The Non-Mechanical Side of Golf
IN: Golf Psychology | by Carey Mumford | 22 Feb 2005
We've come to speak of it as "The Mental Game." The reality is that it really is not a "game", it is one part of the game. Funny how the words we use do two things. They give clues to our underlying perceptions - how we see things around us - and/or they provide us with labels so that we don't have to go to a "stored folder to open the program" (on a computer we call them "short-cuts," which are mostly visible as icons on a desktop).
The downside is that the employment of "short-cuts" can leave us bereft of the necessary information and full appreciation of how the physical and mental parts of the game come together. So the connection is missed and we never discover its full value. The upside is that the programs represented by the icons contain many useful configurations which usually do not require our conscious consideration. That is, until something appears to go wrong. That's where the lack of knowledge leaves us not knowing what kind and how much of any change can or will "fix" the problem. So we do, indeed, ultimately need to understand "the program."
Because the game is part mental and part manual, players are often left to wonder, when something goes sour. "What happened? Was that a brain cramp or did I goof my swing? Which happened first? Did my mind mess with my swing, or did my swing cause a bad thought?" How about those chickens and eggs? We seldom come up with "the answer," because we don't really know where to direct the question. So we settle for potpourri.
When a player believes there is a swing problem, which is the usual first response (or reaction) to any mistake during play, it is quite likely that ASAP someone will be approached about it - a pro, a buddy, or a bunch of fellow posters on a forum. It is a lot less likely that anyone will consider (or guess) that the issue might be mental, and follow that by inquiring of someone about the mental possibilities that may have been involved.
One might get on the internet and quietly look for relief, or perhaps raise a question like "What is the best book you've ever read about the mental game?" Very occasionally, someone will post a "mental" concern and ask for others' experiences, which is typically followed by opinions numbers 1 - 62, more or less. Rarely have we seen or heard anything that goes to the principles involved. Why? Because all of us have operated from icons (taken the short cut) for so long that we have managed to skirt the principles. Sure it compromises our games, but everyone is in the same boat (or so it appears) so we don't really have much with which to compare our experiences, leaving us to assume that we've done all we can or all we need to in order to understand this animal.
A mere glimpse into the non-mechanical part of the game, covering at least part of what we would do well to bring into full view, exposes an interesting portfolio. If we don't understand ourselves, how our psycho-physiological systems work, and how that relates to our game, we'll likely continue on a diet of icons and short-cuts. Now that's not all bad. At least it has served us without total dissatisfaction since the game began. But from all quarters comes the surround-sound of "next level," getting better," "practice till you drop," "change this or that," "hit it better," "longer," "straighter," and more. And apparently only a few see that those objectives, if you will, require just as much mental attention as physical, and in almost all cases, the mental must come first. Why? Because if we don't understand the problem, we won't know what to fix.
Rather than limiting our vision, perhaps it is time to expand it when it comes to the game we all love. So for the moment, we will apply a name carrying a little more comprehensive purpose than some of the headings that have been given to it. "Sport Psychology," and the "Mental Game" aren't bad lines but they tend to be encapsulated by past ideas and notions. A different title, for the moment, may help some to shake loose from any fixed impressions of what the thinking part of the game generally and typically has been thought to be.
The designation "mental side of the game" may be just a little too non specific and incomplete to set the stage. All of us have a mind and thinking capacity, but it must be reckoned with in both its conscious and non-conscious states. It is the latter that produces consternation. All of us have genetic considerations to deal with and a number of those rest in the mental arena. We have learning (acquired knowledge) considerations to deal with and all of what we have learned is intertwined with the two areas just mentioned. They invariably affect what we see, what we hear, how we deal with those things and plan for what is to come. So it is not a matter that will be easily captured in a moment of inspiration or flash of "insight.".
Additionally, some give reference to "sport psychology," which is often promoted as a way of "doing" our game, when it really is only a body of knowledge that can inform and support how we go about learning and playing. The psychology of the game pertains to the knowledge of how the mental game works. It may give direction to various actions, but it isn't obliged to provide an action plan, so it doesn't. Even so, some think it is an action orientation. In turn, that can result in such assertions as "Use psychology on them!," as though it were a weapon.
To the list, which so far embraces our natural human behaviour styles, the way our conscious and non conscious mental functions work, how we learn and the effect that has on the game, we need to add emotion. That must be dealt with in the context already mentioned - how our instinctive resources relate to what we do and how we think. If unbridled, emotion is apt to invade and affect all things - before, during and after the game - for good or bad. So we are approaching a "bag-full." Is it any wonder that many now say (but only a few act out) that the game is at least 90% mental.
Some of what we encounter is optional. Some of it is "required," as in part of a natural human system and the principled order that involves a considerable amount of universality as well as a limited amount of individuality. Even that is predicated on how far anyone wants, or is willing, to go. Some play golf for the sheer fun of it and don't look for "better" in any of that. Some are constantly trying to find new and better ways to "get it done." They may even experience the frustration that always accompanies human imperfection, but they are driven to keep trying.
The holy grail is alive and well and somewhere near the centre of involvement for those who call themselves avid golfers, and that designation may well belong to every single player who ever dared to visit, lurk, or post on a golf forum.
So now what? It is bordering on impossible to make a presumption that we might put all there is to the "non mechanical" side of golf into one summarized statement. There are far too many principles and corollaries to acknowledge, define, demythologise, clarify, expand, recreate and integrate to even think it possible to finally exhaust the subject. So perhaps our mission is one of exploration, continuing investigation, commitment and renewal. And we begin as near the central issues as possible.
It really all begins with thinking, at least as we know it consciously. It has long been established in experience and verified by more than one study and results from observation, that first comes a thought, which is followed by an action, which, in turn, produces a result. A corollary is that if your thoughts happen to be "screwed up," there is little hope that you will get a desired result. You will get one, but it may not be what you wanted. Nowhere is that more evident than in our golf games.
We must not forget that "thinking" may be far more than what has been considered. Golfers cannot afford to lay that aside, if they would reach their own personal zenith in the game. Nor can they dismiss the predictable issues that go with the individual styles given to them at birth, and how that plays into the way they think. Most times, as I listen to players, the impression that comes from them is that all that "thinking" can be plainly observed and evaluated. And therein lies a deep "rub."
If the estimates that are most often given to it, and I believe they are as near correct as we can get, thinking as a conscious element in the entire process is only 3% of the total of what thinking fully embraces. 97% of our thinking, daily, momentarily and taken together, is of the non-conscious variety. We can't see that part when it's actually taking place. We may know what it was, after the fact, but at the moment of truth, it is not available to us on the conscious level. By definition, non-conscious thinking cannot be seen as it unfolds The only way we know it was there is by the result we get. And if either our conscious or non conscious thinking is untoward, so will the result be, unless we are just plain lucky.
It is not easy to show, tell or convince people (especially golfers, who, among all human beings, indicate their strong need and determination to always be "in control"), that most of what they must deal with is not available for "control." It can only be managed. That requires knowing how, but "control" is out of the question. I believe it was Bob Toski who was credited with the phrase, "You must be able to give up control in order to gain control." And that is doable, but it may require new knowledge, comprehension and commitment. We will get to that, along with a way to do it.
So thinking, especially "what kind?", "how?", and "when?" needs attention early in our consideration, and that will need to be accompanied by the kind of self-knowledge that gives definition to "playing the game within yourself." Both conscious and non conscious thinking are involved in learning, practicing and playing the game. Different behaviour styles approach learning and playing according to the individuality in those styles. That is blessed with predictability. So we will need to examine all of that rather carefully - if, and only if, we really want to move ahead. Some will not care. Others will doubt. Some will pursue and a few will dodge, but the task will need to continue.
After the thinking part will come the affect and influence of our emotions. Then we will turn to a full understanding of how the brain and the body work together to produce what has come to be known as the "automatic principle." That will be joined by a full description of a forthright "tool" (of mental and emotional proportion) that is designed to aid in the development of ones skills and habits and to serve as the guardian against anxiety in the course of playing.
From there we will entertain what is known and workable about getting to the "zone" and distinguishing both of what turn out to be two zones, not one. Follow that with a full blown treatment of the "yips" complete with understanding their origin and how to contain them, along with how they affect the game.
Add in issues of things like confidence, concentration, and consistency, and put them in their proper relationship to the whole game, and we will have lots to consider.
We won't touch on myths in the game at this point, but that will come. The one exception is this: we often hear people say "You must learn to trust your swing," or something comparable. Sounds good, but the reality is that you must begin with "trust," which is the very first thing any human being learns in life - whether to trust and how much. It requires and consumes the entire first year of life.
Here is the message. You must start any pilgrimage with the following, and golf is a pilgrimage - I will trust myself to engage this game to its fullest - and that means, come "hell or high water." Trust is not something one "comes to." It must be part of one's initial, beginning commitment. If we get that right, we can be on the road to success.
At this moment in time, the road to golfing success is still a "Road Less Travelled," but there is new vision in the wings waiting to be heard. If you don't care to go there, that's OK, but if you do, stay tuned.
