I've been a client of Shirley's for a while now and I am so impressed, I offered to tell my story on her website. I've still got a long way to go, but you can follow my progress here in my online diary.
Professional golfers and the top amateurs play massive tournaments week in and week out. But for me playing off 5, representing my county at County Week in June is the entire focus of my golfing year. I'd been thinking about coming to see Shirley for a while because I need to be able to use the same relaxed swing playing into the green that I only seem to be able to do when I'm laying up. But then, just 10 ½ weeks before County Week, I broke my wrist. I was terrified that breaking both my radius and ulna in a fall would mean that I wouldn't be fit in time. Playing County Week means the world to me. I was prepared to try anything to make me mend more quickly so I booked an appointment with Shirley.

In my first session, I was still in a lot of pain, so we focussed on pain management and healing. I had always been very sceptical about hypnotherapy, but I desperately wanted it to work. Its much easier to trust something you understand, so Shirley patiently answered my questions and explained all the science to me. I have to say, it was amazing. You are not "under" as such, and can hear everything going on around you. My mind wandered off at times, but Shirley reassured me that this is quite normal. She taught me relaxation techniques so I could tap into the power of my sub conscious and focus my energy into my broken bones. She got me to imagine the safest place I could, and I pictured myself in our first flat, which my husband and I bought in 1991. We left there 15 years ago, but I could remember everything so clearly, even the stain on the carpet where the radiator leaked! Then we focussed back on my arm and protecting it and I somehow knew it was my husband looking after me. I felt very very safe and it was quite an emotional experience. But I left the session amazed at what I had learned. I never paused for breath in the car once on the way home, as I gushed out all the details.

The pain is a lot better now as my wrist is recovering, so session 2 was all about golf. Shirley helped me do a lot of preparation for my second session. This is where she is so good - its not just the hour you spend with her that she is helping you, its all the time in between sessions as well. We put together a practice plan of things I would be able to do while still in plaster: including lining up, thinking about golf, and weight transference. We talked a lot about my pre-shot routine and the strengths and weaknesses of my game. Session 2 just blew me away! While I was relaxed, Shirley talked to me about all the things that make my game what it is. She remembers absolutely everything, all the little details we had talked about in the previous session, which is incredibly reassuring for some reason.

I had to play my home course in my head, visualising and doing the pre-shot routine Shirley had helped me put together. I knew I was taking absolutely ages, and so told Shirley when I'd done the front 9, expecting her to say we'd do the back 9 on the next session. Not at all, I "played" the whole course. I cannot believe the results. My club and shot selection were perfect, like someone with the ultimate golf brain was telling me what to do!! But actually it was me doing it! I just never knew I knew all this stuff about my game until Shirley helped me tap into my sub conscious. For example, our 18th hole is a long uphill par 4. I'm quite long off the tee, so my ball often ends up under the huge plane tree to the right of the fairway. In my virtual game, I took a 3 wood off the tee. It is so obviously the right play, but I'd never thought of it before, assuming I had to take driver for length. We spent a lot of time on positive thinking, and Shirley helped me remembering my best ever rounds of golf, and I keep going back to one in particular - where I barely hit a fairway, only hit 2 greens in regulation the whole round, but still shot 1 over par. Thinking about that round over and over, Shirley made me trust myself. I had been putting pressure on myself to hit greens in regulation so I could make par, so I had to have the shortest possible approach shot, so I had to have the longest possible tee shot. Wrong! Now I am using the techniques Shirley taught me to think about playing longer irons into greens so I can play the safer shot off the tee. Since session 2 I have "played" lots of courses and made lots of very good decisions. I play a course in my head every morning before I get out of bed, and I am finding it easy to make the right choices. I have walked my own course and visualised all my new shots. Now I can't wait to get out playing and put it into practice.