Pro Mental Coach Review - Forum Testing

I just can't wait to see what, if any, change will happen with a bit more time with the program. I see this as something that I really need...more mental strength during my rounds.
 
Well today was spent waiting for an email response back from the company. I really can't contribute until it works. I don't want to complain about it either. Kind of just stuck in CS limbo. Thainer I truly appreciate you taking the ball and running with it dude. You are killing it in here.
 
Thainer, you're killing it buddy. I'm going to reread your posts and then I'll have some questions for you. After taking the test on the website I am really intrigued.
 
Well well well. Lookie who just had his first exergame. This guy!
 
Nice write up Thainer. Is this software applicable to just about anything? Work, golf, other sports, gambling? ;) kidding on the last one
 
Well it seems I have found the trick to getting my Pro Mental Coach to work. I need to keep the program open for 6 hours. I just left it open, or hung as I would call it, and eventually the darn exergame loaded. It would only do one but I at least got that working for me.

As part of my Personal Training, I have 4 exergames set up by the software, or Coach Pahr as he calls himself. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] test is called The Caddy.

On the right side of the screen is a calculator or GPS. There are 4 flags with distances ranging from 100-250. At the bottom of the screen is a number. You are to look at the flag and the number and add that up. Input the total and hit your mouse button. While you are doing that, to the left of the screen is a bag full of clubs. If a club lights up, it must be cleaned(clicked on). The catch is the clubs need to be cleaned after a certain amount of time. Either 8 seconds, 12 seconds, or 24 seconds. In a nutshell, you need to add the numbers on the GPS to the right. As you do that you need to keep track of the time the clubs have been light up and clean them in the proper amount of time which is to the left. This is an exercise in prioritizing. Sounds easy enough lol.

Results:
19 out of 30 with cleaning clubs—69%
37 out of 37 with the math with an average time of 5.72 seconds

The results equal 95% global and 95% cumulative. Comparing results and my score is 95% and Group(not sure who group is) is 88%. Coach Pahr is telling me to move up a level the next time I take that test.
 
Thainer I truly appreciate you taking the ball and running with it dude. You are killing it in here.

Thainer, you're killing it buddy. I'm going to reread your posts and then I'll have some questions for you. After taking the test on the website I am really intrigued.

Nice write up Thainer. Is this software applicable to just about anything? Work, golf, other sports, gambling? ;) kidding on the last one


Thanks for the kind words everyone. I love this program, its fun, entertaining, and I feel like it can really do some good in my case in many areas! I am really trying to pound the exergames and train as much as possible in hopes that the effect on my golf game will be as noticeable as possible. I would like to be able to put it into words as clearly as possible.

Once I get past all the games and get on intermediate and really start grinding in my training, I am going to start doing one round of every game. Every morning, and every night. A mental edge is definitely better than a physical one and I am really going to embrace the program into my daily life and my golf game.

I hope Chunk gets it going in here soon. I wish we could trade spots in our efforts as he was assigned this testing and all I did was buy it. He deserves the program that works more than I do! :(
 
Second Training Day

Second Training Day

First Impression/Background on me: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...t=mental+coach
Initial Test/First Feedback: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...t=mental+coach
First Training Day: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...w-Forum-Testing/page12&highlight=mental+coach

Hey guys. I am back with my next update on the Pro MentalCoach. This was my second time doing the scheduled training as I left my charger at a friend’s house and my computer was dead so I couldn’t do Friday’s training. Today’s training consisted of The Referee, Pre-Shot Routine, The Caddy, and Driving Range. The good thing was that I had already done two of these tests so I figured I would be able to improve on my scores.

Spoiler
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First up was the referee. For those of you who don’t remember, the referee was where you were given a guy swinging a golf club, a set of nameplates, and an occasional yelling of the word “fore.” You have to click letters on your keyboard, which correspond with what you see on the screen. I struggled mightily with these test the first time, scoring a 74%, because of this they still had me doing the beginning version of this test. The second time around I am proud to say I scored a 90%. It required much more focus this time around for me, and I think this program is starting to shine for me because each time I login now I just feel focused. When Coach Parr loads up on my screen I go into some sort of a “zone” and just block everything out, something I think this program is attempting to help me with.
Spoiler
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The second test I took was “Pre shot routine.” I scored a 100% on this the first time, so they stepped me up to the intermediate version of the exergame. This test is where you layout your pre-shot routine and then time your breathing based on how you set it up when you laid the test out. This time there was less margin of error for when you hit the spacebar, and I scored an 87%. I was pretty happy with that since it was on intermediate, but I think I will be able to do better next time.
Spoiler
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The third test this week was called, “The Caddy.” This one was pretty freaking difficult, in fact, the most difficult test I have had in my entire testing, even though my score won’t reflect that. In the caddy, you are given a calculator and a bag of clubs. The calculator has various yardage flags on it and then displays a number you have to add to it. So for example it might show the blue flag, which is 200 yards and then a plus sign and 20, which would add 220, so you type in 220 into the calculator. At the same time the bag of clubs has 9 clubs in it, and they are split into thirds. In the first thirds there is an 8 second time limit, second set 12 seconds, and the third section has a 24 second time limit. Each time a club lights up, you must click it in the stated amount of time. So for example, if one of the clubs in the 8-second side lights up, after 8 seconds you have to click it again. This test was extremely difficult because at times you had 3 clubs lit up and you had to remember how much time each had been lit up. They don’t light up at the same time so occasionally one that showed up later would have to be clicked first because of the time difference. I happened to score a 100%, but I believe that is in large part due to the fact that I am just in some sort of a mental zone with this test. I was very proud of myself for scoring a 100% in this game.
Spoiler
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Spoiler
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The fourth test was called “The Driving Range.” In this test you had a virtual driving range in front of you. You had flags that would appear in different spots, as well as a man yelling different yardages. The object of the game was to click if the flag was in a different spot or the same spot, and if the yardage was closer or shorter than the previous one. I thought this game was pretty easy on the beginner difficulty, but still required a good deal of focus. I read that on the harder difficulties it requires you to compare the new distance and flag location to ones that happened earlier in the test so that may be more difficult, but I scored a 100% on the beginner test. So in 4 tests I scored an average of 94.25%, which is very good to me. I am really enjoying this program so far.
Spoiler
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Spoiler
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I will update with my two rounds for the weekend, I think people will be intrigued to see how the program is effecting my on course abilities, and I will tell you that it is helping me immensely so far. I will have an update posted by this evening.

Thanks for following along and as always ask questions!!
 
OK so leaving it open all night gave me the chance to play 1 game today. Next test is called Lucky Ball. You have to match the same 2 balls. Each ball has a symbol in it. The one you need to match is at the top of the screen. The screen fills with more balls and you need to find the matching ball in a set amount of time. The test is a timed 5 minutes and you need to match as many as you can.

It starts out pretty easy and then as the test progresses the amount of balls increases. I started out strong but soon started missing some especially the balls that were right in the middle or right underneath the top ball. All in all a pretty straightforward test.

Results
I got 42 of 46 correct. My best streak was 17 in a row and my average time was 2.31 seconds.
My stroke score was -4. I was at 97% global and 97% cumulative. Comparing the results and my score is 97% while the group is 96%.
Coach Pahr is telling me to move up.

So far my mind has been engaged by the tests. I have not been disinterested. I think that is the true test here. Mentally playing these games will make you stronger. Lots of science backs that up. IMO the true test is whether you can maintain the work outs in order to see the results. I like what I'm seeing so far from this.
 
Good write ups guys. What's happening on the customer service end if the software battle chunky?!
 
Well I have a nice write up from my rounds this weekend but my Internet decided to stop working. Hopefully Time Warner will get this sorted out soon
 
First Impression/Background on me: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...t=mental+coach
Initial Test/First Feedback: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...t=mental+coach
First Training Day: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...t=mental+coach
Second Training Day: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...ew-Forum-Testing/page16&p=1657771#post1657771


Well guys I wanted to do a little writeup about my golf this weekend. I played on Friday and Saturday, and both the courses I played were pretty difficult. My first round was at Dubs Dread, it is voted the #3 hardest public course in Kansas City, from the tips, I played from The blues 72.9/129 course rating, no TCI, but still difficult. I brought a notebook with me and took some notes on the course and my preparation before the round.

On Friday I arrived at the course about an hour before my round, I paid for my greens fee and headed to the range. When I got to the range I stretched and hit some shots with my SW, 9-iron, 6-iron, and driver. I really concentrated on my pre-shot routine and keeping consistent breathing, just like the Pro Mental Coach preaches. It was probably the most effective range session before a round I have ever had. After I hit the golf balls I headed to the putting green and practiced my chipping and putting, lining up my putts and going through my routine on the putting green. I noted that I was missing a lot of putts on the low side of the hole and I needed to make sure I was hitting the ball hard enough even though the greens were pretty quick.

For the record, I really hate shots over water and over bunkers (who doesn't hehe.) Dubbs dread provided me with plenty of these shots. I made sure on each and every shot to take a good pre-shot routine, I made sure to check my alignment and take deep breaths, just like the software suggests. I struggled with my driver a lot, but luckily there were quite a bit of doglegs so I was able to take a lot of F3 and F5 off the tee. Almost every Par 3 was over water and a lot of the time that equals me getting nervous and rushing my transistion which results in shanks and duffs which end up in the water a lot. I really focused on keeping myself in my "zone" and taking smooth swings, and I am happy to report that I didn't hit a single ball in the water on Friday! I also had a shot on the Par 5 12th that I had to hit right over a huge bunker and only had about 12 feet of green to work with. I really tried to block the bunker out of my head and was able to chip the ball to about 6 feet and make the birdie putt! I really felt like I had a focused round, in fact, the most focused I have ever been on the golf course and it showed. I shot an 86 which from those tees I was very happy with, considering I didnt hit my driver well at all.

On Saturday I had a round at Swope with some buddies. Swope is a course I know well and have played numerous times. The problem with Swope is they dont have a driving range. It isn't a particularly long course, but you are punished very severely for errant tee shots as trees line every fairway and the rough is extremely thick, sometimes 2-3 clubs thick. I got to the course early and warmed up with a lot of practice swings. I tried to play the holes in my head and felt really focused on the putting green, I noted that I was rolling the ball well, and that ended up being the case on the course. I parred the first 3 holes and was feeling good. My friends noted how I was striking the ball well and how I seemed to be really into the round, much more so than usual. It really felt like a compliment considering it is something I am really working hard on doing. I got to the first Par 3 on the course, #6. It is a hole that has always intimadated me a bit. There is a huge dropoff into a ravine on the right side and I always seem to play to far to the left and miss the green by a lot. The wind was pretty calm and so I went up to the green and took a nice smooth swing and I HIT THE HOLE! I literally hit the cup on the fly and it shot off to the left about 15 feet. I walked up to the green and saw the divot on the inside of the cup and was in awe. It was one of the best swings I have ever hit, a baby fade that was on the hole the entire time. On the Par 5 9th I hit a bad tee shot, I aimed right playing for a fade, and it didnt fade. It hit a tree and I was left with 270 in the rough. I grabbed my F3, took a deep breath and shook off the shot, something I struggled with in the past. I took dead aim at the green and hit a bomb F3 which left me with 50 yards, I ended up getting up and in for birdie! I shot an 83, one of my best rounds at the course. I struck all of my clubs pretty darn well, and if it wouldnt have been so windy on a lot of holes I think I would have scored even better.


So far through 2 rounds I can say that in all honesty this may be two of my best rounds in terms of how focused I was on the course. I didnt hit a single ball in the water, and I just felt like I was in the zone all weekend. The Pro Mental Coach has really taught me that after a bad shot, it is not the end of the world, shots that used to kill my rounds I find I am wiping off with relative ease, and that is going to be huge for me. Thanks for following everyone, I am really enjoying this so far.
 
Good write ups guys. What's happening on the customer service end if the software battle chunky?!

Nothing much dude. Everyone I speak to says they have not seen anything like this

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 
Did they offer to let you redownload it from a weblink rather than discs?
Nothing much dude. Everyone I speak to says they have not seen anything like this

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2



Awesome thoughts TH! Thats really great. I hope to have some awesome focussable rounds soon!
 
Dude I hope so too... Do you get that in the zone feeling I'm talking about while you take these tests? Like you just block everything out?
 
I do it in a dark room in quiet so I dont know. I know that I dont hear the sounds as much anymore and the visuals dont really bother me.
Dude I hope so too... Do you get that in the zone feeling I'm talking about while you take these tests? Like you just block everything out?
 
Yeah they sent me the latest one. Still the same issue.

TH I would say hitting the cup means you were focused! Great job and awesome writeup
 
Thanks dude I know that as of now this thing is just working. I don't get nervous about shots anymore, doesn't mean I will hit them good everytime but still
 
So today is the first time where I have experienced any sort of software issue. It appeared to happen right after I completed my 36th exergame.

The exergames do continual assessment testing, every 36 games or every 28 days. Whichever comes first. I was looking forward to seeing how far I have come but it still gives me no option to do so. It could be because my training program has not completed every exergame yet, as theyre are still 3 or 4 that have not been recommended, but it was something I was looking forward to. I will just continue to follow my training schedule until it recommends those four games and check back in.

ScreenShot2012-09-24at10904AM_zps0e355b14.png
 
That's the error message I kept getting Thain. Maybe if you keep following the training schedule you will be able to redo the assessment.
 
Obviously there are a few software glitches being noted in here. What kind of PCs (or Macs) are you guys running. At least in my world, I encounter the most problems with software when the program was built before 64-bit computers became common. Are there any similarities in the systems you guys have that may create problems, or is it just a random issue?

~Rock
 
Ok so I just continued playing and tried some new games and my assessment showed up. First I will recap on the new games. After this post I will go back, do the assessment, and come back in with a comparison post.

Referee
Game Recap
Golf Initiation

I played these games on beginner because it was the first time I had played these games at all.
_______________________________________________

Referee

Referee was an interesting game and was definitely harder than it looked. I did not fare awesomely well on this but I seem to perform my best games late at night so I will take that as it be. The concept of the game is to determine what club was being played as quickly as possible, all while determining whether the names flashing were the same or different. If you hear fore during the game, you are expected to hit the SPACE bar.

I ended up with a global 77% so thats not too bad.

Spoiler
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Game Recap

Game recap was a fun game what involved 6 or 7 holes being labelled off one by one, in no particular order. Little +1's, +2's and -1's would flash up on a few of the holes. After the holes have been labelled, it is your job to determine which holes had been 'played correctly". Pars are supposed to be clicked once(Red), Birdies are supposed to be clicked twice(yellow). They do not label the pars, so during the sequence there is a certain level of confusion saying "Wait, was it this one, or that one?!". I faired pretty well and got 100% global. I will certainly take that!

Spoiler
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Game Initiation

This game was also very easy. It involved balancing the stick with the A/S keys, trying to keep it in the cone of concentration(or whatever they call it), all while trying to click where the white ball flashed. The flag bobs back and forth and 4-5 golf balls flash at once, only one being white. You have a box, with a crosshair in the middle, and you are judged based on how far away from the white ball you click. I ended up with a 99% Global which is nice. I missed 2 balls though.. :angry:

Spoiler
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Im really looking forward to the assessment test and I cant wait to compare the results from my first one!!
 
Well got home tonight and saw the little package I’ve been waiting for. Time for me to have some fun in this testing. Ripped the package open and ran up to the computer. Installed the software and we are good to go. One aspect I really liked about the installation was that they asked for your PGA Pros email address. This way you can share your progress with your coach. I thought that was neat.

First thing you do after registering the software is you take an assessment test. Basically they want to create a baseline so that you can track any and all progress made. It was just a few basic questions about how you handled certain situations during your last round. Took only a few minutes and you were ready to start the tests. Oh the tests!

First section of the assessment test is all about Focus. Perhaps I should have eaten prior to taking this doozy of a test because I struggled mightily with it. The test consists of you staring at your computer screen. There is a series of images that flash on the screen. You should press your spacebar if you see a letter inside a white golf ball. Don’t press the spacebar for anything else. I was hacking away at that darn spacebar for anything and everything. Focus was not a strength lol.

The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] part is an assessment of your motivation and stress management style. This section consists of 9 questions about my most recent round. The questions had to do with how I played and how I felt during certain moments. The next 6 questions were related to how I handled stress during my last round.

The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] part was Cognitive Skills. This in essence covered what we all call the zone. What we should not think about and what we should think about during the shot. It was interesting reading and I enjoyed that I was not just sitting here jamming on my spacebar. Now comes the Cognitive Test. This is again pressing the spacebar if a letter in a white ball is seen. They also throw in pressing the spacebar if a number is inside a yellow ball. I may have broken my keyboard while smashing that spacebar for anything and everything that I saw flash up. I was awful.

The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] section was called The Neuropsychology of the Mental Game. In a nutshell they are telling you in this section that you can exercise the brain and how you can do it. The final test is given now and it is again letter in a white ball equals jam the spacebar. I did a little bit better on this one

The final section is what to expect out of the software. The assessment took me about 40 minutes or so. I think I did pretty poorly as it judged not only if you hit the spacebar for the right combination, but also how fast you hit the spacebar after the image flashed. That was where I truly struggled. I was slow. The results of my test is a score of 52% and my perception is 37%. The results say that I underestimate myself. The test score is broken down into 7 groups

Brain Speed-56
Focus-52
Inhibition-50
Flexibility-52
Mental Endurance-52
Stress Management-69
Motivation-37
My assessment was right at 50% for my age group with the only result that was way off base was being very low with motivation.

And that ended my initial assessment test. I enjoyed it. As I said, it took about 40 minutes but it didn’t feel all that long. My results were average although I really felt like I did poorly. I have been trying to start the exercises that come with the program but so far everything just hangs when I try to start the exercises. Going to fire off an email and see if tech support can help me out.

I hate quoting post this long but this was the perfect end to my breakfast. I should have my package in Friday. The way you described each step took me to that 40 minutes you spent mimicking your boss, the keyboard smasher (I kid Yorkem). Seriously Cl77 that was a great read and has made me want to give this a go. Not so muck for golf but to strengthen my mind. It seems like an excellent tool for doing just that. Well done Chunky and I look forward to see how you improve over the life of this testing.
 
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