Golf is a game of focus and a person’s ability to focus will determine their score possibly more than any single factor other than their physical skill set. We have all seen Michael Jordan get into a focus Zone that appears to be unconscious. This phenomena makes people like him in sports seem godlike at times. But there is a simple principle at work here that anyone can apply with practice. Zone thinking can be used to get the most out of any area of life, golf, marriage, raising kids and our business life can benefit from this mindset technique.
In my youth I was a Professional Frisbee player. Yes, I am telling the truth; long hair, skinny and tanned beyond normal. In freestyle frisbee you compete by doing tricks that seem impossible to the crowd. Although people watching where amazed by our jamming skills, my competitors where not. We were all competing for The Zone. That’s right; who ever got into The Zone would be the tanned hippy who won the day. In The Zone time slows down, confidence rises, tunnel vision occurs and the feeling that you have the right to win is crystal clear. I could see the wind not just feel it. I could close my eyes and still see. The Zone is the best friend of a winner.
The adverse person thinks 2 to 3 thousand thoughts a day. A high performance athlete thinks roughly half that many thoughts on game day. The ability to quiet the mind and think fewer thoughts has a direct correlation to hitting The Zone. I want to make a bold statement to all you adverse golfers out there in this big bad unfair world of long par fours, deep sand traps and thick roughs. You can get into to The Zone through some simple techniques just as easy and often as your favorite pro. They will turn their 70 into a 64 and you will turn your 88 into a 79. In-fact you will see bigger gains in your scoring than they will. But not only will your golf game get better, so will anything you apply these four simple steps to.
(1) Word Triggers To quiet your thoughts you must practice the art of self-talk. My favorite golf partner and the man who taught me how to swing a club had developed a small harmless habit of being a little too honest about his last shot. After hearing him comment on the state of his game I asked him, “Matt if I said the same things to you about each one of your bad shots that you say to yourself would you ever play golf again with me?� You see, the answer to that question is that when our selftalk gets negative we truly quit playing with the guy bad mouthing us. Most golfers stop playing golf and just go through the motions of swinging at a ball as some sort of pennants for all their sins.
Make a covenant with your mouth that it will not be allowed to criticize you when you are scoring yourself on the golf course. Simply put, negative self-talk cost you strokes. Negative self-talk causes the mind to race. Remember we are simply trying to think fewer thoughts. Figure out some positive word triggers, everyone is a little different. A pro that I’m coaching had the bad habit of saying “dang it” with intensity if he missed a long put close putt. I told him to try “that’s not like me” but the words didn't fit him well. Those are my words I use when I miss a shot. He found the words “that’s alright”. It triggered his mind to shut down and move on. He felt it meant his putts would start dropping. He doesn’t need to over think his putting.
(2) Develop a self-talk pre-shot routine that is
SIDE NOTE: When asked to play though a slower group, maintain your pre-shot routine. A bad shot will slow things down more than a good shot with a pre-shot routine. Now ask yourself a simple question. What are we going to DO? Then answer!
EXAMPLE: I’m going to hit a 3/4 swing keeping the ball down with a little draw. If you’re a mid-
as constant as your preshot swing routine. Rhythm is said to be the thing PGA
handy cap player it might sound like this. I’m going to take a full balanced swing nice and strait. Remember there is no magic in these techniques, that’s only in the movies. We are
players consider the most impacting part of a
after one thing, thinking fewer thoughts so
successful day on tour. Mindset rhythm, in my
that the mind doesn't race the closer you get
estimation, is the most overlooked part of the
to the ball.
mental game. Most players, even at the highest level, use mindset techniques only to drag their mind out of trouble. Too many thoughts when standing over the ball is a shot killer. First, go through your pre-shot routine. It will help you clear your mind.
(3) When in doubt, hum a tune. Music calms the savage beast. Try it. It really works.
(4) Leave the cell phone in the car. Anything that can trigger more thoughts is the enemy of The Zone. Even the thought of checking it because you have it on silent is adding thoughts to your mind. Talk should stay light with your cart companion. Golf tips are of no value to The Zone, and never feel bad about asking someone to wait on taking their cell during your turn. If they take the call wait till their done and hum a tune. No, really! Texting is worse than a call, it takes more thinking. remember getting in The Zone is your fastest, simplest, and most consistent way to score low. If your score card doesn't matter than disregard everything you have just read. Maybe you’re the one that has it right. LOL!
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