Andrew Fogg

So who is the Golf Hypnotist guy? Well, I’ve been a fanatical golfer for the last 40 years! And my purpose in life is to help you to achieve your full potential as a golfer. That means playing to the limits of your physical capability by putting your golf mind effectively to work. I’m not saying that the golf swing and physical technique aren’t important, just that’s not my specialist area – there are thousands of very proficient professional golf teachers out there who can help you with that. My skill is in the mental side of the game and I just love helping people. According to Jack Nicklaus, that accounts for 90% of the game of golf.

As you’ll see from my website www.golf-hypnotist.com, I am a golf psychologist using hypnosis and NLP in personal face-to-face sessions and a practicing clinical hypnotherapist. I’ve recently published my first book, “The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf” and a series of downloadable self-hypnosis audio products you can purchase to help you get the most from the ideas in the book.

To get an idea of what’s in the book and the audio programmes, sign up to receive my regular free Golf-Hypnotist ezine and get a free download of my “Your Own Virtual Caddy” article and the accompanying free 25-minute self-hypnosis audio recording.

So who is The Golf Hypnotist?

As I said earlier, I’ve been playing golf for the last 40 years since taking up the game at 18. It’s been a helter-skelter experience from then. With a little natural talent, my first ever handicap was 12 and by the end of that first year I was down to 4! I got hooked, as many of us golfers do, and played as often as I could and practiced when I couldn’t. I hit so many balls on the practice range at Brookmans Park Golf Club that there was hardly any turf left on the practice tee and I’m sure I left grooves in the practice putting green, not to mention the carpet at home.

I spent lots of time working on my swing as well and had a series of very good teachers. I owe a lot to Colin Christison, my first Club Pro at Brookmans Park he taught me the basics of golf and introduced me to a lot of good golfers. I also had a few good years learning from Bill Shankland, then Pro at Potters Bar Golf Club when Colin was the first assistant there with Ian Connelly – later to become Nick Faldo’s first coach – and of course with the junior assistant Tony Jacklin – yes that Tony Jacklin! Bill even invited me to take his place in a reunion game with Colin, Ian and Tony at Brookmans Park in June 1970 when Tony was US Open Champion – some experience for me at the age of 20. When Bill retired, he introduced me to another legend and I started having lessons from Dai Rees the captain of the famous 1957 Ryder Cup team. There have been many more since!

So how did I improve with all that practice and great coaching? Well, I’m not sure that I did. Over those 40 years my handicap has ranged from 2 to 8 with many peaks and troughs and little consistency. Oh, the inconsistency! Back in the early days in the UK and as a low handicapper, we had to submit all our medal scores to the County Golf Union and they determined how our handicaps rose and fell based on the best 3 from 12 or 4 from 16 cards. I remember one submission where for three consecutive rounds in the same weekend I recorded gross scores of 91, 79 and 68 on similar Par 71 courses and in comparable conditions – I was delighted with the last one of course.

The inconsistency was the reason I got interested in Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming. I started up a writing skills training business back in 2001 and one of my clients started asking me all these strange questions about how I actually trained people. It turned out that he was an NLP trainer and wanted to model my mental approach to training. He invited me to a “taster” session for his course and I got hooked on the whole NLP, hypnosis and psychology bit – maybe I could use this to bring some consistency and improvement to my golf and my business as well.

That first introduction to NLP started me on the path to golf psychology, to becoming the Golf Hypnotist and to developing into a more consistent golfer.

NLP and Hypnosis Training and Qualifications

I started out in by doing my NLP Practitioner training with the master and co-founder of NLP - Richard Bandler. He was assisted by Paul McKenna, the world-famous hypnotist, John La Valle, the president of the Society of NLP, and Michael Neill, the internationally renowned success coach and the best-selling author of “You Can Have What You Want”, “Feel Happy Now!” and the “Effortless Success” audio program.

My first round of golf following that first NLP course was a real experience – I was just so calm and composed. Despite not hitting the ball that well, I hit 16 of the first 17 holes in regulation and hit a long drive up the middle on 18. That’s when I suddenly realised what was happening and I started thinking “all I need is a par” to have my best round here. I completely lost it for 3 awful shots then suddenly remembered about my NLP skills and got back in the zone and almost holed a tricky shot from the over the back of the green. I went away thinking there’s something about this golf psychology lark.

As my interest in hypnosis developed, I went on a hypnosis course with Richard Bandler, Paul McKenna and Michael Breen, another brilliant NLP trainer. A couple of years later, I did my NLP Master Practitioner course – again with Richard Bandler, Paul McKenna and John La Valle.

Most recently, I have completed the Hypnotherapy Diploma Course with Adam Eason, Adam Eason the world renowned hypnotherapist, trainer and best-selling author of “The Secrets of Self Hypnosis”, “The Hypnotic Salesman” and “The Secrets of High Self-Esteem”.

What else do I do - Outside Work?

Like my golf, my hypnotherapy and golf psychology businesses are what I love doing, it’s not really work. When I’m not doing those, I’m a family man with a wife, daughter and two wonderful granddaughters.

I live in the Royal County of Berkshire with a wonderful array of fantastic traditional golf courses on my doorstep, including The Berkshire, Wentworth, and Sunningdale. I’m a member locally at Mill Ride and, despite moving 20 miles away a couple of years ago, I’m in my thirtieth year as a member of Beaconsfield Golf Club, a traditional Harry Colt Designed course in Buckinghamshire.

Regular Updates

If you’re interested in my golf articles, video clips, what’s happening in sports psychology, news from the world of Hypnosis, Self Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming, the latest stories in the golf world and my views, reviews and commentaries on the things that interest me, them have a look at my Blog page.

www.golf-hypnotist.com