A Little Esoteric Golf, Anyone?
Do we have any golfers out there? Me. Oh no. Nope. Ellie does not ruin her perfectly nice walks in the country by chasing after a tiny ball she can barely see upon the landscape. LOL. Actually, I am all for golf, anything that gets people outside, breathing clean air and taking their mind off stress is okay by me.
So, on this perfectly spring day (for those where there is snow, just pretend it’s warm and sunny), let’s talk about golf and hypnosis. We have Jack Nicklaus who uses visualization and Tiger Woods who could be the poster child for self-hypnosis. None of us could question their success (I suppose there might be a few who insist on being obstinate).
This comes to mind with the recent publication of Black Ops Golfer™, the book by Bill Gladwell and Malcolm Phoenix. Speaking of obstinate, here is a quote from their press release:
Black Ops Golfer™ (BOG™) turns these practices on their heads and instead uses covert hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming™ (NLP™), and mind control techniques to sabotage the performance of fellow golfers.
Lovely. How to add more negativity into the world. Now granted, I have not read their little manifesto, but this particular line in their public relations turns me off. I would rather win anything by playing fairly and doing the best job that I can, as opposed to using underhanded techniques that only show how low I have sunk in humanity’s muck.
But, I suspect this little statement that I am objecting, too, is probably hype. I suppose it would appeal to those who are desperate to win or to control freaks (they do use the word ‘mind control‘). Or perhaps, it would appeal with reverse psychology as well - people may want to read it to know what sort of manipulations their opponents may try to use against them.
Anyway, Gladwell and Phoenix, consider yourself slapped with Ellie’s proverbial wet rag for not helping our cause. Covert hypnosis, my a-s.
April 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Ellie,
Thanks for the great PR!
I assure you and your readers that the little statement you quoted from our PR department is absolutely NOT HYPE.
It’s also not reverse psychology… Reverse psychology would mean that we’re making statements, but we really mean the opposite. That couldn’t be further from the truth… If you want your opponent curled up in a fetal position in the clubhouse, then you will have that ability.
Black Ops Golfer™ is much more disturbing than you’ve made it out to be.
Successfully,
Bill
April 12th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I suppose it would be too much to hope that the book is satire? That line sounds just over the top enough to suggest the possibility, at least taken out of context.
<MR>
April 13th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Perhaps it is satire, Michael. Perhaps it is. LOL. Bill, a good laugh is just what we need.