One Under Par

A Newsletter from KeyGolf...October, 2000

THE BRAIN GAME 2--

One of our readers recently reminded us how strongly our individual perceptions influence our understanding of written material. What two people see on a page can be very different, even when looking at the same words, because of the variety of meanings we attach to what we read.

In one of our previous articles, we made a strong case for practicing the way we play. A reader asked, "What do I do if I'm playing lousy? I don't want to practice that." The space between what we intended and what was understood needs to be filled in. The reader interpreted our message to mean that he should practice the good, bad and ugly that comprises the shots he makes on a regular basis. That's not what we meant, so we'd better clarify.

The way we play refers to our playing style. Style is what we see when we look at the way people express themselves in their daily lives and activities. Style is part of the natural resource we are given. The human instinctive system is thorough, compact, and inescapable. We are characteristically and naturally urged toward our individual personal styles whenever we are "in the game," whether under normal pressure or extended by exceptional situations.

Practice exacts less pressure, so our instinctive manifest is different. With less external pressure, there is less "programmed" direction coming from within. Typically, unless we understand them thoroughly, we allow instinctive elements to take their own course, so that the system does whatever it will. We can, however, take command, in cooperation with the system and create maximum conditions for success. We cannot choose our instincts, or change their prescribed functions, but we can avoid confronting them by learning to "go with the flow."Our basic personal style is part of that natural network. It is normal for us to head in that direction under pressure. Simply put, that means we need to develop a clear understanding and appreciation of our personal playing style, since that forms the built-in pathway along which our instinctive traits will tend to push us as we go about playing the game.

How does that relate to practice? As simply as we can put it, we need to learn to practice based on what we do on the course, rather than try to learn to play on the course after the fashion in which we tend to practice, (which is usually more malleable because it is in default). We need to learn how to take conscious command of our practice, so that we are not governed by default.

When we approach it that way, we will tend to build habits based on skills that are inside the boundaries nature has given us. Then, when the pressure of play sends us looking for our habits, we'll find them. If we practice in "default" of the system, we may build habits outside our style, or not build any at all. The pressures of play will invariably send us looking for those resources that have taken up residence inside our styles. We will have trouble finding any of those we learned through practice that was outside our style. Result: we get lost, confused and frustrated.That has to do with how we practice. How we practice is not the same as what we practice.

What we practice is a second, but equally important consideration. It is important to practice the right things. It is apparent, even through casual observation, that what most of us refer to as "practice" would be better described as searching. And that search is rarely well defined. We passionately look for something different or better to help our games, but it is seldom clear what that ought to be. That's the "sneaky" way we lapse into learning to play outside our style. In turn, that leaves us wondering why we can't play the way we practice.

So our point was, and still is, look for clues to what you need to practice by watching yourself play on the course. Then work only on those skills and habits that need attention. Don't monkey around with everything in your bag. You need habits you can count on during the game. You will acquire those by learning to practice the right things. Understanding and distinguishing the "right" things is an equally important, but separate skill. That discussion will require a whole other article.

Meanwhile, limit your practice to your playing needs. Don't just go out and "bang" balls and trifle with your swing.

-30-

How we practice and play requires knowing our individual styles and staying within them. Styles are like road maps. They show where we are and where we need to go to build effective habits for whatever we do, including golf. Toward our styles is where our natural, instinctive drives will send us when we're under the pressure of the game. If we have built our habits outside our styles, our systems will have trouble finding the skills we've formed when the game is on.

The problem here is that we have to have a way of knowing what we are looking for in order to evaluate our skills on the course. If you are on automatic, that's no problem. If you are not on automatic, you'll have to get lucky to figure it out.

Skills invariably reside in habit patterns. Habits are always on automatic. You can only be on automatic when your thinking is properly connected to release your habits.

Skills (habits) can be good or bad. The only way to see which of our skills need attention is to be able to see which ones are working and which ones aren't. That vision is impossible unless you are on automatic. The only way to be on automatic is to use a thinking path that puts you there. That path has been identified as a passive thinking process, using mental keys (not "swing keys") which do not give the body any action commands.

When we are swinging from habit, we can see clearly how good (or bad, as the case may be) our automatic is, and what may need our attention. Our vision is clearer when we can reduce the number of variables we must consider in the process of evaluating whatever it is we need to do. If we have several options for what is causing a "problem," we may have to guess at solutions. Being on automatic removes the need to evaluate anything other than our swing skills. Having only one variable to deal with makes it easier to see clearly what we need to work on.

Furthermore, when we are on automatic, we do not have to make instantaneous decisions about trusting our swings. Being on automatic literally means that the only thing influcencing the result is what we have built in to our skills. We will get back exactly what we have put in.

The good news is that we will know exactly what that is. From that we get our clues for what we need to practice. The bad news may be that our habits need more attention than we thought, but at least, we will have clear definition of what that is and not be left guessing at it.

If we aren't on automatic, we are on manual. Those are our only choices. There's no such thing as neutral. On manual, we cannot tell for sure if our results, good or bad, are coming from the way we think, the way we feel, the way we are swinging, or all of the above. On manual (instead of automatic) we are left without a conclusive way to guage what we need to practice.

Manual has been the standard for the way the game is taught, learned, practiced and played. Literally, everything has been put into the language of mechanics, even though that was more accidental than intentional. We just didn't understand that direct mechanical or manual thinking about any action automatically cancels its automatic potential. In other words, mechanical thinking is exactly what is needed to interrupt, or prevent an automatic action. That is what we need to build new habits, adjust old ones, and determine our on-course strategies. But it is not what is need for executing the shot. In a word, at shot time, mechanical thinking is self-defeating.

Typically, when that happens, with less than desireable result, it sends us back to the range, not with a specific improvement as our objective, but generally in a mood to search for something -anything that might help.

The anything/something mode is a bummer. All we will ever learn from that is an anything/something habit - the habit of experimentation. What that furnishes for the course is a bag full of hopes, tricks, wishes and guesses - another set of options with no automatic power.

The good news is that sometimes that works. The bad news is, we never really know when it will or when it won't. So it's back to the drawing board.

What does this have to do with the Brain Game? Everything. How you think, how you organize your thinking, relates to how you act. The patterns by which you act repeatedly describe your habits. Your habits are your automatic. Playing from sound habits, on automatic, is the most reliable route to steady performance and confidence. Your most consistent results will always come automatically. Your most effective results will come when your automatic is well developed and not defused by mechanical thinking. Now you know what is meant by the expression, "You can't make it happen; you have to let it go."

It all starts with how you think, what you are thinking, and when. If you are hacking in your head, you will surely hack in your hands, arms, feet, shoulders, hips, knees and elbows.

Start with the brain. What is meant by the cliche "Keeping the head still" is not nearly as important as keeping what's inside the head still.

Let us know if you have questions or comments.