Rhythm and tempo are two concepts that are easily confused with each other. In this entry the difference between the two will be explained and strategies will be offered for how to practice playing in rhythm and to find the tempo that works best for your personality and biorhythms.
Rhythm is the steady beat of the drum. In music this would be represented by the time signature of the piece of music. In my opinion, golf is best played in a waltzing 3/4 time signature. That would be 3 beats on the backswing and 3 beats to the finish of the swing. The emphasis is on the first beat of the measure as we take the club away and again upon impact with the golf ball on the downswing. Good rhythm is a constant in all great golfers. When they are playing at their best, you may notice that even the pro's pre-shot routines have the same rhythmic qualities as their regular swing, making the playing of the game look like an artful, effortless dance.
This rhythm, that shows up in everything we do, is a wonderful byproduct of being "in the zone". When we have gotten out of our thinking mind and have centered in on the trusting, confident, still center of our mind, things tend to fall into a graceful rhythm with a tempo that fits our individuality.
This leads into the concept of tempo. Whereas all great players have great rhythm, the tempo or speed of that rhythm varies greatly from player to player. In music we would use the concept of beats per minute (bpm) to determine how rapidly we would tap out the beats in a measure. To practice a particular piece, a musician might use a metronome calibrated to the correct tempo to help them find the right pacing of the piece.
In determining the bpm of the swing, it is important to note that we are
taking about the space in time between the start of the backswing and
the moment of impact. We are basically measuring the time it takes to
get from the start of a measure (the "1" of the counting) to another.
The 1-2-3, 1-2-3 of a professional golf swing can range from 75 bpms (Fred Couples' swing registers close to this tempo) all the way up to 120bpms (Brandt Snedeker comes to mind in this range). That is a wide range of difference in two of the best players in the modern era.
This difference can be traced down to biorhythms. Each of us has an inner drummer that is beating out the rhythm of our daily lives. We walk and talk and move with this unique biorhythm throughout the day without much deliberation or conscious thought. It is simply the way we move through the world that feels right to us.
Fred Couples saunters through the world while Brandt Snedeker, for example, struts.
Finding your Tempo
#1
There are numerous apps for the smartphone that offer a metronome feature. The one I use on my phone is the Mobile Metronome app. I would recommend downloading an app like this to help you determine the tempo that works best for your game.
#2
Once you have a metronome in hand, try this exercise. Next time you are out for a walk and find yourself falling into a nice, comfortable stride that feels natural and comfortable for you, pull out your metronome and zero in on the pacing of your steps. Every time your foot hits the ground, that is a beat. On the Mobile Metronome app you can tap out the beat of your walk and it will give you a beats per minute calculation.
#3
Have you ever found a piece of music that just feels right to you? When you hear it, it just feels good in your body. Next time you notice a piece of music that speaks to you on a rhythmic level, pull out your metronome and see if you can tap out the tempo of the music. Does it fit into your natural walking tempo? If it does, you have probably found your ideal golf swing tempo.
#4
Experiment with different tempos in your practice. Take your metronome to the driving range and putting green. (Ideally, we would have the same tempo on putting that we do on our driver swing). Go to extremes. Try going at 75 bpms and then take it all the way up to 120 bpms. From there you can zero in on the number that feels natural and most like your swing.
#5
Create a playlist of songs that fit your ideal tempo and listen to those songs with some headphones while you practice.
#6
Once you have found your tempo, practice it in everything you do. See if you can make your movements in the pre-shot routine fall into the rhythm of this tempo. Consider each shot to be a song that you play over and over again, just as a musician does to master a piece of music.
#7
Incorporate your rhythm into the space in between your shots. See if you can stay rhythmic in everything you do, including your walking and talking during the round.
See if you can incorporate your ideal rhythmic tempo into your life outside of the golf course. The more we get into our biorhythm, the more we smoothly and gracefully move through our lives "in the zone". Enjoy the discovery process of finding your tempo and discovering the rhythm of the game of golf.
A blog dedicated to lessons related to the game of golf and those lesson's applications to our everyday lives. Steven Miller, M.A. is the author of this blog. Steve is the Head Golf Instructor at Present Moment Golf. Steve offers The Golf Retreat, a week long immersion into process-oriented golf instruction and mindfulness training. Check out the Present Moment website at www.presentmomentgolf.com
Friday, May 31, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Present Moment Golf Goes Mobile
Present Moment Golf is officially mobile. I'm coming to you today from Fredericksburg, VA on my way up to Belgrade, Maine to teach at the Maine Golf and Tennis Academy with Kenny Knox for the summer.
Thank you to the following people for helping to bring the "Present Moment Golf Mobile" (Shaggy) into great shape for the trip and making this mobile golf instruction business possible....
Levi Cunningham - Thank you Levi for all your many hours of help in overhauling the engine and for all your support....while working two jobs!!
Jason Price - Thank you Jason for taking the time to come out and help Levi on your time off, which I know is incredibly precious.
James Cunningham - Thank you James for all your hard work helping your brother get the RV rolling down the road. The picture I have of you passed out, sleeping with containers of transmission fluid, tells the story of your hard work.
Gary Dennings - Thank you for your expertise and for allowing us to use your garage to rebuild the engine. That pizza we ordered should be arriving any minute now.
Jerry Boulia (Jerry's Garage in Havelock) - Thank you Jerry for all your hard work in bringing it all together at the last minute. I am so glad I found the right guy for the job.
The Kershners (Will, Bonnie, Abby and Hannah) - Thank you for all your support and for helping me to clean and decorate the RV. You definitely helped to make it feel like a home.
I'm out here "Living the Dream"....or as my niece says, "Living a Dream" :)
Off to Maine!
Steve Miller
Thank you to the following people for helping to bring the "Present Moment Golf Mobile" (Shaggy) into great shape for the trip and making this mobile golf instruction business possible....
Levi Cunningham - Thank you Levi for all your many hours of help in overhauling the engine and for all your support....while working two jobs!!
Jason Price - Thank you Jason for taking the time to come out and help Levi on your time off, which I know is incredibly precious.
James Cunningham - Thank you James for all your hard work helping your brother get the RV rolling down the road. The picture I have of you passed out, sleeping with containers of transmission fluid, tells the story of your hard work.
Gary Dennings - Thank you for your expertise and for allowing us to use your garage to rebuild the engine. That pizza we ordered should be arriving any minute now.
Jerry Boulia (Jerry's Garage in Havelock) - Thank you Jerry for all your hard work in bringing it all together at the last minute. I am so glad I found the right guy for the job.
The Kershners (Will, Bonnie, Abby and Hannah) - Thank you for all your support and for helping me to clean and decorate the RV. You definitely helped to make it feel like a home.
I'm out here "Living the Dream"....or as my niece says, "Living a Dream" :)
Off to Maine!
Steve Miller
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Trust the Process
I've been listening closely to a lot of post-competition interviews from the pros in golf and in other sports. In those interviews, I've noticed a theme that comes up over and over again from athletes who are at the top of their sport. It sounds something like this...
"I'm just going through my process and staying in the present moment".
Process is considered the series of actions (physical, mental and emotional) that are involved in a routine. Great players all have a routine that they undertake before every action. This routine fits their individual personality and tempo. They focus intently on how well they produce this routine instead of putting all of their energy (and anxiety) on the result of the action they are about to undertake.
When you are focused on the result, you will experience great highs and agonizing lows. The experience tends to be one of exhaustion as you are constantly in the place of fear and anxiety over what might happen and what those possible results might mean to you.
On the other hand, athletes who are focused on their process can sometimes be hard to read from the exterior. It can be hard to tell if they just snap-hooked a shot into the woods or made a 90-foot putt. They react much less to the result of what has happened. They seem balanced and more "in the middle" when they are playing their sport. They derive their satisfaction in the discipline they show in carrying out their "pre-shot" routine. By not being emotionally tied to the result, they are able to remain in the calm, centered place where they can more readily have access to being "in the zone" and where they can notice subtleties about themselves, making it an ongoing growth and learning process.
These players tend to not "shout for joy" as much, but they do tend to have a contented smile on their faces much more than the average golfer when they play the game. Golfers that come to mind are Matt Kuchar and Fred Couples. These are the kind of guys who keep their contented saunter around the golf course going, regardless of the exterior circumstances. A good example of this is a time when Fred Couples made one of the greatest pars ever at the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in the Players Championship in 1999. Fred hit his first shot just a little short of his intended target and it ended up in the water. If you watch Fred's reaction, there is not much of one at all. He simply stepped up and hit another one....into the hole on the fly. The greatest example of the cool customer that is Freddy occurred after he dunked his par shot. With a smile, he just walked along about the same way he did after his initial shot went into the water....no big deal.
You can tell when a player is tied to the results on the practice range. There is an immediate emotional reaction to their poor shots and they quickly reach for the next ball, before the previous ball has finished rolling. These players, so caught up in their emotional reaction to the golf shot they have just hit, are missing the golden opportunity to learn from what just happened. Players who are instead focused on the process will calmly evaluate their routine and take a moment to notice what is happening to cause their issue. They possess self-awareness and self-knowledge and are able to learn from what has just transpired to cause their poor result. These two players look completely different when they practice and when they play.
If you don't currently have a 20 to 30 second "pre-shot" routine that feels comfortable and revolves around relaxation and rhythm, I suggest that it should be your main priority as a player to establish such a routine. Create it consciously now and take the time to break down the details of your routine to what is important, comfortable and personal for you. Then, practice your routine and only your routine for an extended period of time. Train yourself when you practice to let go of the results and to focus on the process of your routine. We want to be able to have this positive habit in place so that when the "chips are down" and we find ourselves in a place where there is the potential for having anxiety arise about the result of any given shot, we can return to our training on focusing on process to guide us through.
Here are some elements to a routine that you might consider consciously including in your pre-shot routine.
- Commitment to your decision (club, kind of shot, etc.)
- Fundamentals (grip, posture, alignment, ball position)
- Relaxation
- Rhythm (throughout the entire routine)
- Positive Visualization
- Waggle
- Trigger that starts the action
- Commitment to being detached from the result...regardless of the result. (Hint: If you are having an emotional reaction to the result...you are tied to that result.)
Enjoy the process of creating your process. After some time, discipline and practice, this routine should feel like a trusted friend and as comfortable as house slippers.
For help in consciously creating such a process, feel free to visit my website at www.presentmomentgolf.com to schedule a Sports Psychology Coaching session.
Steven Miller, M.A.
-
"I'm just going through my process and staying in the present moment".
Process is considered the series of actions (physical, mental and emotional) that are involved in a routine. Great players all have a routine that they undertake before every action. This routine fits their individual personality and tempo. They focus intently on how well they produce this routine instead of putting all of their energy (and anxiety) on the result of the action they are about to undertake.
When you are focused on the result, you will experience great highs and agonizing lows. The experience tends to be one of exhaustion as you are constantly in the place of fear and anxiety over what might happen and what those possible results might mean to you.
On the other hand, athletes who are focused on their process can sometimes be hard to read from the exterior. It can be hard to tell if they just snap-hooked a shot into the woods or made a 90-foot putt. They react much less to the result of what has happened. They seem balanced and more "in the middle" when they are playing their sport. They derive their satisfaction in the discipline they show in carrying out their "pre-shot" routine. By not being emotionally tied to the result, they are able to remain in the calm, centered place where they can more readily have access to being "in the zone" and where they can notice subtleties about themselves, making it an ongoing growth and learning process.
These players tend to not "shout for joy" as much, but they do tend to have a contented smile on their faces much more than the average golfer when they play the game. Golfers that come to mind are Matt Kuchar and Fred Couples. These are the kind of guys who keep their contented saunter around the golf course going, regardless of the exterior circumstances. A good example of this is a time when Fred Couples made one of the greatest pars ever at the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in the Players Championship in 1999. Fred hit his first shot just a little short of his intended target and it ended up in the water. If you watch Fred's reaction, there is not much of one at all. He simply stepped up and hit another one....into the hole on the fly. The greatest example of the cool customer that is Freddy occurred after he dunked his par shot. With a smile, he just walked along about the same way he did after his initial shot went into the water....no big deal.
You can tell when a player is tied to the results on the practice range. There is an immediate emotional reaction to their poor shots and they quickly reach for the next ball, before the previous ball has finished rolling. These players, so caught up in their emotional reaction to the golf shot they have just hit, are missing the golden opportunity to learn from what just happened. Players who are instead focused on the process will calmly evaluate their routine and take a moment to notice what is happening to cause their issue. They possess self-awareness and self-knowledge and are able to learn from what has just transpired to cause their poor result. These two players look completely different when they practice and when they play.
If you don't currently have a 20 to 30 second "pre-shot" routine that feels comfortable and revolves around relaxation and rhythm, I suggest that it should be your main priority as a player to establish such a routine. Create it consciously now and take the time to break down the details of your routine to what is important, comfortable and personal for you. Then, practice your routine and only your routine for an extended period of time. Train yourself when you practice to let go of the results and to focus on the process of your routine. We want to be able to have this positive habit in place so that when the "chips are down" and we find ourselves in a place where there is the potential for having anxiety arise about the result of any given shot, we can return to our training on focusing on process to guide us through.
Here are some elements to a routine that you might consider consciously including in your pre-shot routine.
- Commitment to your decision (club, kind of shot, etc.)
- Fundamentals (grip, posture, alignment, ball position)
- Relaxation
- Rhythm (throughout the entire routine)
- Positive Visualization
- Waggle
- Trigger that starts the action
- Commitment to being detached from the result...regardless of the result. (Hint: If you are having an emotional reaction to the result...you are tied to that result.)
Enjoy the process of creating your process. After some time, discipline and practice, this routine should feel like a trusted friend and as comfortable as house slippers.
For help in consciously creating such a process, feel free to visit my website at www.presentmomentgolf.com to schedule a Sports Psychology Coaching session.
Steven Miller, M.A.
-
Monday, May 13, 2013
Generally, It Gets Worse before it Gets Better
I am a big believer in telling it as it is. I would rather deliver the truth of things and help people to deal with these realities than to make false promises to try and cushion the blow.
When you make a change in golf... and in life, it takes work and you may actually get worse or struggle more initially than you did before you made the change. In our modern-day world, that is fast-paced and generally encourages us to find quick fixes for our problems, these initial setbacks can unconsciously encourage us to get "stuck" in our current strategies in what we are doing. For a lot of us, it is just easier to deal with the lackluster results of things than invest in the cure for what ails us.
My training as a therapist introduced me to the concept of "it gets worse before it gets better". When people come to therapy, they are generally needing help to get "unstuck". Their strategies for dealing with the challenges in life are no longer working and they need guidance on how they can unlock this energy, allowing their abilities to be healthy, balanced and centered that they were born with to be unblocked.
At first, when you work with someone on unblocking things, the crutches that have served them to get by (which have also gotten them stuck) are removed. This can be scary and generally clients will struggle mightily at first without those crutches. A therapist knows that this is the work of therapy. They are prepared for this struggle and they work with their clients to manage these pangs of change in a healthy and productive way. The therapist has faith, having gone through this process with clients before, that they will emerge on the other side in a better place than prior to making the change. Without this individual who can hold the faith in getting to that place, it is common for people to remain stuck. They run up against the difficulty of making the change and they fall back into their "stuck" ways rather rapidly.
The main job of the therapist is to hold onto this faith when the student has lost all of theirs. A therapist offers this rock-solid faith in the natural healing process that every human being possesses as their birthright. They support their clients, give them skills to manage the anxiety and stress of the change and help them to slowly work toward the goals that were set forth at the beginning of therapy.
All of this is true of a golf instructor as well.
When a person comes for golf lessons, generally speaking there is something major that needs to be changed. When you make a fundamental change, all of the previous adjustments you have made to hit the golf ball will no longer work. For example, when you change the grip, everything changes and the way you swung the club will no longer produce the same result as it did before.
Many tips that amateurs and even a number of pros give are merely band-aids for a problem. They make things better for a short time but they do not address the fundamental issue that is at the base of things.
I do not believe in quick fixes or putting band-aids on major wounds in a golf game. If you are looking for that, please find another instructor to work with you. My training is in helping people make fundamental changes to their golf games and their lives and supporting them through the challenges and difficulty of making those changes.
Any change worth making is worth the struggle to make the change. I have gone through this process enough myself and worked with enough people making these fundamental changes to have developed my own faith in the process of change.
There have been a number of times that my students have come up to me after a few lessons and said something to the effect of, "It is really tempting for me to go back to the old swing right now". When I first started teaching, this kind of statement would freak me out. I would think to myself, "Oh no! I have messed them up. I don't know what I'm doing, etc." However, after this initial wave of freaking out had passed, I mustered enough belief that what I was teaching them was the right path that I was able to forge forward with them in the new direction, despite these initial doubts. After doing this hundreds of times, I began to develop a stronger and stronger belief in what I was teaching.
Hundreds of successful attempts at something will do wonders for your ability to have faith in anything.
With many years of practice, I believe my skill at holding faith in the long-term success of making fundamental changes has become one of my highest skills. My clients reap the benefit of this work I have done in that they can have their moments of doubting the change they are making and I am able to take that in stride and know that it is just part of making a significant and important change in golf....and in life.
When you make a change in golf... and in life, it takes work and you may actually get worse or struggle more initially than you did before you made the change. In our modern-day world, that is fast-paced and generally encourages us to find quick fixes for our problems, these initial setbacks can unconsciously encourage us to get "stuck" in our current strategies in what we are doing. For a lot of us, it is just easier to deal with the lackluster results of things than invest in the cure for what ails us.
My training as a therapist introduced me to the concept of "it gets worse before it gets better". When people come to therapy, they are generally needing help to get "unstuck". Their strategies for dealing with the challenges in life are no longer working and they need guidance on how they can unlock this energy, allowing their abilities to be healthy, balanced and centered that they were born with to be unblocked.
At first, when you work with someone on unblocking things, the crutches that have served them to get by (which have also gotten them stuck) are removed. This can be scary and generally clients will struggle mightily at first without those crutches. A therapist knows that this is the work of therapy. They are prepared for this struggle and they work with their clients to manage these pangs of change in a healthy and productive way. The therapist has faith, having gone through this process with clients before, that they will emerge on the other side in a better place than prior to making the change. Without this individual who can hold the faith in getting to that place, it is common for people to remain stuck. They run up against the difficulty of making the change and they fall back into their "stuck" ways rather rapidly.
The main job of the therapist is to hold onto this faith when the student has lost all of theirs. A therapist offers this rock-solid faith in the natural healing process that every human being possesses as their birthright. They support their clients, give them skills to manage the anxiety and stress of the change and help them to slowly work toward the goals that were set forth at the beginning of therapy.
All of this is true of a golf instructor as well.
When a person comes for golf lessons, generally speaking there is something major that needs to be changed. When you make a fundamental change, all of the previous adjustments you have made to hit the golf ball will no longer work. For example, when you change the grip, everything changes and the way you swung the club will no longer produce the same result as it did before.
Many tips that amateurs and even a number of pros give are merely band-aids for a problem. They make things better for a short time but they do not address the fundamental issue that is at the base of things.
I do not believe in quick fixes or putting band-aids on major wounds in a golf game. If you are looking for that, please find another instructor to work with you. My training is in helping people make fundamental changes to their golf games and their lives and supporting them through the challenges and difficulty of making those changes.
Any change worth making is worth the struggle to make the change. I have gone through this process enough myself and worked with enough people making these fundamental changes to have developed my own faith in the process of change.
There have been a number of times that my students have come up to me after a few lessons and said something to the effect of, "It is really tempting for me to go back to the old swing right now". When I first started teaching, this kind of statement would freak me out. I would think to myself, "Oh no! I have messed them up. I don't know what I'm doing, etc." However, after this initial wave of freaking out had passed, I mustered enough belief that what I was teaching them was the right path that I was able to forge forward with them in the new direction, despite these initial doubts. After doing this hundreds of times, I began to develop a stronger and stronger belief in what I was teaching.
Hundreds of successful attempts at something will do wonders for your ability to have faith in anything.
With many years of practice, I believe my skill at holding faith in the long-term success of making fundamental changes has become one of my highest skills. My clients reap the benefit of this work I have done in that they can have their moments of doubting the change they are making and I am able to take that in stride and know that it is just part of making a significant and important change in golf....and in life.
Friday, May 10, 2013
*GOLF INSTRUCTION SCHEDULE UPDATE*
I
am very excited to announce that I will be working with 3-time PGA
winner Kenny Knox at The Maine Golf and Tennis Academy in Belgrade, ME
this summer (June-August).
Kenny Knox holds records on the PGA Tour for fewest putts for 9 holes (8), fewest putts for 18 holes (18) and fewest putts for 72 holes (93). I am thrilled to have the chance to work with a short game wizard like Kenny.
The Maine Golf and Tennis Academy is the Sports Illustrated #1 ranked golf camp in America! They offer a full driving range, a 5-hole par 3 course on site, a short game practice area with bunkers and putting green and the best in video instruction equipment. In addition, campers will have access to Belgrade Lakes Golf Course, one of the best golf courses in all of Maine.
If you have a young person who is passionate about golf and would be excited about working with Kenny and myself, along with the opportunity to become friends with young people from around the world with a similar passion for the game of golf, contact me for further details.
Steven Miller, M.A.
presentmomentgolf@gmail.com
(303) 551-5924
www.presentmomentgolf.com
Kenny Knox holds records on the PGA Tour for fewest putts for 9 holes (8), fewest putts for 18 holes (18) and fewest putts for 72 holes (93). I am thrilled to have the chance to work with a short game wizard like Kenny.
The Maine Golf and Tennis Academy is the Sports Illustrated #1 ranked golf camp in America! They offer a full driving range, a 5-hole par 3 course on site, a short game practice area with bunkers and putting green and the best in video instruction equipment. In addition, campers will have access to Belgrade Lakes Golf Course, one of the best golf courses in all of Maine.
If you have a young person who is passionate about golf and would be excited about working with Kenny and myself, along with the opportunity to become friends with young people from around the world with a similar passion for the game of golf, contact me for further details.
Steven Miller, M.A.
presentmomentgolf@gmail.com
(303) 551-5924 www.presentmomentgolf.com
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Let Go and Let God
I learned pretty early on that the harder I tried to force the issue to do well, the worse I did at the game of golf...and in life in general.
In golf, when you try to make something happen, our conscious mind conceives of this in a "life or death" kind of way. Muscles get tight and we try to steer the result. This is a diabolical combination in the golf swing.
Think of it this way, when we are actually in a life and death situation, our nervous system kicks in and we think in terms of straight lines and getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible to avoid whatever potential catastrophe we are involved in. Our mind becomes very linear in its thought patterns and the body responds with tight, jerky actions to propel you in a straight line as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there is nothing straight about the game of golf.
Golf is played on angles and is all about circular rotation. We bend over at our hips and with our knees, the club is angled compared to our arms and we have to turn our body completely away from our intended target to hit it straight. Basically, golf is a game that constantly holds a mirror up to any controlling instinct we have.
I believe this is true in life as well. How often do we overreact to the situation in front of us? How often is our nervous system reacting to banal circumstances as if we are fearing for our lives? How often to we attempt to "will" a result and fight against all that is happening around us instead of going with the natural flow of life and seizing opportunities as they present themselves?
I believe that it is in staying relaxed and positive in our mind and body that allows optimal performance in golf and in life. Instead of trying to "will" things forcefully to happen, we would be better served to hold our positive intentions for our golf game and our lives calmly in our minds and seize every opportunity that presents itself in the direction of our vision. Not with the panic of a "life and death" situation but with a trusting faith that there is a higher power that is guiding the results in the optimal direction.
Stop and consider this for a second. How much energy is wasted in our lives in the constant worrying and planning for an upcoming disaster? How often does that disaster actually come? If you look back on your life, how often does the result seem to just take care of itself when you are in a happy and centered place?
I am very much a Doubting Thomas and always have been in my life. I like to have proof of something before I blindly show faith in any person, idea or principle. So, I do not know what the force in the universe is that causes things to unfold in this way, but I am clear that there is such a force and it has been shown to me over and over again in my own life experience.
When I get centered in on what is important to my soul (the deeper, trusting, highest version of myself) the priorities and path of my life are much clearer to me. The more I stay centered in this "soul center" I begin to notice the daily opportunities that present themselves that are in alignment with my path. Although I may work hard, it does not seem like hard work because I am seizing opportunities that the universe is naturally presenting me with. I take action and I move in the path of least resistance toward my soul's desire.
Golf, with its angles, necessity to turn away and let go of the target, and its overall highly challenging nature, provides an opportunity to practice letting go in these "moments of truth". After some time playing the game, it will surely serve as a mirror to our abilities to let go and let God.
In golf, when you try to make something happen, our conscious mind conceives of this in a "life or death" kind of way. Muscles get tight and we try to steer the result. This is a diabolical combination in the golf swing.
Think of it this way, when we are actually in a life and death situation, our nervous system kicks in and we think in terms of straight lines and getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible to avoid whatever potential catastrophe we are involved in. Our mind becomes very linear in its thought patterns and the body responds with tight, jerky actions to propel you in a straight line as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there is nothing straight about the game of golf.
Golf is played on angles and is all about circular rotation. We bend over at our hips and with our knees, the club is angled compared to our arms and we have to turn our body completely away from our intended target to hit it straight. Basically, golf is a game that constantly holds a mirror up to any controlling instinct we have.
I believe this is true in life as well. How often do we overreact to the situation in front of us? How often is our nervous system reacting to banal circumstances as if we are fearing for our lives? How often to we attempt to "will" a result and fight against all that is happening around us instead of going with the natural flow of life and seizing opportunities as they present themselves?
I believe that it is in staying relaxed and positive in our mind and body that allows optimal performance in golf and in life. Instead of trying to "will" things forcefully to happen, we would be better served to hold our positive intentions for our golf game and our lives calmly in our minds and seize every opportunity that presents itself in the direction of our vision. Not with the panic of a "life and death" situation but with a trusting faith that there is a higher power that is guiding the results in the optimal direction.
Stop and consider this for a second. How much energy is wasted in our lives in the constant worrying and planning for an upcoming disaster? How often does that disaster actually come? If you look back on your life, how often does the result seem to just take care of itself when you are in a happy and centered place?
I am very much a Doubting Thomas and always have been in my life. I like to have proof of something before I blindly show faith in any person, idea or principle. So, I do not know what the force in the universe is that causes things to unfold in this way, but I am clear that there is such a force and it has been shown to me over and over again in my own life experience.
When I get centered in on what is important to my soul (the deeper, trusting, highest version of myself) the priorities and path of my life are much clearer to me. The more I stay centered in this "soul center" I begin to notice the daily opportunities that present themselves that are in alignment with my path. Although I may work hard, it does not seem like hard work because I am seizing opportunities that the universe is naturally presenting me with. I take action and I move in the path of least resistance toward my soul's desire.
Golf, with its angles, necessity to turn away and let go of the target, and its overall highly challenging nature, provides an opportunity to practice letting go in these "moments of truth". After some time playing the game, it will surely serve as a mirror to our abilities to let go and let God.
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