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Pro Mental Coach Review


GolfSpy Barbajo

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Received my Pro Mental Coach CD this morning - loaded it up and an eager to get started.

 

It looks fascinating, but I am running into one HUGE roadblock. For some reason it stops, quits and updates every 5 to 7 minutes. Then you re-enter and have to start all over again. Right now it's coaching me to go mental. Anyone else having this issue? I'm running it on a Mac. Please chime in. I hope it's just me, because so far I love what it's saying!

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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BTW -- Kudos to Scott from Buffalo Marketing. Got back to me via email to help figure out what's going on - and on a Saturday, no less. So I'll have to give customer service a very high mark!

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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barbajo, can you post Scott's email? I'm having the same problem of updates while I'm going through the assessment. I've tried twice now and so far so good, but updating should be something done at startup, not while the program is running...

 

edit: I'm also running on a Mac.

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The guys from Buffalo Communications have come through! Had a fix for the computer glitch e-mailed to me this morning! Very high marks for customer service. Have started getting into the program - it's pretty intense. Will have a write up on the introduction/assessment section later today - but preliminary reviews are pretty positive!~

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
Follow @golfspybarbajo

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The guys from Buffalo Communications have come through! Had a fix for the computer glitch e-mailed to me this morning! Very high marks for customer service. Have started getting into the program - it's pretty intense. Will have a write up on the introduction/assessment section later today - but preliminary reviews are pretty positive!~

 

They are very fast about answering concerns, so definitely a plus. I had told them I'm getting a new computer soon and they proactively set up my CD key so I can install it on another machine.

 

I'm not sure if this is just a Mac issue, but here are the steps to fix it from the guys at Buffalo Communications:

 

  1. Uninstall the ProMentalCoach program in your Applications folder (to uninstall, just delete it)
  2. Delete the Pro Mental Coach files:
    • /Library/ProMentalCoach
    • /Users//Library/Preferences/ProMentalCoach (substitute with your account login name)

[*]Please click on the following link to reinstall Pro Mental Coach program: http://promentalcoach.com/golf/downloads/ProMentalCoach.pkg.zip

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I went through the assessment tonight. During the assessment you are asked several questions about your most recent game. You also play a variation of a game where you have to click anything a letter appears in the middle of a white ball. Numbers may appear in the middle and there are other images that appear on screen. Personally, I clicked on a couple of numbers by accident, but I hardly noticed the other "distractions". In the end, I was given this for my results. I guess I'm average for my 30 year old age group:

 

Screen shot 2012-05-15 at 11.33.00 PM.jpg

 

Exercise 1:

 

After the assessment, you are given 4 exercises, all of which are set at beginner level. The first one was on staying positive. This is done by having to click on happy faces or positive words and ignoring negative words and unhappy faces. I'm writing this right after doing this particular exercise. Some of these faces are really ambiguous as to whether or not they are happy or not, I got a few wrong both ways. Also, you need a mouse, I did it with the trackpad on my laptop and it's hard to be fast enough when the screen flashes red and you need to click on faces/words faster. At the end, I was given another score of par, apparently I fit very well in my age group!

 

Exercise 2:

 

This exercise is meant to help with your preshot routine and your breathing. You are given a series of pictures and asked to piece together your preshot routine, then asked to time your breathing by hitting the space bar each time you exhale. My initial impression was the images were not obvious as to what they meant and could have used some text to help explain each image. Really the point is to practice your breathing, so the routine you pick really doesn't matter towards your "score", though I assume picking a similar routine to your actual routine helps translate the exercise to the course. I got a birdie score on this one, woohoo!

 

Exercise 3:

 

The next exercise was much more difficult for me. You are given a picture of a bucket of balls in either red or green at the bottom of the screen. At the top portion, one to six buckets of balls appear. Here's the tricky part. If the bottom bucket is green, you need to left click if you see a match and hit space if you don't. If the bucket is red, you do the opposite. I apparently suck at this and got a bogey score.

 

Lol. I was playing near midnight. When I went past midnight, the exercises set to the next day, so now I have five new exercises to complete, and I'm too sleepy to go through that.

 

All in all I'm intrigued. They do a very good job of making it obvious how their exercises translate to the game and do a good job in the assessment going over all the aspects of the mental game they do and don't cover. I'm going to keep sticking with it throughout the season. I think I agreed to do an update two weeks after I start, so I'll definitely do that.

 

This is not sold or intended as a quick fix for anything. They even say you'll have to work hard at the mental practice. I'll see how things go and report back periodically.

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I think this is where the program gets interesting. After my initial assessment, my program was a little different that yours WD, so it appears to customize itself to the actual results of each person's assessment. Which is kinda cool.

 

And the program is addictive. You get started and the next thing you know, an hour or two has gone by. It's also definitely a long term commitment - the program goal is to train your brain so it can minimize distractions, remain positive despite bad shots and to "stay in the moment." We're talking a long term process.

 

Some thoughts on the Assessment process:

 

1. You go through a long introduction -- requires reading several pages of text with CBS-Masters type music in the background. It goes into great detail about the mental game, what it is and what it means.

 

2. Part of the assessment includes questions on Perceived Cognition - asks about your last round - your thought process, overcoming bad shots, dealing with distractions, how you felt about playing with partners, could you control your stress, could you plan and visualize shots, etc. Answer on a scale of 1-7, ranging from "Not at all" to "that's me!"

 

3. Defining the Mental Game: being able to use your full capacities at the right time without deviation or being distracted -- it's about being "in the zone."

 

4. Mental game has 3 components:

- Motivation & confidence

- Stress management

- Optimal cognitive functioning

 

5. Optimal cognitive functioning has 3 components

- Concentration

- Inhibition (keeping out bad thoughts, distractions)

- Mental endurance

 

6. Two memorable quotes:

- "Enjoy the moment each time you drive, swing or putt"

- "Don't think about your swing - just do it. It sounds easy - it's not."

 

7. Ultimately, the programs wants to train your brain to do the following:

- Improve your capacity to get "in the zone"

- Improve your ability to get in and out of the zone

- Allow you to achieve a high level of mental endurance

 

I have lots more notes to go decipher and post, but as reported earlier - this is a long term process. Played one round since working through the initial portions of the program and I did notice many of the "lessons" kept going through my head.

 

Tried very hard to stay in the moment and enjoy each shot and to not get ahead of myself. I usually tally overall scores in my head while walking to the next tee and thing to myself "if I par these last two holes I'll be score 39 for the front nine" or something like that. Caught myself doing that a couple of times and immediately stopped.

 

Also didn't let bad shots get me discouraged -- well, not as much as before, anyway. On one hole I croaked a drive but left my wedge approach WAY short of the hole. Instead of getting pissed, I just made sure to get the lag close and tap in for par. Even a couple of 3 putts didn't get me too down. :rolleyes:

 

Will have more to report as I go through the "lessons." Really interesting stuff!

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Good opening salvo's guys. I'm still waiting on mine but Canada post has been gawd awful recently. I imagine they're using it right now in their sorting room while mocking me.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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I have a question for you... I have done the initial scoring process after registering for free on their website, I have an opinion on the games that they have you play with the golf ball and things flashing and you most click under given conditions. I am curious if you felt this was a good assessment process to mental game?

Callaway Epic Max 12.0 (-1/N) @ 44.50" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 Stiff

Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff

Callaway Mavrik Pro 23.0* @ 40.00" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 95 HYB Stiff

Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps)

Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 63-09 C-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Golf Swing & Putting -- Bruce Rearick (Burnt Edges Consulting)

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I have a question for you... I have done the initial scoring process after registering for free on their website, I have an opinion on the games that they have you play with the golf ball and things flashing and you most click under given conditions. I am curious if you felt this was a good assessment process to mental game?

 

Good question -- my sense is that it's supposed to assess your ability to block out distractions while swinging, and focus on the task at hand -- what they refer to as Optimal Cognitive Functioning. That particular test is pretty challenging --- really had to concentrate on not letting the flashing items slow down response when a letter appeared inside the golf ball, or in differentiating between a letter and a number. Seems to be a fairly decent test of what the program describes as the three main elements of Cognitive functioning...

 

Concentration -- yep -gotta focus like crazy on that little white golf ball and what pops up inside of it.

 

Inhibition - keeping out bad thoughts and distractions -- the stuff flashing can be a distraction, and it's hard not to say "s**t" when you mess up. Can't dwell on what just happened, gotta be ready what's next.

 

Mental Endurance -- thought to myself on several occasions - "when is this damn test gonna end?" It takes some work to stay focused for the entire length of the test.

 

For those out there who haven't seen the program -- one of the assessment tools they use to measure your mental game starting point is a cognitive test. You have to focus on a golf ball in the center of the screen. When a letter flashes inside the golf ball, you press the space bar or left mouse button. If a number flashes in the ball, you don't. They also flash other items on the screen, outside of the ball, to distract you. The test measures how quickly you press after seeing the letter, and whether you clicked when a number came up - which is a no-no. It seems to test your ability to react, focus for a lengthy period of time, cope with messing up, staying in the moment and filtering out distractions.

 

I like how they change up the pace -- sometimes the distraction flashes pop up by themselves, sometimes they coincide with a letter flashing in the ball, sometimes a little before, sometimes a little after. They also give you a few seconds every once in a while with nothing flashing at all, and then the barrage starts all over again.

 

Many of the other exercises throw in distractions while you're concentrating, as well. You hear gusts of wind, shouts of "birdie," the occasional leaf blower, etc. Various animations will also blow across the screen, just to mess with you.

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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+1 to everything barbajo said. I haven't had a chance to play a round since starting, but I will say when I was at the range the other day I looked down at the ball and my thought was to visualize the numbers/letters game from the assessment test. This did a fantastic job of getting all other thoughts out of my head.

 

As they say during the assessment, you mind is made to handle many thoughts unconsciously, but when you actually think about it consciously, it turns off this "automatic" unconscious part of the brain. It's important to let that automatic part handle your swing. This is what they refer to as being "in the zone".

 

It's also important to be able to switch between these states of mind. When you're ready to hit the ball, you want to be focused, but in between you shouldn't keep that intense focus because it's too tiring on your brain. So the ball game is part of that, you are forced to focus intensely for a while, but then you switch to reading and answering questions. During the assessment, you do this switch three times.

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Great explanation, My only thing is that I don't understand the scoring, I think the result might come out lower then they should and here is why.

 

Everyone has different reaction times, have a friend hold a yard stick vertically cup your hand around it without grabbing it, have them randomly drop the stick and you need to grab it. everyone will get a different amount of measurement in inches that the yard stick dropped. How does that relate to the game you might be asking yourself.

 

Well the game is based on flashing objects inside of a golf ball and you are supposed to click only when a letter appears as fast as possible. Assume a letter appears and right as you click it vanished and an object outside of the ball appeared, I think the system will score that is a miss.

 

When I took it my focus was on point on the golf ball but my clicking was supper fast and I noticed i had a couple misses do to the above reason. I started to adjust to speed up my clicking and just started clicking at anything that popped up in the ball before i processed the letter or number, again I got a lot of misses from this adjustment.

 

I wasn't sure you take on the scoring of this process and if you thought it was a good way to score for the system.

Callaway Epic Max 12.0 (-1/N) @ 44.50" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 Stiff

Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff

Callaway Mavrik Pro 23.0* @ 40.00" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 95 HYB Stiff

Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps)

Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 63-09 C-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Golf Swing & Putting -- Bruce Rearick (Burnt Edges Consulting)

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My take on the scoring process is it doesn't matter as much as doing the exercises. There are 18 total and I wouldn't be surprised if everyone has to do all 18. The game states they always adjust based on your performance, so we'll probably see some exercises more often than others.

 

The score is purely for providing a sense of achievement. The past few games I've played I scored a condor (-4). I'm guessing I'll be slapped with a harder version next time they come up.

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My take on the scoring process is it doesn't matter as much as doing the exercises. There are 18 total and I wouldn't be surprised if everyone has to do all 18. The game states they always adjust based on your performance, so we'll probably see some exercises more often than others.

 

The score is purely for providing a sense of achievement. The past few games I've played I scored a condor (-4). I'm guessing I'll be slapped with a harder version next time they come up.

 

Ditto! Don't think the score matters, just the progression of the scores and the sense of achievement.

 

Condor! That's pretty sweet -- they should be able to let you print out a certificate or something!

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Ditto! Don't think the score matters, just the progression of the scores and the sense of achievement.

 

Condor! That's pretty sweet -- they should be able to let you print out a certificate or something!

 

When I was younger, I had a version of Madden for super nintendo where you could train your players to get better. One of these was a memorization test and I got pretty good at it. So I guess I've had prior practice to the scoreboard memory game in Pro Mental Coach :). The other game was the breathing one, which is all about timing your breaths and didn't strike me as very hard. I will say I'm going to focus more on breathing when I play this weekend though.

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Well my only point was I think that from the sounds of it they are going to customize the software based on your initial scores and give 'drills' to help with the low score weak areas. I'm a software developer it's pretty easy to draw that conclusion from what I have read lol. So it might mistakenly score you lower and focus on something that is truly not your weak point for the mental game. I was kinda wondering how accurate the system was in basing the experience for drills and things to focus on when the scoring system could be thrown off.

Callaway Epic Max 12.0 (-1/N) @ 44.50" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 Stiff

Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff

Callaway Mavrik Pro 23.0* @ 40.00" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 95 HYB Stiff

Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps)

Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 63-09 C-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Golf Swing & Putting -- Bruce Rearick (Burnt Edges Consulting)

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I have a question for you... I have done the initial scoring process after registering for free on their website, I have an opinion on the games that they have you play with the golf ball and things flashing and you most click under given conditions. I am curious if you felt this was a good assessment process to mental game?

 

I'll have a more in depth write up for the intro testing tonight but my initial impression of this to measure your mental game is that it's odd. I honestly though I was switching between a year 1 University text book and then playing the first person shooter game in the breaks (Like many 1st years do anyways :lol:). I found it an entirely odd assessment but I can also see how the developers would say it fits into the 5 key area's they want to work on.

 

I took a bunch of screen shots which I will put up tonight as well.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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Well my only point was I think that from the sounds of it they are going to customize the software based on your initial scores and give 'drills' to help with the low score weak areas. I'm a software developer it's pretty easy to draw that conclusion from what I have read lol. So it might mistakenly score you lower and focus on something that is truly not your weak point for the mental game. I was kinda wondering how accurate the system was in basing the experience for drills and things to focus on when the scoring system could be thrown off.

 

Replying to this at this point is not really possible for us without a professional psychiatrist looking over our results and telling us if they agree. However, because the game does adjust itself based on your performance over time, I'm not really worried about it. Like going to the gym, you can expect when you start for it to be easy. I believe you can retake the assessment later on too, but we'll see how the program evolves over time.

 

I have no idea what sort of QA they had to measure the final results of the assessment and if they can be thrown off. I only got the impression reaction time mattered for the last of the three ball games. I'd also expect they take a baseline of click reaction time and factor that into the final score.

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Replying to this at this point is not really possible for us without a professional psychiatrist looking over our results and telling us if they agree. However, because the game does adjust itself based on your performance over time, I'm not really worried about it. Like going to the gym, you can expect when you start for it to be easy. I believe you can retake the assessment later on too, but we'll see how the program evolves over time.

 

I have no idea what sort of QA they had to measure the final results of the assessment and if they can be thrown off. I only got the impression reaction time mattered for the last of the three ball games. I'd also expect they take a baseline of click reaction time and factor that into the final score.

 

LOL, great answer... I guess the initial results mean nothing other then more work and practice for you when it miss scores you lower... more practice is not a bad thing, thanks for the info.

Callaway Epic Max 12.0 (-1/N) @ 44.50" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 Stiff

Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff

Callaway Mavrik Pro 23.0* @ 40.00" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 95 HYB Stiff

Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps)

Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 63-09 C-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Golf Swing & Putting -- Bruce Rearick (Burnt Edges Consulting)

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Pro Mental Coach update --

 

 

A few sessions into the software - some observations:

 

- Keeps track of what you've done and where you are, so it knows where you left off.

 

- Sets a schedule for specific days you need to do your exercises

 

- You can use the program on "off" days to practice

 

- Have taken some of the concepts to the course, such as:

 

- Staying in the moment -- usually a struggle for me, but have been able (mostly) to shrug off bad shots and focus on the next one, particularly helpful late in rounds. Example - parred the Par 3 14th on my home course, and cracked my best drive on the day on 15. Yanked my approach wedge left OB, came up short with a lob and landed in the trap, popped out of the trap to 12 feet and two putted for a triple bogey. Was pissed for about 15 seconds and then moved on - cracked another strong drive on 16 and moved on.

 

- Cognizant of staying mentally focused late in rounds -- twice caught myself letting it go on the 17th hole - was able to refocus and finish without disaster whereas before if something went wrong more bad stuff would follow.

 

- They had an exercise on breathing that has helped -- when I start rushing or get stressed, slowing down the breathing helps settle things down

 

- There's one exercise on what can only be described as meditation -- after the triple I tried to feel, sense and enjoy everything from the breeze to the sun to the feel of the ground to the interesting characters I was playing with. Sounds silly but it surely did help - made me want to sing "Kumbaya."

 

- Being in the zone -- best shots were the ones when the swing was on "autopilot," made with a relatively clear head. Bad shots were generally made when thinking about getting the outcome.

 

Realizing more and more that many of the cognitive exercises are there to train the brain to react cognitively - to train you to get in the zone and speed up brain processing -- at least from my untrained perspective.

 

That's it for now -- more to come as we progress...

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Sometimes the scores really seem off. I played two games earlier today where I felt I got a lot of wrong answer and yet still got an "Albatross" score.

 

I also played a round yesterday and definitely did not feel I was taking anything from Pro Mental coach to the course. The problem is twofold:

 

1) Thinking about using ProMental coach requires yet another thing in my head, so this didn't help

 

2) In order to get "into the zone" you have to really trust yourself. When I'm off, this is the hardest thing for me.

 

I'm still not drawing any conclusions yet because it's a long term process. I assume that each time I go out, it'll get a little easier, so I'll stick with trying the relaxation (breathing and mediation) techniques they teach. I can't say I encountered any distractions other than my son complaining about some of his own shots, but for that it's my job to be the mental coach :).

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When I was younger, I had a version of Madden .

 

 

When I was younger John Madden was a football coach and we had pinball games.:D

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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When I was younger John Madden was a football coach and we had pinball games.:D

 

There you go again.... :P

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Okay, no idea if Pro Mental Coach has anything to do with it, but two odd things are happening on the course:

 

1. Bad shots don't piss me off nearly as much as before I started this process - maybe just needed a nudge and some strategies for "staying in the moment"

 

2. Noticing when playing partners start to lose it - played with a 3 handicap yesterday - amazing golfer who wasn't hitting it well. He was getting pretty pissed at himself and started hitting shots - especially in the sort game - that were more on my level than his, and it was really ticking him off, and his round just snowballed from there.

 

Wanted to start giving him some Pro Mental Coach tips but figured he'd go all Elin Woods on me...

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
Follow @golfspybarbajo

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Curse you photobucket. Once these screen shots function again I'll stick the lengthly post back up.

 

Barbajo: Seems like you're getting some pretty early returns here.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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I just want to touch on the neat introduction that Mental Coach gives you after you fire it up and create an account. As mentioned previously, your regalled with some very Mastersesque music as you get going.

After creating the account your given some intro reading about what Mental Coach's goals are and how they're attempting to achieve it. As someone that's spent an absurd amount of time writing acedimia papers or technical writing (odd eh given how I phrase things on forums) this is something I really, REALLY appriciate. I'm also quite appreciative of the language they use. It's not so technical that anyone should have a problem with it but it's also not written in the Lolz wut speech that I have grown a burning hatred towards.

 

Some examples? Certainly.

 

P1.jpg

P2.jpg

P4.jpg

 

One of the things that I've been somewhat breifly critial of, is how they do the initial seeding. There's an annoying white ball and they flash pictures in and around it getting you to click under certain circumstances. Effectively measuring response time but not a whole lot more. That being said, I'm quite impressive with the games that they have and the point behind them once you get into it, so I wouldn't really put this as much as a large downside.

 

P3.jpg

 

Something that I'm hugely impressed with is that it sets a schedule for you after the assessment. The program doesn't want you to bomb through it in a week, not see any gain on the course and then complain that the program is junk. No, it sets a schedule to do something every couple of days and even warns you not to over do, that making mental changes that will effect your game (and the rest of your life) will take time. If they had someway of linking this to people's calendar's be it Outlook, Android or iPhone would add that awesome cherry on top.

 

Now, most of the games are testing your mental agility and trying to grow it so you can, in theory, adapt more easily to changing circumstances. In effect, not letting you get in a groove on the course like on can do on the range. Don't just stripe that 7 iron at the range our the course and forget how to chip from a downward lie with the ball above your feet. Nail it all, that's the goal. The reason I'm mentioning this is because of the game "Master Yourself". Barbajo touched on it earlier in that it's more of a teaching tool for meditation. Effectively they're trying to teach you how to "get in the zone" and then jump in and out of it. My issue with this game is that unlike all the others, you can cheat. There's nothing stopping you from not clicking that button when you loose your focus. One could effectively get up from their chair and walk away for the 4 minutes. Sure, that shows a lack of dedication on the part of the user, something that one would hope wouldn't occur after they purchase the product to reach the goal. Then again, anything that has to do in the mental realm that proves challanging isn't exactly the thing that most people stick to all that hard.

 

I'll guess we'll see from the data but so far, it's the main thing that's stuck out to me as being odd.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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Honestly, I'm not sure if I can give this one to Pro Mental Coach or not, but I did find in my last couple of rounds that I'm more able to shake off bad shots. Before, a terrible tee shot would essentially ruin a hole for me as I'd still be annoyed by the time I got to my ball to take the 2nd shot. The past couple rounds I've been annoyed after taking the shot but by the time I've got to my ball it's just another shot to take.

 

Whether I'm simply more comfortable on the course now, or the influcence of PMC, or a mix of both I've found it a nice change. During a best ball scramble round that we play for Charity every year we went from using two of my shots last year to 50ish this year. I'd say that's a nice change. Then again, I was a 110 shooter last year and a 90 this year.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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Feeling the same way, Tuna...not sure why, but it's definitely a change. Was beating the ball around the course badly today but was able to keep concentration up for the full 18 and when all was said and done, the score was okay...

 

You're right about shaking off the bad shots -- by the time you're ready for the next one, that bad shot is gone. If you're feeling it, too - - then maybe there is something to PMC...

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
Follow @golfspybarbajo

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I was at the range today trying to unlock the mysteries of the 3 wood. After hitting it awfully for a while I decided to try to focus only on my breathing and let everything else be automatic as they describe in PMC. I used my tour striker to instill the right swing feel and just swung away. As long as I didn't try to crush the thing, I was hitting it exactly as I wanted.

 

I'm with both of you about ignoring bad shots and distractions. For whatever reason, I haven't let bad shots get to me since using PMC. I remember a round I had before where a series of bad shots got me into a funk I couldn't get out of for the rest of the round. In the few times I've played since PMC, I've gotten much better at "resetting" myself before each shot and forgetting bad shots.

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