The Wednesday Match Play Podcast, brought to you by Eden Mill St Andrews · Golf Radio Network

Steve Woods, Hypnosis Fore Golf | Episode No. 496

·1 hr 17 min·5 clips

Steve says the goal is to get golfers 'in the zone' by building an anchor before every shot.

1. The Wednesday Match Play Podcast episode focuses on Steve Woods and Hypnosis for Golf, with Eden Mill St Andrews mentioned throughout the show introduction. 2. Steve Woods is a registered hypnotist, author, and speaker with 20-plus years of experience, and Ricky Potts hosts the conversation from Palm Desert, California. 3. The episode asks what hypnosis really is, how it works for golfers, and why Steve built a business around mental barriers, anxiety, and performance. 4. Steve says he has been doing hypnosis for 21 years and first encountered it nearly 40 years ago at a stage hypnosis show. 5. He describes buying tapes and cassettes with titles like 'Get Up and Go' and noticing that the recordings affected some people more than others. 6. That curiosity led him to self-learn hypnosis, take proper qualifications, and move into therapeutic work such as weight loss, stop smoking, and anxiety. 7. A business-networking connection introduced him to a golfer who was about to give up the game after developing the condition Steve avoids naming aloud. 8. Steve says that golfer was club captain, felt pressure from members, and feared people would turn their backs on him. 9. Working with that golfer led to a return to single figures, and Steve later spoke at the club again after the player had stepped down from captaincy. 10. Steve defines hypnosis as changing the automatic side of the mind so a person reacts differently, and he says his work is often future-paced rather than purely historical. 11. He says scientific measurements show that hypnotized people are lighting up memory centers, which supports the idea that new memories can be created during hypnosis. 12. Steve says hypnosis is safe, explains that people cannot be made to do something they would not normally do, and says nobody gets stuck in hypnosis. 13. He adds that if a session stopped unexpectedly, the person would eventually come back on their own, though they might feel briefly sluggish or headachy. 14. When asked what newcomers should do, he warns that YouTube contains both useful material and 'a lot of rubbish,' so fit and rapport matter. 15. He says a hypnotist must use language that matches the client, and he learned this early by adjusting golf terms so he did not call a golf club a 'golf bat.' 16. On anxiety, Steve says the mind's protection system creates fight-or-flight reactions, and hypnosis uses visualization to build a new reality for shots under pressure. 17. He explains that pressure can be reduced by treating a shot as practice and by using simple anchors such as a word, phrase, foot stamp, or hand clap. 18. The tone is conversational and practical, with Ricky Potts asking clear follow-up questions while Steve answers with examples from golf, stage hypnosis, and therapy. 19. Golfers, club members, and coaches curious about anxiety and mental routines would get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting technical swing instruction or equipment talk may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical look at golf hypnosis and the mental side of the game.

Steve Woods talks through Hypnosis for Golf in plain terms, and that helps a lot. He covers private sessions, workshops, anchors, and triggers, while making it clear the approach shifts from client to client.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if your nerves show up before the first tee shot.

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