What is GREAT coaching – Fred Shoemaker #174

Today we welcome back on to the podcast a great friend of the Brain Booster, Fred Shoemaker. Since spending time at his Extraordinary Golf School over twenty years ago Fred has continued to be an incredible influence on my coaching and my life in general. We had a truly wonderful conversation, an hour of time just literally disappeared. It was an absorbing conversation which hadn’t been planned in any way shape or form. We just bounced ideas of each other with a starting point of ‘what makes a great coach?’ As Fred discusses a great coach is NOT someone who is just spouting a formula. Not someone who is passing on just ‘information’. The latest theory of what is the correct method. Not a person who is assessing if a student is doing it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. A great coach is someone providing an environment where a student can explore his or her own personal experience. To be able to gain genuine and beneficial feedback on what is ACTUALLY going on as opposed to what you THINK is going on. To increase awareness. We look into the nature of the mind and all the words and articles that have been written about it. Yet ultimately the question comes to a fundamental on ‘Do you have a mind? Or Are you your mind? Difficult concepts to get your head around They are some deep questions Challenging concepts Yet as Fred says to be able to recognise the difference between the ‘noise’ the mind is always creating and genuinely beneficial thought is a tremendous skill to develop and encourage. We talk about the dissatisfaction in the game and what is the root cause of this. Even given we are just coming through the worst crisis since the second world war many people are still finding so many ways to be dissatisfied. We look at the comparison game and why that is so destructive It was truly a wonderful session which you will gain so much from Fred’s website is www.extraordinarygolf.com To check out the programs with the Mind Factor go to www.themindfactor.com