ABOUT
WHO'S coach lawrie?
He's The Mental Toughness Mind-Set Coach Who
Works With High Achieving Individuals & Teams
Welcome, and thanks so much for visiting my website.
I have a question for you. "Have you ever felt so embarrassed that you wanted to go hide from everyone because you failed spectacularly under pressure?"
I know I have, in-fact I've done it many times in my life in many different ways. I know what it's like to make a mess of something that meant a lot to me, something I mistakenly thought I could do confidently.
Let me give you an example...
I have a question for you. "Have you ever felt so embarrassed that you wanted to go hide from everyone because you failed spectacularly under pressure?"
I know I have, in-fact I've done it many times in my life in many different ways. I know what it's like to make a mess of something that meant a lot to me, something I mistakenly thought I could do confidently.
Let me give you an example...
I Felt Like a Fool
As a young man in my early 20's I was living the dream competing on a local professional golf circuit when one day I came to a stark realisation that I couldn't hit golf shots successfully when I was under any kind of increased pressure.
I remember like it was yesterday standing over my golf ball in a position to have my best tournament finish and all I had to was hit a 7 iron onto the green and take two putts--something I'd done thousands of time before.
I remember like it was yesterday standing over my golf ball in a position to have my best tournament finish and all I had to was hit a 7 iron onto the green and take two putts--something I'd done thousands of time before.
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However, right there in that moment I became aware that I was unclear of my goal just as I was ready to swing. My hands felt clammy and I felt like I was gripping my golf club more like a blacksmiths hammer ready to smash a piece of steel into submission rather than like a surgical instrument I would wield with finesse and control.
My heart was beating out of my chest, and I had a good dose of the cold sweats. I was definitely not ready to hit that golf shot. And what happened? I then proceeded to hit a soul destroying golf shot that ended up a long way from where it was supposed to go and from there in my hyper-stressed out state I made a meal of the next shot, and then the one after that... and well you get the idea. I felt like a fool. |
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Technique, Technique, Technique
After the tournament had concluded and back at my motel sitting on the end of my bed I distinctly remember asking myself the question "what do I have to do to hit golf shots successfully under pressure?"
I never did get that tournament finish out of my system.
After a few years of competing and experiencing similar results from time-and-time, I decided to walk away from professional golf to do something else with my life. You see, while I practiced hard and truly wanted to become a successful professional golfer, I couldn't figure out how to effectively manage my thoughts, feelings and actions when I was competing under perceived pressure on the golf course.
In thinking about it in hindsight, there were clues as to why I struggled with this. You see, I couldn't recall a time where I was exposed to mental strategies and techniques to help me manage the stressful situations I was to face as a professional golfer.
Not one teacher, coach or even fellow competitor mentioned anything to me about how to handle the pressure moments. It was 'technique,' 'technique,' 'technique,' which I interpreted as "if I develop my technical abilities, the rest would take care of itself."
It didn't.
I never did get that tournament finish out of my system.
After a few years of competing and experiencing similar results from time-and-time, I decided to walk away from professional golf to do something else with my life. You see, while I practiced hard and truly wanted to become a successful professional golfer, I couldn't figure out how to effectively manage my thoughts, feelings and actions when I was competing under perceived pressure on the golf course.
In thinking about it in hindsight, there were clues as to why I struggled with this. You see, I couldn't recall a time where I was exposed to mental strategies and techniques to help me manage the stressful situations I was to face as a professional golfer.
Not one teacher, coach or even fellow competitor mentioned anything to me about how to handle the pressure moments. It was 'technique,' 'technique,' 'technique,' which I interpreted as "if I develop my technical abilities, the rest would take care of itself."
It didn't.
Method into Mindset
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I'd be lying if I said it was all bad. I did have my moments where I played some pretty good golf in tournaments. With that said, I can honestly say to you that I never played close to my potential and that bugged the hell out of me.
Eventually my lack of ability to perform competently under perceived pressure was the best thing to happen to me because it helped me to discover a new career path coaching people like me who couldn't handle the pressure moments. Driven by a strong and persistent need to understand how the high achievers and champions handle pressure moments, I devoted most of my available time to find out how I could turn method into mindset. |
What I've learned over the past 30 years from studying the science and the books on peak performance psychology-and many other fields, combined with my experience working with my clients is that pressure is the enemy of ambition, and no one escapes its clutches.
Pressure and stress devalue our efforts to perform in every type of environment imaginable. I used to think that some of the people I competed against were born lucky with a predisposition for handling the stress and pressure they faced.
I was wrong. People that appear to handle pressure and stress don't rely on luck, they rely on well-developed methods that evolve into a mental toughness mindset which helps them to manage their pressure moments. And you can too.
Remember this. What looks like magic in the heat of a pressure moment is really a well-developed set of methods that have been transformed into a mental toughness mindset.
Pressure and stress devalue our efforts to perform in every type of environment imaginable. I used to think that some of the people I competed against were born lucky with a predisposition for handling the stress and pressure they faced.
I was wrong. People that appear to handle pressure and stress don't rely on luck, they rely on well-developed methods that evolve into a mental toughness mindset which helps them to manage their pressure moments. And you can too.
Remember this. What looks like magic in the heat of a pressure moment is really a well-developed set of methods that have been transformed into a mental toughness mindset.
Allow Your Skills To Do the Talking
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The focal point of my approach to coaching has been to learn all I can about how you can perform confidently and skillfully in all types of situations.
I've made it my life's work to not only understand much of the psychology behind peak performance, but to also be able to teach it in many different environments. You see the great thing about managing pressure moments successfully is that it allows your skills to do the talking. And what could be more important than that? |
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Golf Team Coaching
I've worked with many elite golfers over 30 years
as a team coach
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In my career thus far I've been fortunate to hold down national team coaching positions for two national golf organisations. From 1992 to 1998 I was national women's golf coach for Australia and more recently from 2015 to 2020 I was co-national golf coach for the Indonesian Golf Association.
Working with elite golf talent has enabled me to develop the competitive toughness skills of many high achievers using the strategies and methods I've learned not only from Western sports science, but also from my studies of Eastern philosophy and psychology. |
Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aries, Argentina 2018
Mind On The Game
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In 1999 I established my coaching and consulting business Mind On The Game and since then I've worked with many ambitious high achieving athletes, individuals, and business teams.
My approach to coaching my clients involves simple, practical and easy to apply techniques that immunise them against the crippling effects of stress and pressure. You see, it doesn't matter whether it's executing a shot at a crucial time in a tournament, nailing a presentation in the boardroom, or at a conference, or acing a test in the classroom, if there's pressure involved, I can teach you how to perform right up to the level of your capability rather than being compromised by it. |
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