Dr Raymond Prior on How Your Brain Works and Developing a Mindset for Success

Carl Reader has a BSc (Med)(Hon) Biokinetics (Exercise Therapy) Degree from the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.  Based in Cape Town, South Africa he has over 20 years of experience and expertise in helping golfers of all levels optimize their functional movement patterns to move and play better.

Carl makes a second appearance on our podcast to discuss his theory on "Right Side Posture Bias" and how that can adversely affect a golf-swing.

As he elaborates on the concept he illustrates the issues it creates:

• Improper posture, aim and alignment
• An inability to get to the lead or front side in the down-and-through swing, and
• An inability to properly and powerfully clear the hips through impact

As he addresses those maladies he talks about the mindset of golfers who suffer from Right Side Posture biases.  He also illustrates how this syndrome is oftentimes the cause of lower back pain.

He also shares moves, drills and remedies for this posture bias:

• Techniques for muscle release and stretches to alleviate tightness and pain, and
• Releasing muscles by way of strength training as opposed to stretching, and
• Overall body awareness

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Dr. Raymond Prior is a Performance Psychologist and is widely regarded by the world's best performers as one of the best minds in the field. His clients include Major Champions, World Champions, Olympic Gold Medalists, Award-winning Coaches and numerous NCAA Champions and All-Americans. He also consults to  Grammy Award winners, Oscar winners, Tony and Emmy Award winners.

Dr. Prior joins Mark Immelman to discuss his book - "Golf Beneath the Surface" and to illustrate how the brain works and how you can train your mindset to re-wire your brain.

As Dr. Prior takes you on a whistle-stop tour through the contents of the book, and his area of expertise, he elaborates on the following topics that will help you stack the proverbial mental odds in your favor:

• The Old Brain vs The New Brain
• Composure Under Pressure
• Resilience to Adversity
• High Performance Habits
• Performance Disruptors, and 
• Changing the Brain by Training the Mind

He also talks about the Mindset for Success and Impulse Control, Understanding Risk and dealing with Anxiety, and Dopamine and its influence on behavior.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Eric Cole is the 2023 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. He has also won over 56 Mini Tour Professional Tournaments and is the ultimate story of resilience and dogged perseverance.  

Eric joins Mark Immelman to talk about his career in golf, his journey to the PGA TOUR, and the 2013 Rookie of the Year title.

Cole shares stories from his childhood.  He talks about getting to know and play golf with Sam Saunders and Arnold Palmer, as well as growing up with a famous golfing father (Bobby Cole) and an equally famous golfing mother, 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year, Laura Baugh.

Eric shares intimate stories like his battle with Type 1 Diabetes and Addison's Disease.  He talks about NCAA college golf, Mini Tour battles and his ascent to the Korn Ferry Tour and ultimately The PGA TOUR.  He shares how he broke through barriers at each level with a mindset shift and a change in how he views challenges.

Growing up in Florida Eric speaks of his affinity to Florida tournaments and shares inside-the-ropes takes of his final round battle with Chris Kirk in the 2023 Honda (now Cognizant) Classic.

A master around the greens, Eric talks about the short game and how he pitches and chips off Bermuda grass.  He also talks about putting and shares the drill he does to manage the quality of his putting stroke.  He also shares insights on how to make pressure putts as he elaborates on the importance of beings true to yourself and your technique - a lesson he learned from his dad.  

Eric has made a a success of himself in life and in golf by way of a positive mindset and positive thinking - he talks about this trait, something taught to him by his mom.

This podcast is als available on YouTube. Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Matt McKay (BS Kinesiology - Purdue University) is a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certified Golf Fitness Professional and CHEK Institute Golf Performance Specialist based at The PGA TOUR Golf Academy at The World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL.  

He joins #OntheMark to help you to better physical shape for better golf-swings and improved performance.

Matt addresses his 5 tenets for improving physical condition and well-being:

• Gaining Self Awareness & Education 
• Improving Posture & Pelvis Positions
• Improving Pelvis Control & Core Stability
• Improving Footwork and Balance, and
• Improving Athleticism by Moving - Walking, Throwing, Jumping, etc 

He also illustrates and describes (videos on YouTube) 3 Exercises that will lead to fulfillment of his 5 beliefs: 

1. Glute Activation and the Bridge pose
2. Knee to Full Plank exercise, and
3. Single Leg Balancing 

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Dr. David Spiegel is Willson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.  He has more than 40 years of clinical and research experience studying psycho-oncology, stress and health, pain control, psychoneuroendocrinology, sleep and hypnosis. He has published 13 books, 404 scientific journal articles, and 170 book chapters on hypnosis, psychosocial oncology, stress physiology, trauma, and psychotherapy. 

Dr. David Spiegel is an Psychiatrist and the Wilson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he is known for his research into psycho-oncology; the neurobiology of therapeutic hypnosis and the role of the mind-brain-body connection in cancer outcomes and management among other topics.  He directs the Stanford Center on Stress and Health and is a recognized authority on hypnosis's clinical utility and neuroscience.

A true expert and trendsetter in the field of hypnosis Dr. Spiegel has appeared on the Andrew Huberman podcast, and he joins #OntheMark to dive into the topic of hypnotherapy and hypnosis for health, well-being, and for increased and improved focus and performance on the golf course.

Dr. Spiegel answers the following questions:

• What is Hypnosis and how does it work?
• What does Hypnosis do the the Brain?
• What is is like to be hypnotized?

He explains the different parts of the human brain and how they work, and perhaps don't work, together, and he elaborates on the three things that happen to the brain while in a state of hypnosis.  By way of explanation he also talks about brain activity in stages of stress and relaxation, in panic and in calm.

Dr. Spiegel then talks about his work with competitive athletes and illustrates how hypnosis has allowed them to perform at the best in high pressure situations.  He and Mark Immelman also discuss the mental state Tiger Woods gets into during competition.  To that Dr. Spiegel illustrates how athletes and people can perform self-hypnosis, through the Reveri App for peak mental and physical performance.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

There is also a discount code for listeners for the Reveri App. 

Go to https://reverihealth.app.link/onthemark for a free 14 Day Trial.

Kevin Redfern is an award-winning clubmaker and the founder and owner of Custom Golf Stix.  He has crafted, made and repaired golf clubs for over 25 years has been a trusted advisor to amateur and professional golfers alike.  He has helped some of the game's best including Seve Ballesteros, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Matt Wallace and Suzann Pettersen to dial in their equipment for peak performance.

Kevin is also a respected golf instructor and he joins #OntheMark to talk about the value of club-fitting for better scores.  As an added bonus he demonstrates his training aid, The Wedge Trainer, and illustrates how it can help iron the kinks out in your chipping and pitching swings.

With regard to club-fitting for success Kevin addresses:

• The importance of properly fitted golf clubs, and 
• The biggest errors he sees in clubfitting, incl. shaft length, grip size, shaft weight and swing-weight, shaft kick-points for trajectory control, and the sole of the club incl. Bounce.

He also talks about the Wedge Trainer training aid and shares the inspiration for the design.  He illustrates how to use the Wedge Trainer and what it is used for, incl. eliminating flipping and excess wristiness, inproving incorrect angles of attack and inconsistent landing points, and enhancing poor swing rhythm and tempo.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman. 

NOTE: Kevin has also offered a discount code of 10% off your purchase of a Wedge Trainer.  Use code: OntheMark

Ian Peek is a Performance and Transition Coach with over 35 years of ‘hands-on’ coaching experience.  Ian has a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Sports Coaching.  He understands every client’s needs are unique and his coaching style and training methods are holistic and all-encompassing. 

Ian joins us to share insights from his doctoral thesis and information on how the elite players improve their performance by focussing on more than their golf game, i.e., also on certain mental, emotional and behavioral concepts.

He discusses the his idea of "Adaptation to Exceed the Demands of the Field" and breaks them into four buckets - Biological, Physical, Psychological and Social.  He also illustrates how you can see the "Big Picture" to improvement and elaborates on a few of those concepts:

• The coach/player and player/caddy dynamics
• A player's game-face and their media/personal game face
• Mental health challenges to players and competitors
• Gratitude as a superpower, and
• How to find a way, your individual way, to success.

Dr. Peek uses PGA TOUR and DP World Tour examples in Sir Nick Faldo and Rory McIlroy to personalize some of his lessons. This podcast is also available as a Vodcast on YouTube. Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Jordan Spieth is one of the great American golfers of all time.  His resume is extensive; he is: A 2-time US Junior Amateur Champion, a NCAA National Champion, a 3-time Major Champion (The Masters, The US Open and The Open), a former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year (2013), the PGA TOUR and PGA Player of the Year (2015), the FedEx Cup Champion (2015), a Vardon Trophy winner (2015, 2017) and he has been ranked #1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Spieth has 13 PGA TOUR victories (and counting) and his career has seen the highest of highs and also some heartbreaking lows.  Jordan joins Mark Immelman to talk about his career in the game, highs, lows, tournament victories and defeats, and his approach to the golfswing, the short-game and scoring.

He addresses his appearances as an amateur in the Byron Nelson tournament, his first PGA TOUR win at The John Deere Classic, his career at The Masters including the 2015 win and the 2016 defeat.  Jordan also revisits the victory at the 2017 Open Championship and his mindset to chase down Matt Kuchar.

Spieth also talks about his slump in form, injury, and how he managed the journey back to the winner's circle at the 2021 Valero Texas Open.

With regard to technique and playing, he talks about:

• The Mindset of being "Mastery Driven vs. Ego Driven"
• Being Aggressive on and around the Greens
• Golf-swing "Feels"
• Beliefs for Playing your Best
• Wedge Play, Chipping and Pitching
• Holing Short Putts, and
• How he Manages Emotions and Expectations.

This podcast is also available as a Vodcast on YouTube. Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Seth Pepper is a former World Champion and #1 Ranked Swimmer in the World.  He has also been a multiple National Champion and All-American at the University of Arizona. 

Seth is now an elite High-Performance Mental Coach and helps athletes of differing sporting codes, including PGA TOUR and LPGA golfers, perform fearlessly and achieve their best under pressure.

Seth joins #OntheMark to share his incredible story.  A story of a young man who had a dream to become a champion and an Olympian.  A young man who was obsessed with discovering the secrets to success and unlocking the path to greatness.  A young man who worked hard, competed without concern, and rose to the top of his game and became a champion.

As Seth tells his story he weaves (1) Life Lessons, (2) Insights on How to Make Winning a Lifestyle, and (3) Llessons on How to Practice and Compete with No Limits or Fear.

Concepts discussed include:

• The Blueprint of Greatness
• Building a Lifestyle of Winning
• Learning from Failures
• Personalities that are likely to become Champions
• Sacrifice and Intrinsic Motivations
• Strategy and not Story as a Mindset
• Stoicism and realizing Resistance is the Way
• Repeat Exposure to Train the Mind, and
• The "Performance Battlefield" and (1) Relationships to Success, Failure and Pressure, and (2) Reframing Uncomfortable.

This podcast is also available as a Vodcast.  Search and Subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Terry Hashimoto is the founder of Jazz Golf in Canada, a co-developer of the BodiTrak Golf Pressure Mapt, and inventor of the world's first inertial measuring unit for golf and other major golf products.  He is a PGA Professional and one of the foremost experts in the field of Pressure Mapping and Ground Reaction Forces (GRF) and he joins #OntheMark to teach you the mechanics of building a good golf-swing from the ground up.

He talks about GRF at length and illustrates important charts and data that pertain to the "Flow of Energy" with specific regard to:  

• Efficient and Inefficient Pressure Traces,
• The Center of Pressure and what it represents,
• Velocity Charts and how Peak Velocity is created, and
• Vertical Forces, what they are, how they are exploited and when they are exploited in the swing.

He also shows the differences between Professionals and Amateurs, Long Drivers and Short Drivers.  He shows what Long Hitters do in the swing for power and he describes and illustrates Power Address and Impact positions.  

He talks about Rotary, Lateral and Vertical Forces in the swing and when and how they should be used, and he shows how Pressure Mapping and the correct use of the ground can mitigate injuries.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.