Magic man II
- 21 Sep 06, 05:32 PM
K Club - Mind coach popped in to see the blog this afternoon and spent some time answering some of your questions.
Jamil is a top sports psychologist, and he is at the this week to help out the European team.
His role is to help captain Ian Woosnam and his assistants get their points across effectively in speeches and meetings, and to support the players with relaxation and stress-busting techniques, using a mixture of hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming.
But he is also a professional magician and often gets roped into the performing the odd trick, such as earlier this week when he got the players to draw Colin Montgomerie and then accurately identified who had drawn which picture.
"That was just a bit of fun," Jamil said. "I'm not really here to entertain, I was bullied into it more than anything else. But when people hear you also do magic for a living you're always going to hear, 'Show us a trick'."
Jamil's real skill is in helping people to maximise their potential.
"Players only really play as well as they allow themselves to so my role is to remove some of the barriers to performance," he said.
"All of us are inhibited in lots ofways and most of us have the same fears and anxieties. Sometimes these are even more pronounced in a competitive world like this where a missed putt can cost a lot of money, say, or a place on a Ryder Cup team. But most of my work is about stuff away from the golf course."
Here's Jamil's answers to some of your questions: (apologies for it not being live as advertised. The logistics prevented this)
Paul Turland asked: How positive is David Howell on his game ahead of Friday and have you given him stick for going to Churchfields (a school in Swindon)?
Jamil replied: Who would have thought it - two Swindon boys at the Ryder Cup? David seems very positive at the moment. I think he feels he was a little disappointed with his last Ryder Cup but he knows how well his game has come on since then, as his results testify鈥hurchfields, could be worse, could have been St Joseph鈥檚.
Scott asked: If you were to hit the opening tee shot tomorrow, what would be going through your mind as you stand over the ball?
Jamil replied: Having never played a golf shot in my life I, and the many European team fans, would be very concerned! But I think the key for this week is for the players to simply continue the success they鈥檝e already been having. The fact that these guys are here means they鈥檝e been having a great year. It will be important not to be distracted from that. My thought would be to be motivated by what you want to achieve, not by what you want to avoid. In other words, concentrate on hitting a great shot down the middle, not on the millions of people watching and the pressure involved.
Donal Scott asked: What do you think is the greatest distinction in mental attitude between those who are successful and those who fail on tour? And how have you advised your players to approach an extreme mental test like the Ryder Cup?
Jamil replied: To answer the first part, a determination to succeed. Everyone experiences success and failure in everything that we do. A high level of determination will ensure that failures mean less, and also gives these individuals the ability to learn from their mistakes and simpy to move on. Failure is an important part of success, and it is a winner鈥檚 inate ability to understand that which allows them to achieve their goals.
In answer to your second question, it will be instrumental in their success to maintain a consistency of mind. It is the only way a consistency of play can be achieved. There are many distractions here this week, all based around the significance of the event. The players must set themselves goals or outcomes and be focused solely on their desired achievements.
Stableboy asked: Why don't you get Jamil to draw a picture of your golf swing Rob? Or has he not got enough imagination for that...
Jamil replied: I'm no artist so wouldn't be able to reproduce a thing of such beauty. (actually, I wrote that. Rob)
Mat asked: What are your favourite putting tips for the pros?
Jamil replied: As you're probably aware, all individuals are different so I tend not to have standard tips. However, I do favour distraction techniques for improving a putting stroke and achieving better feel on greens. It's about not being so focused on technique but simply allowing your subconscious to get an idea of how to complete the task
Stephen asked: So what will the final score be then?
Jamil replied: 1-0 to the weather. The only thing you can predict this weekend is that we鈥檒l have some good old-fashioned Irish weather to make it more interesting.
Anthony Hanlon asked: I predict tomorrow's European foursomes as Donald & Casey, Monty & Howell, Clarke & Westwood, Harrington & Garcia, Stenson & Karlson. How do you think these would stand up?
Jamil replied: It鈥檚 a pretty good guess. The great thing about this team is that I believe all these players can play in any combination. When I sat at the team meeting the other night, and looked around the room, these were the faces we see on TV every week picking up trophies. Even the two rookies have had significant success this year. Any combination would work.
Don Wilson asked: Do you think the yips - putting or chipping - are cureable, and if so how should I go about it?
Jamil replied: The yips are cureable, although sometimes they are a physical condition. It may be best to find out if this is physical or not. Physios can help if there are physical manifestations such as muscle twitch. If it鈥檚 psychological, there are many techniques that may help. One might be to do with not thinking outcomes - sometimes it's good in practice to chip with your eyes closed so you gain a better understanding of feel and become not so outcome-focused.
Alternatively there are distraction techniques where you simply imagine how your favourite player chips and try to understand it from a second person perspective to take the pressure off yourself. There are many books on the inner game of golf which give you some routines to stimulate the subconscious and take away some of the critical or negative thoughts that inhibit us.
Stevie D asked: Many of us find it difficult to stop a destructive train of thought when playing badly. What techniques could you recommend to change this mid-round?
Jamil replied: We often talk very badly to ourselves, whereas if we were playing with someone we wished to support, such as a child or best friend, we would be very encouraging. As a distraction method, imagine that you are playing with someone who you would never talk badly to. Simply talk to yourself as if you were talking to them.
Eric asked: Which European nations have psychology well in-grained in their development structures for players?
Jamil replied: I'm not sure how to answer that one as I don鈥檛 know of any work which has been culturally different in this field. It is interesting, though, that players from the same country often have a lot of commonality in their approach, such as Swedish players who appear to be fairly methodical and focused, or the Spanish who appear to be flair players with more personality.
Mark Leigh asked: When did you realise you had this amazing and unique talent? (The one of totally pulling the wool over peoples eyes I mean).
Jamil replied: Seeing as every player I worked with last year had the best season they鈥檝e ever had, no doubt I will find it easier to "pull the wool over the eyes" (as you so graciously put it) of many more.
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