12. Anchoring is an age old science you can utilize to attract the successful state of mind and body that has to be present for good golf performance

Have you ever heard a tune on the radio and found yourself transported back and reliving a significant time and place in your past? It may have been to a place you once lived or went on holiday or somewhere you once worked, an old romance maybe. We have all experienced it and the emotional changes it brings about. This is the science of "Anchoring" which has nothing to do with sailing. Advertising and marketing professionals have used Anchoring ruthlessly for many years in order to put you into the right mental state so you part with your money.

Anchoring is the science of State changing and over the last 20 years or so, it has become utilized in Sport by Peak performance specialists cum psychologists. This is how it works. An out of form player will recall his favourite taste in music, food and books for instance, from a point in his career when his golf was at peak performance. He would then re-introduce these old indulgences into his lifestyle again to resurrect his feelings and emotions from this period. The purpose being to attract the successful state of mind and body that was present with his good golf performance. It is simply getting into the right mood for playing well.

If you think this is too far fetched to be real, let me remind you that Ballesteros won his first “Major”, “The Open Championship”, wearing a Navy blue sweater on the last day. Since that day at Royal Lytham in 1979, he has worn the same coloured sweater on the last day in every “major” since. In more recent times, there is a fairly well known player who wears a Red coloured top on the last day and there are no prizes for guessing who that is. What seems like superstitious twaddle is in fact an extraordinary powerful tool that the top players use to put themselves into their optimum peak state.

Awaken the Giant Within. Tony Robbins (Amazon link needs sorting)