Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [70]
With your eyes closed or blindfolded, have someone hand you a club selected randomly. Swing the club and identify which one it is. Repeat with other clubs. Do this until you can identify any club without looking at it. Becoming keenly aware of the differences in the heft of each of your clubs will make it easier for you to adjust your basic swing from shot to shot.
Emotional Awareness
You probably know that emotions affect muscle tension, and therefore are closely linked to your golf swing. Emotional states can either facilitate or disrupt your game. Anger at yourself after making a poor shot, for example, usually increases muscle tension in your hands and wrists, causing you to grab the club in a death grip. Muscle tension can also affect swing tempo. In both cases the quality of a shot is affected. The following exercises will help you to increase your emotional awareness.
Each time you become aware of a strong emotion on the golf course, scan your body to identify the specific physical sensations that accompany it. For example, clenched fists suggest anger, butterflies in the stomach usually means fear, and tightness in the leg muscles could mean frustration. Notice the most intense sensations related to each emotional state and how that tension affects the quality of your golf shots.
Experiment with increasing and then decreasing tension in the muscles associated with a particular emotion identified in the previous exercise. Is there any change in your emotional state? Again notice how it affects your golf shots.
When an emotion—for instance, anger, frustration, worry, or fear—becomes too strong on the course, decrease tension in the muscles associated with the emotion, look upward and make an internal image of a pleasant scene. Is there is a reduction in emotional intensity? Do your shots improve?
This appendix is a ready reference and guide to selecting appropriate metaskills techniques to achieve various outcomes. It contains two parts: (1) an alphabetical listing of the techniques and the purposes they serve; and (2) an alphabetical listing of common outcomes and the techniques that can be used to achieve them.
To secure detailed information about each technique refer to the page references in parentheses. The index may also be used to locate anecdotes related to the various techniques.
Techniques and the Purposes They Serve
Anchoring (this page, this page)
Improve memory.
Stabilize a state of consciousness.
Change a state of consciousness quickly.
Apply inner resources.
Improve concentration.
Increase confidence.
Increase energy.
Facilitate unconscious control of performance.
Increase consistency of performance.
Stabilize swing effort
Backup Process (this page, this page)
Identify outcomes.
Prepare for tournaments.
Analyze setup and swing.
Body Scanning (this page)
Increase awareness of emotional states.
Increase awareness of swing effort.
Increase ability to analyze swing mechanics.
Facilitate use of Uptime Anchor.
Facilitate use of Discovering Difference.
Colored-Image Anchor (this page)
Maintain consistency of performance.
Stabilize emotional state.
Competitive-State Anchor (this page, this page)
Control anxiety during competition.
Maintain an optimum competitive state.
Prepare for a forthcoming tournament.
Counting Process (this page)
Regulate swing tempo.
Cross-over Training (this page)
Improve capacity to make internal images.
Increase sensitivity to bodily sensations.
Increase sensitivity to swing effort.
Increase sensitivity to sound.
Improve capacity to become aware of internal dialogue.
Improve capacity to read greens.
Improve club selection.
Discovering Difference (this page, this page)
Reduce confusion.
Increase consistency of performance.
Identify significant setup and swing keys.
Effort Control (this page, this page)
Identify and control the amount of swing effort.
Improve club selection.