| With the help of my good friend I was beginning | | | | should be so developed that we should be able to |
| to get my golf game together, a fiercely technical | | | | hit a ball with our eyes shut, however, that's |
| game involving lengthy checklists and physical | | | | another day for me. On this particular day, I |
| adjustments in pursuit of a perfect swing hitting | | | | parked to oneside my 'pilot in the cockpit' checklist |
| the ball in the sweet spot. | | | | and instead focused my attention on being aware |
| While all of us have the capacity to make the | | | | at all times where the club head was and its path |
| necessary adjustments, our mind tends to look at | | | | through the air from addressing the ball, back |
| this accumulation and arrangements as a | | | | swing, down swing, contact and follow through. |
| strenuous task. Significant doubt enters us and we | | | | Coaches call this the "plane". The revelation for |
| collapse completely or over compensate and | | | | me was nothing to do with my stance, handgrip |
| usually end up duffing the shot. Stanford graduate, | | | | and so on but allowing my body to naturally flow |
| Micheal Murphy says in his book 'Golf in The | | | | from beginning to the end of the shot and |
| Kingdom' "You try too hard and think too much" | | | | allowing the golf club do what it was designed to |
| Golf, like any other game is easy once you have | | | | do - not forcing anything. |
| perfected the basics - and so our game is lost | | | | That afternoon of joy and delight, shot after |
| mostly in the mind. When we are relaxed, our | | | | shot, effortless - staying 'In the zone' is altogether |
| body naturally achieves optimum muscular and | | | | another story and this is where the mind comes |
| skeletal motions in what ever activity we | | | | into play, or more to the point should 'go out of |
| undertake; in running - lean forward and let | | | | the play'. |
| gravity do the work, in swimming - keep your | | | | Sri Chinmoy, the world renowned and |
| head down and let the water carry you body. In | | | | accomplished sportsman and meditation teacher |
| the same way, use the laws of nature with your | | | | says that "if we can quieten the mind, our |
| golf swing. Many times, I have watched wanabee | | | | awareness of our body and environment |
| golfers choking the golf club, grimacing, wincing | | | | increases immensely". Having meditated for a |
| and tensing up with such fear as if they were | | | | number of years as a student of Sri Chinmoy, I |
| facing a ferocious lion in the Coliseum. Murphy | | | | quickly understood the benefits of meditation and |
| remembers a Scottish pro telling him "Why don't | | | | found this task reasonably easy to achieve. He |
| ye go wi' your pretty swing? Let nothingness | | | | also says that we should not focus all of our |
| enter into your shots" | | | | attention on the result of our action but on the |
| One of golf's all time greats, Ben Hogan once said | | | | process itself. In looking ahead to the result, our |
| 'the slower the back swing the greater the | | | | mind creates doubt, fear and anxiety to the point |
| distance'. In other words - relax and don't go to | | | | where we doubt our own abilities. Similarly, in golf |
| kill the ball. | | | | a common mistake with beginners is where we |
| In his book, The inner game of Golf, Gallwey says | | | | look up too early to see the result of our shot. |
| "Our muscles don't understand English", and "The | | | | As we hit the ball our head comes up immediately |
| secret to increasing control over our bodies lies in | | | | to see that 'great shot we've just hit'. What's |
| gaining some measure of control over our minds". | | | | more likely to have happened is we lifted our left |
| Gallwey's book illustrates as to how our minds | | | | shoulder causing us to lean back slightly which |
| approach to hitting the ball runs counter to the | | | | shortens the flight path of the club head and so |
| natural process. | | | | we top the ball, which then bumps and runs a few |
| Theory is great and at times, we can talk up | | | | meters in front of us. |
| great shots and super golf, however practice is | | | | Be it golf or any other endeavour, when we |
| something else. On one occasion, I went to the | | | | relax, turn off the mind, and by becoming aware |
| driving range where I spent the afternoon hitting | | | | of every moment of our actions, we will enjoy |
| a large bucket of golf balls from 'in the zone'. I.e. | | | | the process. If we forget about the result, our |
| being completely relaxed and not thinking or | | | | mind does not get the opportunity to throw |
| analysing my every movement. Our awareness | | | | psychological banana skins in front of us. |