Tag Archives: mind
Ever since teeing up that first golf ball with Mom and Dad at the age of seven, golf has been a patient life coach; and as the years have sped by, the sport continues to coach and counsel. Recent experiences have offered that if open and psychologically ready for the infinite messages, “simple” in golf and life can be discovered beyond sport and life’s complexities.
As humans, Christian Larson’s (The Great Within) message is clear: we are reflections—thinking, personality and character—of the language we live-in. As Abel Leighton Allen contends, “Our todays are the result of our past thinking, our tomorrows the result of our present thinking. We have been our mental parents, and we shall be our own mental children.” How would Woody and Birdy Ball, Golf as Guru, use this taste of philosophy on every shot or putting stroke on the golf course? “Too complicated for us: Just learn to program and trust the subconscious to hit the #$@% golf ball to an intended target.”
Step One: Create a clear, conscious vision of the ball at the desired target; and feel what is required to place the ball at the target: body mechanics, club mechanics, swing motion and ball position.
-Club required.
-Immaculate set-up.
-One piece take-away.
-No hurry to transition for full torque turn.
-Smooth transition.
-Accelerating forward swing and release.
-Club face square to ball-target line at impact.
-Extension of club to target.
-Complete finish.
Step Two: Go to the breath and program the subconscious with the vision of the what and the how—breathe it, think it, deeply feel it, see it, taste it, smell it and touch it.
Step three: Proceed with the pre-shot routine and ritual for the desired shot or stroke.
Step four: Celebrate!
As Birdy offers, “Yes! We are thinking, personality and character reflections of the language we live in. Let’s live in the language we desire! Not the swing thoughts and whims of the monkey mind that keep us mired two shots from insanity.”
As our golf game evolves, literature suggests that 80-90% of on-the-course performance becomes mental because of the continuous flux of external conditions. Learning and practicing a meditation skill can enable the golfer to be in chaos and yet deliberately calm the mind and trust the club and body mechanic skills to unleash the artist within to deliver a shot to a visualized target. As Tim Gallwey offers in The Inner Game of Golf, “I am convinced that the happiest and best golfers are those who have realized that there is no single gimmick that works and that good golf is attained only by patience and humility and by continually practicing both Outer and Inner skills.”
Having experienced that awareness and simplicity are my best coach and caddie, the inner and outer seeds that bear fruit and are deserving of continued nurture are daily meditation practice and practice of set-up and one-piece take-away. As golf technical literature offers, 80-90% of a decent golf swing requires good set-up and one-piece take-away.
A checklist you can find on the steering wheel of my golf cart:
SET-UP [GASP: grip, aim, stance and posture]
-Flat back
-Stable base
-Free arm swing
-Stable right side
CONNECT body, club, ball and target
•Through the breath, quiet the mind
•One pointed focus
•Trust the subconscious
•Release sensed tension
•Pull trigger to unleash artist to create desired shot
ONE-PIECE TAKEAWAY
-Left shoulder active: push with shoulder
-Hips still at start
-Hands in front of toes
TURN AND LOAD: finish backswing, there is no hurry; length of arc is key
-Left arm straight; width of arc is key
-Right leg stable-flexed while turning lower body; full shoulder turn and shoulder tilt
-Stop: left shoulder under chin
TRANSITION: activate with right foot, knee and hip
ATTACK [Caution: stress potential]
-With the club through the ball to the target
As the mind goes, the body goes; as the body goes, the mind goes. As Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield offer in Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, meditation is a journey of understanding our bodies, our minds and our lives, of seeing clearly the true nature of experience. Consequently, through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to deliberately direct attention where we choose. As a golfer, the experience has been that as set-up nears completion, focus on the breath allows the mind to become quiet, the body to become relaxed and a balanced body-mind is enabled to connect with the visualized target. All that remains is to pull the trigger and trust the human system to perform as it has been mentally and mechanically prepared. We essentially have created conditions for peak performance to become reality. Even though zone performance may be an infrequent occurrence, we can celebrate because we have done the best we could on every shot.
Give the inner golfer a big hug!
Peter Kostis, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and CBS Sports Analyst, nailed the concept of unleash the artist within in a May 2015 Golf Magazine article, “Embrace the Golfer Within.” Today, since the majority of golf instruction has become technology and technical skills driven, it feels like instructors may have left the human being behind. Perhaps it is time to re-focus on the person swinging the golf club, as Tommy Armour, Tim Gallwey, Bob Toski, Bob Rotella and Fred Shoemaker have helped this student of the game begin to understand and experience.
As a Naropa University trained meditation practitioner, coupled with learning to play the piano and having studied in India with a Tibetan Buddhist thangka painter, it has become quite clear that each of us have an inner artist that is waiting to be unleashed to use a golf club to hit a golf ball to an emotionally embraced target. We just need to have an inner experience of the shot and then trust the inner golfer to deliver the shot.
How does one uncover the artist? As with club and body mechanics skills, our mental skills need training and practice, too. As a golfer, my experience has been that during set-up, learning to go to the breath, deliberately quieting the mind and “connecting” with a target is of exceptional value to a decent golf shot. “Connecting,” at will, in the moment, with a golf target, a loved one, or Beethoven’s spirit when he composed Fur Elise, can become a priceless treasure and skill.
As my golf learning has evolved, about 80-90% of a successful round of golf today requires good mental skills, coupled with absolute trust of the subconscious to deliver the necessary club and body mechanics. Add to this equation a well-fitted golf club, a golfer is now ready to unleash the artist to create a golf shot that hits through a golf ball to a passionately visualized target. Embracing these skills and talents demands learning, reflecting, practice and play, one step at a time.
With respect to mental skills, a first-step suggestion is to search for and uncover a meditation coach and skill that works for you and helps quiet your mind. If your mind is anything like mine, it is very busy and takes daily practice to be able to deliberately quiet its constant chatter. A second idea is to have a good golf coach, as opposed to a teacher. A teacher desires to have golfers learn the teacher’s system their way. A coach helps the student uncover a vision for their game and then helps the student move from current reality toward the student’s vision. As Peter Kostis remarks, “Don’t fear being the best golfer that you can be…embrace your authentic swing. With time and work, the rest will fall in place.”