When Mark Gibson ‘Gibbo’ sat down with me in the clubhouse at our golf course on the Gold Coast, I knew from the passionate look on his face that something was brewing. He was excited, very excited. He explained he had been to a seminar about Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) – the study of human excellence. You may have heard of the presenter, Anthony Robbins, who teaches a style of NLP. Gibbo said the presenter had explained how much impact one human being can have on another to improve that other person’s life. Gibbo also explained that the presenter had asked if he would co-present a series of seminars with him on golfing excellence. I was interested that Gibbo would raise this with me, especially because he knew that I have master practitioner qualifications, trainer’s qualifications and coaching qualifications in NLP.

I expressed my interest in the seminar concept and asked Gibbo what he thought. ‘A great idea,’ he said, but added he would rather do the seminars with me as the co-presenter. I was somewhat taken back with Gibbo’s proposal – and excited. I was taken aback because Gibbo is one of Australia’s (and for that matter the world’s) best and most passionate golf coaches. He is the only person to ever twice be voted Australian PGA golf coach of the  year and has taught golfers from all over the world. I was excited because I knew I could co-host these seminars with Gibbo and that we could achieve fantastic results simply because we were going to take a new and holistic approach to teaching golf. Gibbo would teach the practical side of swing mechanics and the process of play and I would instruct in the elements of human excellence for high- level performance.

The most profound point that we both agreed upon was that this style of seminar would also not only greatly improve a person’s golf game but also their lives. We have both maintained our excitement and have had many sessions since piecing together the elements of the seminars and, as it turned out, the content for this book. It is no surprise to either Gibbo or me that as the seminars are ready to roll out so is this book.

Shane Ellis.