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Elite Minds Featured Athlete - Madi Saxton

By Sponsored Content | January 26, 2022

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Robert Price, CEO at Elite Minds LLC, has worked with hundreds of athletes in a diverse variety of sports to set goals, problem solve and create lifelong success strategies.

Price began working with junior golfer Madi Saxton about two years ago after meeting her through his role as the golf coach for Coastal Home School. Saxton, now a 15-year-old rising star in women’s junior golf, immediately began working with Price on managing her emotions and expectations during practice and competition.

“With (Saxton), we did a lot of emotional work around how to manage our bad moments. Understanding also when we’re not hitting the ball the best that we can still get around the golf course and score well,” Price said. “Creating awareness and seeing the big picture of the scorecard and aligning our expectations to match reality were very important for her. She was so emotional around every single shot that she would be very high and very low throughout a round, so we worked to create emotional stability.”

“I don’t remove emotions but get players to understand the thoughts they have lead to those emotions,” Price said. “So if we can have more effective thoughts then our emotions will follow and they will improve performance versus hindering it along the way.”

Price, who played football at the University of Pittsburgh and holds Masters degrees from both the University of Maryland Johns Hopkins University, founded Elite Minds in 2000 and has since worked with a wide range of athletes that includes collegiate and professional kickers, amateur tennis players, golfers of all levels, basketball players, gymnasts, hockey players, lacrosse players, soccer players, ice skaters, field hockey players and track and field athletes.

Elite Minds is a mental performance coaching and consulting service that works with athletes to help them reach and exceed their potential on and off the field. Through proven mental skill techniques, athletes are led to more consistent performances even in the face of adversity.

Before working with Elite Minds, Saxton had trouble containing her emotions during practice and competition, and her results weren’t on par with her considerable talent. After her mental performance coaching sessions with Price, Saxton experienced a breakthrough that included being named the Georgia State Golf Association Girls Advance Player of the Year, winning the Savannah Junior City Amateur, carding a score of 2-under par 70 in an 18-hole high school match and experiencing the thrill of her first ace.

“(Working with Elite Minds) has really helped me with keeping my emotions under control and being able to move on from a tough hole or poor shot,” Saxton said. “I would get so angry about everything, and working with (Price) helped me understand that golf is going to be frustrating no matter what. But as I’m going along, I got to the point where I know there’s no reason to cry on the golf course.”

Price and Saxton worked on constantly reminding her how good she is and comparing herself only to herself by establishing appropriate baselines to measure performance improvement. Rather than comparing herself to others, Saxton has learned to evaluate her own growth and improvement. 

“We’re still scratching the surface of her overall talent,” Price said. “I think there is a lot of room for growth, especially mentally to have that self-belief and self-confidence as she competes with more talented junior golfers.”

In addition to her work on the course, Saxton’s maturity has enabled her to get involved with Golf Fore Africa, a global fundraising initiative started by Hall of Fame Golfer Betsy King in 2007. Golf Fore Africa is currently working on bringing clean, fresh drinking water to over 200,000 people in rural Africa and is committed to helping end the global water crisis by 2030. Price acknowledges that these endeavors help ground players and they can see their impact on serving others which is crucial for their overall success.

Saxton has been campaigning to raise funds for Golf Fore Africa, and through her involvement she has been able to play in multiple Pro-Ams and develop invaluable relationships with Betsy King as well as other professional golfers.

Price and Saxton share a Google doc where Saxton can update Price on her practice sessions, and Price can share valuable feedback. Saxton is building toward college golf recruitment, and Price has made sure she understands that working hard without tracking improvements can lead to negative outcomes. When we don’t track what we do, Price says then we won’t see how far wec

“I think the reason I’ve been able to score so well is I’ve been focused on a goals that (Price) gave me like controlling my emotions rather than setting specific scoring goals,” Saxton said. “Being able to control my emotions in every event has really made it so I can continue grow my actual game. My course management has gotten better because I got my emotions in check. Some of what (Price) did was reinforce that I can own this and I can figure this out if I will have the tenacity to push through slumps.”

Price has received training in Mindfulness Meditation at the University of Miami under Dr. Amishi Jha and achieved a Level III Master Resilience Trainer from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a certified therapist using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) certified by EMDRIA and a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland and Georgia.

(Price) is a mentor who makes you feel like it’s ok to tell him what you’re feeling,” Saxton said. “He’s invested in the athletes he works with, and he’s very much emotionally attached to our success. He helps you believe in yourself.”

Visit Elite Minds website to learn more about Elite Minds LLC and Robert Price or schedule a consultation.

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The "Coach" Karl DeMasi has been teaching and coaching for the past 35 years on all levels of academia and athletics. One of his hobbies has been writing, announcing and talking about sports. DeMasi has been involved in the Savannah Area sports scene since 1995, and he created the high school magazine "The Prep Sports Report" in 2000. In 2010, the "Coach" started broadcasting The Karl DeMasi Sports Report. He's still going strong, broadcasting on Facebook live and Twitter live every Saturday morning. You gotta love it!


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