Re: golfing tips

[Linda M. Woolf]

Hi Val and all golfing Tipsters! Val McDonald wrote: Thanks for the tips, Linda.  You forgot the Greg Norman hat .. its really an asset.  But .. what I REALLY need to know .. exactly how do you muzzle the self-appointed pros?  They are the biggest hazard to the game. I've heard good things about the hat.  However, it apparently interacts negatively with my unique biochemistry to induce perceptual difficulties.  Had one of my worst games while wearing "the hat". In terms of the self-appointed pro, I have used the following methods each grounded firmly in fundamental psychological principles. 1. State my needs directly and firmly.  Inform the individual that I neither give nor take advice while in the middle of a game.  This, of course, can be modeled to the offender by not making any sort of instructive comments following their slice into the parking lot.  This, of course, does not preclude snickering. 2. Extinction (used if strategy #1 fails) - I no longer respond to or make contact with the offensive golf "pro".  Can include walking away from the individual mid-sentence if he/she is in the process of giving advice.  In your apparent obliviousness, one can also "accidentally" step on the offender's golf ball on the way to your next shot ( a touch of punishment never hurts). 3. Avoidance learning (may also include some species-specific survival mechanisms) - get a crazed look and threaten to wrap your 9-iron around their neck.  If needed, keep a spare "garage sale" club in your bag to pummel a bush/tree that wanders into your ball's flight path.  Thus, via observational learning, your golf "pro" will witness first hand how you deal with those who interfere with your perfect game.     linda   linda m. woolf, ph.d. associate professor - psychology webster university main webpage:  http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ Holocaust and genocide studies pages:   http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/holocaust.html womens' pages:  http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/women.html gerontology pages:  http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/gero.html mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]