Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [64]
Another golfer who made fundamental changes in his grip and swing found his entire golf game temporarily out of whack. Because he wasn’t playing as well as before, his family life became strained. Conversely, a tour golfer who changed his perspective about how he trained made a dramatic improvement in his game. Instead of dedicating himself to grueling practice sessions he adopted a laid-back attitude. When he was training intensely, his earnings on the tour were almost nil. When he loosened up, he “came back” and won.
These examples demonstrate the importance of paying close attention to the ecology of our lives—the interdependence of our beliefs and behaviors and our environment—whenever we make changes in our behavior, even changes in the way we play golf.
You can determine the ecological soundness of any desired outcome by answering two sets of important questions:
What will achieving a particular outcome do for you? What will be the outcomes of that outcome?
What’s the worst that could happen if you achieve your outcome? Can you think of any reason why achieving the outcome would not be in your best interests?
By answering these questions you will identify the potential positive and negative effects of achieving an outcome before you pursue it. By doing this you will either become more strongly motivated to achieve a desired outcome or realize that its achievement may not be worth the effort. In both cases you’ll save time and energy and avoid potential disappointment and disruption in your life.
Here are the steps to follow to establish ecological outcomes. Knowing them you’ll be ready to select the appropriate metaskills techniques to achieve them.
ESTABLISHING OUTCOMES
Identify a shot that you want to learn or improve. Do this by using the Backup Process to analyze your performance, or consult with your pro.
State your outcome in positive terms. Indicate what you want, not what you don’t want (Principle of Positivity).
Identify and evaluate the potential positive and negative consequences of achieving an outcome before you pursue it. If your evaluation is positive, continue to the next step. If not, go back to step 1 and identify another outcome (Principle of Ecology).
Define your outcome in precise sensory terms, knowing what you will see, hear, and feel when your outcome has been achieved (Principle of Specificity).
Going for It
Like swinging a golf club, using your mind can be complicated. But the proven process of learning the golf swing can be applied to learning how to use your mind. Just pay attention to only one or two keys at a time until they become automatic. Work with only one metaskills technique at a time. Gradually, you’ll learn to swing your mind and your moods so that you can swing the club better from the inside out.
But which metaskills techniques are most appropriate for your specific outcomes? I have prepared an outline with page references in Appendix C. It describes briefly the purposes of each technique and which ones can be used to achieve various outcomes. It serves as a quick reference to help you select the technique most appropriate for the particular outcome you have in mind. Frequently, more than one technique can be used to achieve an outcome; and most techniques can be applied to achieve a number of different outcomes.
I suggest that you approach the use of my techniques in an experimental way. By that I mean, fully commit yourself to following the steps of each technique several times exactly as presented. While doing this notice what happens to your performance. When one technique doesn’t work, use another.
After each practice session and each round of golf, ask yourself the question “What did I learn?” regardless of the results. I really want you to think deeply about what you learn about yourself—your moods, the way you think, the things you value, and the way you