ‘ bigger than little us running the show and in the moments where we trust that ‘something’, access to excellence, to authentic expression just seem to show up

What if excellence was fuelled by an impersonal force that has little to do with intellect?

What if pure potential thrives when we aren’t trying to force it, to figure it out, to predict or control it?

What if ease, security, constancy , deep connection, are expressions of a never changing nature ….and not ever provided by the ever changing distractions pedalled by a contradictory set of personalised beliefs that appear to make sense one round/event/week ….then disappear the round/event/week after?

Current outlook

Week 1 : 45-60 Min Call (To Introduce the Programme)

Weeks 2-5 : 4 Separate Articles* which uniformly point to recognising the universal operating system which I have called the ‘Definitive BluePrint’ at this time. *Opportunity to send thoughts, questions, realisations as you read, which I will reply to via bespoke email/mini article tailored to your understanding

Week 6 : 45-60 Min Call (To Recap On The Programme)

Next ……?

I will post start dates, investment level, maximum numbers per programme (to ensure you of undivided attention at all times) and how you can secure a spot for what I hope will be a deeper dive into a mental performance approach that does not rely on interventions and strategies . Guaranteed 🙂

Thank you for reading to here today.

2024 my own exploration isn’t going to end.

Perhaps 2024 is the year you’ll look in a different direction to the standardised formula posted by mainstream coaches and …..look upstream instead 🙂

Be well

Update soon

Andy

andy121morrison@gmail.com

All messages welcome

Inner Golf Game : An Unexpected Guide

Whilst sat with my other half in the period that bridges Xmas and New Year , watching the World Darts Championships and listening to the continuous reasons why someone seems elevated in their skill , the conversation came around to our experiences around performance/skill . (we both achieved reasonably high levels of success in our respective sporting endeavours along the way)

And it became apparent that neither of us appeared to follow the popular instruction manuals or indeed hired coaches for 1 to 1 work to continuously use along the way either.

Sure we both had people we looked to. Be that our peers, fellow competitors, watching footage of performers in the field we aspired to , but it struck me that obvious instruction (telling/coping/fixing) played a very small part along that same way.

When asked about my guides/coaches ….I didn’t come up with a figure who had particular qualifications, a particular status in the game, a particular list of coaching ‘successes’ or other players they’d previous worked with . 

My unexpected guide was a dear soul in his mid 60’s, played off 12 handicap , had no coaching badges , no swing studio , no desire to be called a coach … but was someone who I just gravitated towards as a 15 year old boy playing off scratch. I just sensed what Dougie Wood was seamlessly pointing towards when we walked holes at my home club every now and again …..and 40 years on via the understanding I have since seen for myself, can now articulate what Dougie as a guide brought to my attention .

Why has Dougie (or my sense of him) stayed prominent in my list of influences as I look back over 40 years?

What was it that I keep referring back to whenever someone asks me about my formative years of developing a half decent golf game ?

What was the difference that made ( and continues to make) the difference , when assessing who has a depth of knowing regarding the GAME OF GOLF, and those who ‘just’ have intellectual property regarding GOLF SWING ?

True the access to information in 2024 is a completely different landscape to what Andy had available as a teenage boy back in the mid 1980’s …. and whilst I am aware I am somewhat smitten by a sprinkling of nostalgia as I re-remember Dougie, (such a dear soul who walked the world with Andy 🙂 ) I do sense modern day instruction has indeed veiled the FORMLESS game that we’ve all fallen for in quieter reflective moments, a FORMLESS ‘something’ that Dougie consistently was pointing me towards … as it becomes more and more fixated on the FORM of our swings, our games, our approach, our practice, our mindset, our gym work, our coaching lessons, our trackman readings, our comparison to others….the list of FORMS is ever lengthening .

It strikes me a GOLF GAME guide is not the same as a GOLF SWING COACH and whilst I am mindful that the latter carries some value as we develop skill and build competence, that alone can not connect us to the former via instruction alone

Understanding the course as it unfolds in front of us

Understanding if the shot required is available NOW ( regardless if it was available previously)

Understanding that the FORM of our golf swing isn’t a pre-requisite to playing a particular way on a particular day …. just because we want it to be so

Ever scored ‘better’ than your skillset on the day suggested?

Ever scored ‘worse’ than your skillset on the day suggested?

I suspect that’s a ‘Yes Andy’ on both fronts 🙂

Dougie understood Andy! Dougie understood that his view of me was never going to be defined by the form my golf swing took hole to hole, where my ball happened to end up , what the scorecard suggested about my day, where I was compared to last week or where I wanted to be on the handicap scale as each season closed . 

Dougie (in his own unique formless style) was my greatest teacher ….simply because he didn’t try and teach me anything . He walked with me, not ahead of me, not behind me. He spoke of everything except golf whilst we walked. Dougie caddied for me in what I perceived as more important events ….and he was exactly the same as a 4 hole wander as the sun was setting and just fancied a walk with me,

So yes, when I am asked about my guides, it’s not obvious to the outside world who I’d list as my greatest influencer. Dougie was the signpost, the lighthouse …..and it never occurred to me whilst he was alive that he was guiding me all along to the understanding I have subsequently stumbled across 30 years after he moved upstairs .

I often reference ‘The Enlightened Gardener’ by Syd Banks as one of my most valuable coaching resources , a book in which Syd offers no instruction , no strategies and no apparent steps to get us closer to who we need to be. Dougie would have been thrilled to read he was my Enlightened Coach … and as I drift into the new year that we’ll collectively call 2024, my mission is to pass on the guidance that Dougie offered me unconditionally from the age of 15 to 25 .

‘BluePrintGolf : The True Guide‘ is the current working title of a new introductory series which will endeavour to point you inward towards the true teacher , a reminder that regardless of the bright, shiny knowledge from ‘experts’ with their ‘research says’ and ‘science tells us’ soundbites ….the GAME OF GOLF has always remained the same and as soon as we become less fixated with the apparent FORM , it will present itself to us ….out of the blue, just so , and we’ll smile as to how easy it was to overlook.

‘BluePrintGolf : The True Guide’ will take the form of 3-4 articles bookended with 2 calls to ensure the introductory series is obvious to what is being pointed to here . Whether that resonates for you remains to be seen ……all I know that the formless pointing that Dougie offered up 40 years ago still holds true and in a world of fads and bandwagons, that has kept my attention for a reason .

‘BluePrintGolf : The True Guide’ will not be a free program. 

I walked with my daughter over the New Year and she shared a couple of believed struggles of her own. We walked along the local canal, we discussed a variety of topics, I listened, she shared some more, I gave her zero instructions, we had a coffee, we hugged, she left to continue her day. I love my little girl with all of my heart

She messaged me that evening ; ‘Love you lots Dad, can you talk with me more often, I feel calm . You are so valuable’

And you know what, in a world of constant instruction, calls to cope and fix, veiled suggestions that we lack and someone has more than me and you …. to simply be and walk without any of that IS VALUABLE

Dougie was worth his weight in gold to me thru those formative years of finding my way with my game and I can never repay him directly , but I can dedicate my life to paying it forward in the hope someone will resonate with the message and do the same . 🙂

If you’d like updates as to the upcoming BluePrintGolf : The True Guide’ you’ll be in touch. If the fixation with the form of your swing, your mindset, your instruction programmes, your preferred practices remains fixed…..you won’t

I don’t have time to fire fight with the modern instruction world

I do have time to walk, to point, to hint, to support …. and it seems that alone has been a valuable truth since I was 15 and first came across Dougie Wood. 🙂

Thank you Dougie ; you have no idea how much you’ve impacted on my chosen coaching path. See you sometime

Andy

andy121morrison@gmail.com if this resonates and 2024 is your start line . I’ll wait for you 🙂

Mental Game ’24 : Out Of The Blue (a glimpse of things to come)

A conversation pointing exclusively towards the blue-ness of where our true (and full) potential emerges from, no matter what level of skill/status/history we have

….. a conversation less interested in discussing the content of intermittent weather, less interested in sharing ways to control and cope with said weather, less interested in what the mainstream has to say on performance full stop 🙂

Just Andy noticing what he’s noticing and sharing it in his little corner of the world . Feel free to join me, or scroll on as you navigate your ’24 .

Out Of The Blue : An Inner Game Conversation #ToBeContinued

Andy

Mental Distraction Is A Full Time Job (Enough Already)

‘Deep down I sense we all know mental techniques are just the next temporary distraction whilst we move closer to seeing thru the misunderstanding that we arent our personalised stories’ (via Control, Coping and Fixing !) Until then …. we’re just trying to help ourselves’

An excerpt lifted from a chat yesterday with tour player about to tee it up for the last event in 2023 … but unlike previous posts sharing snippets from conversations with touring pros where I paraphrase MY words, the above came from HIM.

My response?

To pause ; To notice ; To get a sense of the space he was probably in to share that 🙂

I’ve come to see that when in the company of someone having a realisation of where their experience comes from , Andy’s role is to say little (preferably nothing at all ) and not be tempted to ask for more description, to get an intellectual frame for what’s just been realised, to control , to reinforce a formula so future repetition is assured, to write it down, to practice , to rehearse ….but just embrace that moment when a performer temporarily fell out of his story and saw anew .

I see that everything I’ve written above AFTER ‘ tempted to ask for more description’ would be Andy distracting us away from the realisation , adding words that I’m pretty sure aren’t part of what he saw.

It appears that when we are CAUGHT UP IN OUR THINKING, we employ distraction strategies in a bid to think our way to a ‘better’ , ‘preferred’ state of thinking . #TryingToAttain

It appears when we are NOT CAUGHT IN OUR THINKING, we employ a different distraction strategy in a bid to keep the ‘better’ , ‘preferred’ state of thinking in place #TryingToRetain

As the player shared his realisation, I felt a brief need to get involved in it and seek out some sort of control so he could carry that into the last event and shoot low, win , rejoice and rubber stamp the understanding in emphatic style . Yay….all hail inside-out coaching and all who sail in her 🙂

Except I know the feeling of need (however brief) is the understanding pulling at my attention, reminding me that any strategy of retention, control, practice , repetition is an innocent veil … distracting me away from the true value of an impersonal insight.

Andy’s ego would love said player to land the Mauritius Open come Sunday afternoon .

Andy’s ego probably will try and claim some influence in a winning performance

But ‘Andy’s’ true nature knows that simply isn’t the intention of the inside-out conversation .

To lessen the need to control, to bolster, to cope, to fix , to attain , to retain , aka TO DISTRACT, ourselves from whatever expression of experience shows up ….that’s the aim here.

Why?

Because free of any distraction, what occurs is true nature simply expressing itself …. and it’s a fair bet that the creative potential is most likely to show itself via that expression when left to it’s design.

‘It just came out of the blue’

‘It was effortless, like I didn’t have to do anything for it to be there’

‘I didn’t expect it at all, I guess I just stayed out of my way longer’

Track playing ‘Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth (Before It’s Evacuated) Porcupine Tree

It occurs to me that as I look into 2024, the consequence of dipping your toe into the inside-out water is metaphorically your chance to evacuate the cycle of distraction that I suspect has been a full time feature in your performance ?

Despite my 13 years immersed in the understanding, a mini urge to distract my/his experience still surfaced . I still wanted control, repetition for him. I still wanted influence and second hand success via his performance for me.

I temporarily believed my well being was dependant on what he does x thousand miles away from Thurs-Sun . It’s a compelling tale we all buy into 🙂

I wanted to distract myself …. only becos it looked like my current experience maybe isn’t enough of a convincer I’m okay no matter what

The signal of ‘neediness’ remains a very valuable guide .

When we start to see distraction is a manufactured story borne out of misunderstanding and that in all truth we are always intact regardless of what expression of experience we are in …. distraction dissolves and we are free to go express ourselves in whatever form that is for us .

Strategies to cope with/control experience ARE just a series of distractions , disguised as tools to free ourselves

What if there’s nothing to get away from, nothing to overcome, nothing to cope with ….it’s just all experience arising and falling .

Distraction optional!

Thank you for reading thru ’23. That’s probably Andy’s quota for the year 🙂

Be well

Andy