MENTAL REHEARSAL

Trusting the well-programmed subconscious mind to swing a golf club to hit a golf ball to a target is a learned master skill; and experience offers that developing this skill requires mental rehearsal and practice, practice, and more practice. Was struck that perhaps Dr. Joseph Murphy’s visualization genius, offered in Power of Your Subconscious Mind, can help during the Pre-Shot Routine and Ritual on the golf course. Dr. Murphy offers,

The Chinese say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” William James, the father of American psychology, stressed the fact that the subconscious mind will bring to pass any picture held in the mind and backed by faith. Act as though I am, and you will be…The builder visualizes the type of building he wants; he sees it as he desires it to be completed. His imagery and thought-processes become a plastic mold from which the building will emerge—a beautiful or an ugly one, a skyscraper or an exceptionally low one. His mental imagery is projected as it is drawn on paper. Eventually, the contractor and his workers gather the essential materials, and the building progresses until it stands finished, conforming perfectly to the mental patterns of the architect…I use the visualization technique prior to speaking from the platform. I quiet the wheels of my mind in order that I may present to the subconscious mind my images of thought. Then, I picture the entire auditorium and the seats filled with men and women, and each one of them illumined and inspired by the infinite healing presence within each one. I see them as radiant, happy, and free…My awareness grows to the point where in my mind I can hear the voices…then I release the whole picture and go onto the platform.

Christian D. Larson suggests,

 When we proceed to train the subconscious along any line, or for special results, we must always comply with the following law: The subconscious responds to the impressions, the suggestions, the desires, the expectations, and the directions of the conscious mind, provided that the conscious touches the subconscious at the time. The secret therefore is found in the two phases of the mind touching each other as directions are being made; and to cause the conscious to touch the subconscious, it is necessary to feel conscious action penetrating your entire interior system; that is, you should feel at the time that you are living not simply on the surface, but through and through. At such times, the mind should be calm and in perfect poise, and should be conscious of that finer, greater something within you that has greater depth than mere surface existence. (Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them, page 41)

Dr. Joe Dispenza contends,

When we are learning anything new and taking it to a level of skill and mastery, we follow four basic steps,

1. First, we start out unconsciously unskilled. We do not even know that we don’t know.
2. As we learn and become aware of what we want, we become consciously unskilled.
3. As we begin to initiate the process of demonstration (the “doing”), if we keep applying what we learn, we eventually become consciously skilled. In other words, we can perform an action with a certain amount of conscious effort.
4. If we go further, continuously putting our conscious awareness on what we are demonstrating, and we are successful in performing the action repeatedly, we become unconsciously skilled. When we begin the process of change, this is where we want to end. (Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind, 2012, page 452)

 Some recent reflections concerning facilitation of subconscious programming are as follows:

• Positive and improvement language is a must. This is the law of attraction at work: as Golf as Guru partners Woody and Birdy Ball coach, one gets back what one puts out through personality, character, and mind. One is not able to hide on the golf course.
• Relaxed concentration—all forces of mind, character and personality are focused on the desired result—and a clear and quiet conscious mind are a must.
• Visualization: picture in the conscious mind a clear idea of the desired result.
• Energize deep, “must have,” “must do,” serene, strong, and passionate connection of the conscious mind with the inner human systems: see it, feel it, taste it, smell it, think it, touch it in the eleven human systems; and see and feel the ball at the target in every atom of the body.
• Eliminate doubt; and be calm, “…well balanced, persistent, deeply poised and harmonious in all thoughts and actions.” (Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them, page 46)
• Think of all the facilities being used in golf when giving full expression to a desired result: body mechanics, club mechanics, ball position and target.
• Begin days with positive, desired result ways and means. Bring everything alive in the conscious and subconscious minds several times per day.
• Go to sleep relaxed: review the day’s pleasantries; and chat with the subconscious about desired results, ways and means.
• If there are skills that need work and development, direct the subconscious with necessary improvements every day as frequently as possible and before going to sleep.
• Practice makes perfect: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The more one trains the subconscious to work with the conscious direction, the easier it becomes to get the subconscious to respond to directions. Trusting the subconscious to swing the club takes patience, time, and effort.
• “Whenever the subconscious mind is aroused, mental power and working capacity are invariably increased, sometimes to such an extent that the individual seems to be possessed with a superhuman power.” (Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them, page 43)

Working with the subconscious mind is a “new learning process” for this golfer; and I make absolutely no claim to be a subconscious mind expert. “Know what you want, and then want it with all the life and power that is in you.” (Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them, page 81) Have fun!!