I've been asked to write a series of articles for Want Better Golf. It's a great blog that all golfers should consider following. The article below is the second for Want Better Golf.
Five Great Exercises to Focus Your Thoughts on Your Target
Have you ever driven home on autopilot? We’ve all done so. After a long day on the job, we put the car in drive and our mind wanders. We’re paying very little conscious attention to the task of driving! And by some miracle, we arrive home, with very little memory of the drive we’ve just completed.
(This is a very dangerous habit by the way, and not recommended!)
We play golf the same way! (This is not nearly as dangerous, but also not as much fun as it could be.) We wander through most rounds on autopilot, exerting very little control over the direction of our thoughts. And by some miracle, we eventually hole the ball 18 times and then wonder what went wrong.
We established in previous posts that the ball will usually follow the direction of our thoughts. We shape our shots, bend the ball, with our thoughts. Even though we may focus our eyes on a very specific target in the fairway, if we’re thinking about the out of bounds along the left, our ball will likely head left.
To be more successful, we must focus both our eyes AND our thoughts on our intended target!
This is easier said than done, so here are a few exercises, off course and/or off season, to help hone these skills. These are progressively more difficult.
SIMPLY FOCUS YOUR EYES AND THOUGHTS ON AN OBJECT
Simply sit alone in a quiet room and focus both your eyes and your thoughts on any particular object. This sound simple doesn’t it. It’s not! Set an alarm for one minute, just 60 seconds, and try to focus your thoughts. You’ll find lots of other thoughts – what’s for supper, when do I have to pick up the children, did I leave that report on my boss’s desk, etc. – will drift into your mind. Each time this happens, just let those other thoughts go, and then bring your mind back to focusing, your thoughts, on just that one object. Keep trying.
ADD YOUR GOLF STANCE
Repeat the above exercise, but this time do so holding a golf club, in your stance, as if you’re about to hit a shot. Repeat this as often as you like.
PRACTICE THINKING AND PUTTING
In this exercise, you’re actually going to hit some putts. Set up your target and then get into your stance. Take one last look at your target. While doing so, focus your mind as well; focus your thoughts, on the intended target. Then bring your eyes back to the ball, while holding the thought of the target in your mind. And putt. Repeat this as often as you like.
FOCUS YOUR THOUGHTS IN A BUSY ROOM/AREA
It’s one thing to focus your thoughts when you’re all alone. It’s quite another to do so with some distractions. On a golf course, our partners generally respect the fact that we’re taking a shot by standing still, quietly. But they’re still there. They’re still watching. We’ve all experienced those first-tee jitters. And sometimes they’re not so quiet, or so still. Sometimes a group in another fairway causes a distraction.
In this exercise, repeat the first exercise, focusing your eyes and your thoughts on one particular object, but do so in a busy, noisy, distracting environment. Repeat as often as you like.
FOCUS YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN UNDER STRESS
Lastly, let’s introduce some stress. Most of us face times, often daily or weekly, when the stress of our job or other aspects of life are simply getting to us. This is a great opportunity to again repeat the first exercise. Just as in life, on the golf course there are times when we feel stress. The ability to focus both your eyes and your mind/thoughts on one particular object, even when under a great deal of stress, will definitely improve your golf game.
We’ll continue to explore the mind in future posts. For now, make it a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Focus Your Thoughts, Not Simply Your Eyes
I've been asked to write a series of articles for Want Better Golf. It's a great blog that all golfers should consider following. The article below is the second for Want Better Golf.
Focus Your Thoughts, Not Simply Your Eyes
We’ve all heard for years, ‘focus on a very specific target’ for each golf shot. The middle of the fairway isn’t good enough. Teaching professionals tell us to select a particular blade of grass, or a target line delineated by a specific tree trunk in the distance, or some other extremely narrow landmark!
Time and time again, we focus our eyes on some bizarrely narrow target and swing away. And time and time again, our ball slices right – for all you right-handed players – into the woods, or hooks left, into the rough. What’s gone wrong?
In an article last week we learned how our thoughts actually shape our golf shots. While the magician uses trickery to bend a spoon, every golfer uses his/her mind to shape each shot! This truly is magic!
The problem lies in communication, or, as is mentioned in the epic film Cool Hand Luke, ‘a failure to communicate!’
It’s not enough to focus our EYES on that very specific, very particular target. We must also focus our thoughts on that very same target! Teaching professionals say focus, and so we focus, with our eyes. That’s not enough. We must also focus our thoughts!
Let’s illustrate with another example. For me, this is a painful example, borrowed from many rounds of golf I’ve played on my home course. The front nine includes a fair share of challenges, but for the most part I generally find myself in good position off the tee and make my way around nicely (for me). I then move on to holes 10 and 11, and the fun begins.
Ten is a long, straight par 5 with OB left and a massive forest to the right. Try as I might, I’ve found it very difficult to focus my thoughts on this hole. I can focus my eyes very specifically on a target in the right-middle portion of the fairway. But my thoughts always seem to include ‘OB’. And often, my ball hooks dead left, out of bounds.
Eventually I limp on to the 11th. And yes, you guessed it, OB right and a world of hurt – trees skirted by sand bunkers and punishing rough – up the left on this mostly straight, long, uphill par 4. Once again I focus my eyes on my target, and try as I might, quite often, once again ‘OB’ creeps into my thoughts. I pull the trigger and watch helplessly as my ball slices into the great beyond, OB.
That’s back to back holes, with a hook left OB on 10 and a slice right OB on 11! Repeatedly! In the middle of an otherwise great round of golf!
It’s not mechanics. It’s my thought patterns. Once again, I’m bending the ball with my thoughts.
We’ll continue to explore this topic in future articles and we’ll suggest some off-course exercises to help. This stuff isn’t easy. Believe me, I know!
For now, just be honest with yourself, and evaluate how well you focus both your eyes and your thoughts on your intended target.
And of course, make it a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!
Focus Your Thoughts, Not Simply Your Eyes
We’ve all heard for years, ‘focus on a very specific target’ for each golf shot. The middle of the fairway isn’t good enough. Teaching professionals tell us to select a particular blade of grass, or a target line delineated by a specific tree trunk in the distance, or some other extremely narrow landmark!
Time and time again, we focus our eyes on some bizarrely narrow target and swing away. And time and time again, our ball slices right – for all you right-handed players – into the woods, or hooks left, into the rough. What’s gone wrong?
In an article last week we learned how our thoughts actually shape our golf shots. While the magician uses trickery to bend a spoon, every golfer uses his/her mind to shape each shot! This truly is magic!
The problem lies in communication, or, as is mentioned in the epic film Cool Hand Luke, ‘a failure to communicate!’
It’s not enough to focus our EYES on that very specific, very particular target. We must also focus our thoughts on that very same target! Teaching professionals say focus, and so we focus, with our eyes. That’s not enough. We must also focus our thoughts!
Let’s illustrate with another example. For me, this is a painful example, borrowed from many rounds of golf I’ve played on my home course. The front nine includes a fair share of challenges, but for the most part I generally find myself in good position off the tee and make my way around nicely (for me). I then move on to holes 10 and 11, and the fun begins.
Ten is a long, straight par 5 with OB left and a massive forest to the right. Try as I might, I’ve found it very difficult to focus my thoughts on this hole. I can focus my eyes very specifically on a target in the right-middle portion of the fairway. But my thoughts always seem to include ‘OB’. And often, my ball hooks dead left, out of bounds.
Eventually I limp on to the 11th. And yes, you guessed it, OB right and a world of hurt – trees skirted by sand bunkers and punishing rough – up the left on this mostly straight, long, uphill par 4. Once again I focus my eyes on my target, and try as I might, quite often, once again ‘OB’ creeps into my thoughts. I pull the trigger and watch helplessly as my ball slices into the great beyond, OB.
That’s back to back holes, with a hook left OB on 10 and a slice right OB on 11! Repeatedly! In the middle of an otherwise great round of golf!
It’s not mechanics. It’s my thought patterns. Once again, I’m bending the ball with my thoughts.
We’ll continue to explore this topic in future articles and we’ll suggest some off-course exercises to help. This stuff isn’t easy. Believe me, I know!
For now, just be honest with yourself, and evaluate how well you focus both your eyes and your thoughts on your intended target.
And of course, make it a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!
Monday, December 06, 2010
Bending Golf Balls with Your Mind
I've been asked to write a series of articles for Want Better Golf. It's a great blog that all golfers should consider following. The article below is the first for Want Better Golf.
Bending Golf Balls with Your Mind
Have you ever seen a magician bend a spoon with nothing more than the power of his mind? Incredible, wasn’t it?
Actually, no, it wasn’t incredible at all. It was likely just a trick, not magic. But do you know that you can and do accomplish the very same feat with your golf ball! You bend your shots left and right, simply with the power of your mind! And that’s far more magical than the spoon trick.
Yes, I’m treading into the great unknown. I’m exploring the power of the mind. Let me share just one study with you.
This study has been repeated hundreds of times, by many different researchers, using thousands of study volunteers, in many different countries, over many different decades. (And by the way, yes, this is just the tip of the iceberg in this field of research!) This will get technical for just a moment, but trust me; we’ll get back to golf soon!
So picture this. A volunteer is left alone in a small room. There’s a chair in which she’s seated, a small table in front of her, and a computer monitor on the table. The computer monitor is hooked up to a computer in another room. The computer is programmed with a random number generator. Every few seconds a “1” or a “0” will appear on the screen. By definition, because it’s a RANDOM number generator, there will be roughly an equal number of 1’s and 0’s.
The volunteer is then asked to pick a number, either 1 or 0, and to then focus her mind, her thoughts, on that number. Are you ready for the punch line?
If the volunteer focuses on 1, the RANDOM number generator generates more 1’s. If she focuses on 0’s, more 0’s appear. Over and over and over again, this same result appears.
The study volunteers affect the RANDOM number generator, with nothing more than their minds! Kind of makes you think – excuse the pun – doesn’t it. I wonder if my mind affects my golf shots in a similar way.
The answer, of course, is YES!
Have you ever stood on the tee and focused on the danger. You tee up your ball, take your stance, fully aligned right down the middle. Your physical body is set up perfectly. But then you steal a glance at the water along the right. Oh, and there’s all those deep sand bunkers down the left. You think, just for a split second, ‘well, sand is better than water!’ You continue the thought, ‘no water.’ And you swing....
And you watch helplessly as your ball slices or draws directly for the water.
We’ll continue on this subject in the near future. Watch for more posts!
For now though, whether you’re actively playing or in your offseason, maybe think about your thought patterns as you play a typical round. What do you think about? Be honest with yourself. You might be surprised.
Make it a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!
Bending Golf Balls with Your Mind
Have you ever seen a magician bend a spoon with nothing more than the power of his mind? Incredible, wasn’t it?
Actually, no, it wasn’t incredible at all. It was likely just a trick, not magic. But do you know that you can and do accomplish the very same feat with your golf ball! You bend your shots left and right, simply with the power of your mind! And that’s far more magical than the spoon trick.
Yes, I’m treading into the great unknown. I’m exploring the power of the mind. Let me share just one study with you.
This study has been repeated hundreds of times, by many different researchers, using thousands of study volunteers, in many different countries, over many different decades. (And by the way, yes, this is just the tip of the iceberg in this field of research!) This will get technical for just a moment, but trust me; we’ll get back to golf soon!
So picture this. A volunteer is left alone in a small room. There’s a chair in which she’s seated, a small table in front of her, and a computer monitor on the table. The computer monitor is hooked up to a computer in another room. The computer is programmed with a random number generator. Every few seconds a “1” or a “0” will appear on the screen. By definition, because it’s a RANDOM number generator, there will be roughly an equal number of 1’s and 0’s.
The volunteer is then asked to pick a number, either 1 or 0, and to then focus her mind, her thoughts, on that number. Are you ready for the punch line?
If the volunteer focuses on 1, the RANDOM number generator generates more 1’s. If she focuses on 0’s, more 0’s appear. Over and over and over again, this same result appears.
The study volunteers affect the RANDOM number generator, with nothing more than their minds! Kind of makes you think – excuse the pun – doesn’t it. I wonder if my mind affects my golf shots in a similar way.
The answer, of course, is YES!
Have you ever stood on the tee and focused on the danger. You tee up your ball, take your stance, fully aligned right down the middle. Your physical body is set up perfectly. But then you steal a glance at the water along the right. Oh, and there’s all those deep sand bunkers down the left. You think, just for a split second, ‘well, sand is better than water!’ You continue the thought, ‘no water.’ And you swing....
And you watch helplessly as your ball slices or draws directly for the water.
We’ll continue on this subject in the near future. Watch for more posts!
For now though, whether you’re actively playing or in your offseason, maybe think about your thought patterns as you play a typical round. What do you think about? Be honest with yourself. You might be surprised.
Make it a great day! For yes, you do have the power to do so!
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