More Power and Distance DVD
Lower your Score Breaking 100, 90 , 80 DVD
available at Yoga for Golfers Store
About Denise Hatch:
For 25 years Denise Hatch has been teaching in the fields of clinical hypnotherapy, nutrition, yoga, and exercise physiology. She is the creator of the Mind Muscle Connection which uses the natural states of suggestibility to reprogram the subconscious mind.
Denise graduated from the University of North Carolina where she competed in springboard and tower diving with an All-American status.
In 1997, Denise relocated from Northern California to Scottsdale Arizona when she married her husband Steve who races motor-cycles professionally. Since then, she has worked with athletes, both amateur and professional in many different arenas.
Having been an athlete, married to an athlete and worked with the athletic mind for years, Denise is a master programmer when it comes to the mind in sports.
Denise has appeared on nationally televised programs and continues to travel, nationally and internationally giving presentations, classes and instruction.
Her CD is a Progressive Relaxation. "Hypnosis for Golfers"... to be more mentally prepared on the course.You can reach Denise by email or order her CD: denise4health@aol.com
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About John Green
Golf Pro at Bloomington, MN Golf Galaxy Store
Teaching Philosophy:
"There is no elevator to golfing success; you have to take the stairs." This approach to teaching golf has worked well for me over the years. I take this approach with every golfer, whether it be a beginning golfer or a scratch player. I like to keep things simple with a common sense approach to learning.
Career highlights:
Became the 71st PGA Master Professional on June 1, 1990. Received the 1991 National Clubfitter of the Year Award from Golf Shop Operations Magazine.
Instructor at PGA Club Repair Workshops from 1983 to 1991. Co-wrote the Illinois PGA Teaching Manual. Received the 2000 Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year Award. Rated as one of the top teachers in the Midwest by Golf Magazine in 2005. Rated in the top ten teachers in the state of Illinois by Golf Digest in 2005.
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| In this Issue:
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In a Nutshell:
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| How to Relax |
| Breathe deeply:
Regular, slowed breathing – a common characteristic of meditation and prayer- alerts your brain that you are in a safe place, far away from predators. It also relaxes your heart, decreases blood pressure and removes wastes from the bloodstream.
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Yoga, Breathing, and Golf by Katherine Roberts
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In Sanskrit the word yoga was originally found in the Vedas, the most ancient scripture known to mankind. Yoga means “union” and refers to the connection of the body and mind. Traditionally, yoga consists of physical postures or poses called asanas, breathing exercises, chanting and meditation. The relationship among these elements is the concrete foundation with which one can cultivate more health – physically and mentally. Yoga enables one’s ability concentrate, be in “the zone” – remain completely focused on the task at hand.
Katherine Roberts and David Gossett
Many tour players are benefiting from yoga: Brad Faxon, Jonathan Kaye, Gary McCord, Andrew Magee, Stewart Cink, Jesper Parnevik, Chip Beck, David Gossett, Gary Player, Ty Tryon, Aaron Baddeley, Julie Inkster, Betsy King, and Jill McGill. Even Tiger has talked about his Buddhist background and how that impacts his meditation and focus techniques.
A common fallacy about yoga is that you need to bend your body like a pretzel, burn incense and chant to achieve yoga’s full benefits. These misconceptions are rooted in images of ancient ashrams and traditional yoga practices. Recently a more modern version of yoga has emerged, accommodating Western desires and gaining universal acceptance. Yoga is now the fastest growing form of exercise on the world.
Yoga for Golfers incorporates flexibility, strength, balance, core conditioning and breathing awareness, focus, relaxation and visualization techniques. Each week I will offer yoga based golf conditioning exercises or poses that have a direct, positive benefit for your golf performance. Tension in the body increases the potential for swing flaws. The fastest most effective way to control tension is with breathing.
Any time we experience stress on the golf course - during the first shot, tight lye, double bogies or any shot that creates anxiety - our breathing becomes erratic. Physically, breathing sustains the metabolic processes of the body; mentally, breathing keeps the mind calm and focused. When the body is relaxed, the lungs, diaphragm and the muscles of the ribcage, and chest move in an unrestricted way. This is often referred to as deep diaphragmatic breathing.
When we are under pressure, the physiological effect of holding the breath is a “fight or flight” response, resulting in rapid uncontrolled breathing and a loss of blood flow to the extremities, including the brain. The body becomes tense, the mind races, and the ability to execute the golf swing becomes more challenging. (As if we need more challenge!)
Your breathing pattern is a direct reflection of the level of stress on the body and mind at any given point and is a mirror of your internal physical and mental condition. Breathing awareness is the most important component during the practice of yoga. An effective tool to “de-stress” on the golf course is with the practice of slow deep rhythmic breathing.
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This exercise will allow you to cultivate more effective breathing. Begin by lying on your back, knees bent, and fingers resting lightly on your ribcage. As you inhale fee the expansion in the ribcage, as you exhale feel the contraction. It is as if the entire mid-section is rising and falling. Try to maintain the inhale for a count of four the exhale for a count of six. Practice this for ten to twenty breaths, trying to breathe deeper with each breath.
Incorporate this new breathing technique into your pre-shot routine. Set your stance, take a deep inhalation, then a “cleansing” exhalation, and then begin your take away. This technique can offset the first tee jitters and create more rhythm and “feel” in your golf swing.
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| 2 Minute Video Clip : Breathing Rhythm for Golf with Katherine Roberts |
Mental Tip from Denise Hatch:
Focus, Flow, Zone, Control...Mental Mastery. |
The state of internal calm, confidence, and power. When the body is brought to peak condition and the mind is completely focused, an individual can achieve the extraordinary.
Mental conditioning and mastery are not just used for a better golf game but also to make better corporate competitors, more creative artists, and leaders with more impact. It is a state of being that many are looking to achieve or to master. It is not by luck that the leaders in any arena are at the top of their game, but more that they have a grasp of mental mastery.
Michael Jordan once said there are players with more skill, more talent, more physical strength than I, but there are few with the same mental strength.
There are many ways to induce changes in physiology, brainwaves, heart rate, and emotion to achieve the state of mental mastery. Meditation, Pranayama (breathing exercises), yoga (specifically Yoga for Golfers), Hypnosis, and visualization to name a few. Any of these methods are training the mind to stay present with focused attention. Just as it takes practice and discipline to make the body stronger physically, it also takes practice and discipline to make the mind stronger mentally. Any and all of these modalities will make a better golfer and guaranteed a better person.
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Golf Tip by John Green: Downswing Rotation
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| Every golfer would like to have that nice "tour" finish where they are facing the target, up on their back toe, and most of their body weight is on the front foot. Unfortunately, there are some golfers who are unable to get that "tour" finish: the back foot is flat on the ground and most of their body weight is on their back foot.
Lack of rotation of the body (core) on the downswing is the main culprit of this problem. The body has to be able to rotate enough on the follow through which should pull the back foot up on it's toe, and move the body weight to the front foot.
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Let's look at professional baseball. Would you ever see a professional baseball player swing their bat with their hands and arms first? The body (core) rotation is what triggers their forward motion to the ball. If that baseball player stood there and just used their hands and arms to swing the bat, they wouldn't be applying very much power to the ball. The same principle applies to the golf swing. Lack of rotation on the downswing has a substantial effect on power in the golf swing, and can be traced to two areas: lack of flexibility and/or the instinct to hit at the ball with the hands and arms. Believe it or not, the easier of the two areas to fix is the flexibility! Getting rid of that "hit" instinct will require many visits with your PGA Professional, and a complete mindset change as to how to apply power in the golf swing.
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For a limited time only, Golf Gym is offering a FREE PowerGrip Squeasy. I am amazed with what can be done with this simple little ball. We created eleven exercises utilizing the ball and isometric positions that really help in stretching and strengthening some of your upper body golf muscles.
Golf Gym wants to share it with you for FREE. You will only be charged $2.99 for shipping and handling. GolfGym.com |
Recipe: Red Lentil Dal (with Tadka)
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| Serve Red Lentil Dal with brown rice and your favorite vegetables. You can use the same recipe to cook green lentils or mung beans. Experiment and enjoy! |
Tadka:
- 1 large onion
- 4 T. vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup frsh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
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Dal:
- 1 cup red lentils
- 4 cups water/vegetable stock
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 Clove of garlic
- 1/2 inch ginger root, peeled and grated, optional
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
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Cooking the Dal:
Rince the lentils in cold water about 3 times or until water runs off clean. Bring lentils to a boil with water or stock, and simmer in a heavy-bottomed pot, covered, for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Low heat) Then add salt, turmeric,coriander, cayenne, minced garlic and ginger. At one hour the lentils should be fully cooked. If you stir them they will become soupy, and thy also thicken as they cool. The desired consistency is like thick pea soup. Cover or uncover in last 15 minutes to adjust consistency. Beware of bottom scorching!
Making the Tadka:
Slice the onion into little slivers. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottom skillet, add the cumin seeds and then the onion, cooking at medium-high heat, watchfully, until onions have some hint of brown and are limp. Turn off heat. Pour the cream over the onions.
Meanwhile, wash and coarsely chop the cilantro. (I remove large stems, too)
When all is ready to serve, toss the cilantro with the onions in the pan. Serve the dal into a serving bowl, and pour the Tadka over that. Gently swirl the Tadka into the Dal.
Recipe is traditional from India, interpreted by E. Scott
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Yoga for Golfers News and Events
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- Katherine taught with Hank Haney in November in Scottsdale, and will be doing other golf schools with him in 2007 . Keep track of upcoming ESPN Golf School events with Hank Haney. (Katherine and Hank picture at right)
- See Katherine on the Golf Channel show The Turn
Join the Yoga for Golfers Team!
Become a certified trainer in the most innovative, fast-growing fitness program in golf today.
Next Teacher Training Event will be March 8th-11th, 2007 in Scottsdale, AZ
Learn from Katherine Roberts, the originator of Yoga for Golfers: This 3 ½ day workshop is designed for PGA professionals, yoga instructors, physical therapists, fitness professionals, and golfers with sincere intent to enhance their golf performance through biomechanical knowledge and fitness.
Call to Register: 888-313-YOGA (9642)
Read more at www.yogaforgolfers.com
If you have any questions, email: katherine@yogaforgolfers.com
See you there!
Katherine Roberts
Founder, Yoga for Golfers
Phone: 888-313-9642
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