Jayne Storey Performance Coaching

Here's some recent feedback from a client in Detroit.
If you're struggling with what to do when standing over the ball, and you want a fresh approach to improving your game, Connected Golf is for you!

“Jayne, First, I have be relistening to Connected Golf as well as applying last week’s feedback you provided after our Zoom session. I am becoming more and more impressed with the great work you have done. Golf and Tai Chi are so similar in that the athlete goes from stillness to action in an instant yet only Tai Chi has developed methods to address the needed connection between the mind and body to make that work reliably. Thank you for your great work”. Joe M. Detroit MI

The Fragmentation of the Modern Golfer, Part 2
- the latest episode of my podcast is now live!
Please listen, like and follow the show and leave a comment.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7n5pxvhuDgOchaAn647Ysf?si=kimeg7HDRP2lD6uvfCUDVQ

The Fragmentation of the Modern Golfer, Part 2 Performance Practice Podcast · Episode

In my book Breathe Golf, I illustrate how and why shallow breathing into the chest area causes the following chain reaction in the biochemistry. First the chest will get a little tighter, less oxygen is fed into your brain, your nervous-system becomes flooded with adrenaline, your heart beats faster, your muscles shorten and tighten and your whole body feels tense.

From this biochemical state called the ‘stress response’ no one can perform well.

What’s not always understood is that mental interference is the RESULT of the stress response, not its cause, as the mind seeks cohesion with the feelings of anxiety brought about through inefficient breathing such as into the chest and begins going through its own chain reaction of negative thoughts which undermine self-belief and restrict the ability to perform well.

When we practice quietening the mind, which is only possible by redirecting attention away from the thoughts and into awareness – of the body, the breathing, the centre of gravity, the feet on the ground - something altogether different happens.

A quality awakens which allows us to open into the flow-state or zone which is not about mental toughness no matter what the current narrative of the mainstream and it’s increasing use of AI and new technology tries to tell us.

The athlete with the quietest mind is always the one to deliver the most fluid movement and find the extra edge needed on those big points.

When the thinking mind quietens down, the body can move the way it’s supposed to, with a connected power and grace that emerges naturally in the moment. Yet this connected movement can only spring from an athlete who has trained, honed and embodies certain principles through which the mind and body can be unified.

This is the way of deep practice which I firmly believe is the one true path leading to a never ending ascension consistent with continual high performance.

The Quiet Mind is Not a Mental State.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jayne-storey-984876_the-quiet-mind-is-not-a-mental-state-the-share-7467934183244402689-pnVY/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAgxPQB5X_EIeIX_2VK8QRSOf8MNlEF51E

The Three Levels of Golf -

Join me for a 90 minute online Masterclass at 3pm UK, Monday 8th June.

Using the Performance Pyramid from my book Connected Golf; Bridging the Gap Between Practice and Performance, the Masterclass will focus on how to:

i) Move from up from Level 1: Search for a Swing

ii) Find more consistency at Level 2: Good Days, Bad Days

iii) Reach Level 3: Connected Golf

iv) We will also look at how to prevent backsliding down the levels.

Five key elements of the workshop include:

1. Working with your breathing; how and why breathing aids performance and the best approaches including following the breath, counting the breath, and letting the mind rest in the t’an tien (hara centre).

2. Quieting your mind; how mental interference begins and why it interferes with movement. Exploring different ways to restore quiet as you stand over the ball and throughout the swing. Attention and awareness training to detach from negative thinking.

3. Regulating the biochemistry; removing the limitations and hindrances to performing well by controlling the stress-response and restoring a neutral state.

4. Developing fundamental movement skills; ‘anchor’ your technique in good body posture including lower body stability, balance, moving from the centre, and letting the arms follow the waist.

We will use the Tai Chi concept "Stand Like a Mountain, Move Like a River" as our movement model and intended outcome.

5. Applications to the game; bringing these practices to golf from the locker room to the first tee, walking between shots and the putting green.

Message me now for details on how to join; this event is already half full and places are strictly limited.

The latest episode of my podcast is now live! https://open.spotify.com/episode/5BZQo4eJEw0yyVZKt3XAf0

The Fragmentation of the Modern Golfer, Part 1 Performance Practice Podcast · Episode

There is a new episode of the Performance Practice Podcast out this week. My guest is Jeff Ogden from Perform 72— a golf coach, entrepreneur, and lifelong student of the game who studied the Chi Performance methodology with me for several years before sharing it with his players.

Here’s how the conversation started:

Modern golf psychology often teaches players what to do mentally on the course — routines, checklists, self-talk, emotional management and focus systems. But Chi Performance approaches the problem very differently: not by controlling the mind during performance, but by preparing the player beforehand through breath, movement, grounding, rhythm and nervous system training. Have we reached a point where golf has become too focused on managing performance during play instead of preparing the player deeply enough before play?

Listen to previous episodes here: https://open.spotify.com/show/02jvJ2KoFejBjK0pTw

Removing the blocks and limitations to performance.

Self-observation is a method that I use with my clients from golf, business and the performing arts such as music. It is one of the most important steps to removing the blocks and limitations to performing under pressure, because once we begin to observe how we think, feel and act, we start the processes of reversing negative and restricting behaviours that can undermine our true ability.

It’s important to understand that this is NOT a psychological intervention and we’re not looking to reframe negative thoughts or use positive self-talk; it’s simply the act of observing what is going on in your body, your mind and your breathing.

Seeing the effects of nerves and anxiety and all the mental chatter without trying to stop it, alter it or push it away, causes a very subtle change in and of itself simply because you can see it.

Looking through the lens of the observer mind or the witness consciousness (known as the Purusha in Vedic philosophy) means you’re already slightly detached from the negative effects of stress, a little freer - and if you can stay with this process while keeping some connection with your body and breathing, your biochemistry will gently move into the relaxation response.

This is just one of the ways centuries-old disciplines help us to quiet the mind and attain peak performance.

Listen to my new audio book to learn more. Search online.

Taking Senior Leaders Beyond the Mental Paradigm

Here are some reflections from the C.O.O. of a business group following my "Quieting the Mind for Peak Performance" half-day workshop last week.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/taking-senior-leaders-beyond-mental-paradigm-jayne-storey-zatae