Golf Flow

that come with public failure. It is because golf is both social and chockfull of setbacks that Jack Nicklaus termed his setbacks in golf
so-called failures
. Setbacks—such as Adam Scott’s second-round 80 in the 2007 Players Championship, Steward Cink’s missed putt at the 2001 U.S. Open, or Woody Austin’s plunge into a lake at the 2007 Presidents Cup—are part of the journey, part of the challenge, and part of the delicate beauty of the game.
    Because always playing well is impossible, understanding the game for what it is rather than for what you might like it to be is of paramount importance. In golf, getting better doesn’t mean an end to problems and challenges; it means only that you are facing different types of problems and challenges. As psychiatrist Theodore Rubin observed about life, “The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” Trying to outrun or outrace the inherent challenges in either golf or life is a waste of time. You are better served by preparing yourself to deal with them effectively.
    The challenges encountered at advanced levels of competitive golf may be different from those at the beginning levels, but they are challenges nonetheless. As you improve your game, you are merely trading one set of challenges for a different, more delicate and refined, and often more tenacious set of challenges. In the early stages of development, your challenges are primarily mechanical as you learn to swing the golf club properly. You correct your slice by hitting more “inside” the golf ball, only to develop a hook, which you eventually correct by “covering” the ball. As you continue to develop, rudimentary mechanical challenges give way to working to become consistent and learning how to play different shots around the greens—learning to “score.” At the advanced level, you trade mechanical challenges and scoring shots for mental and psychological challenges, such as dealing with fear and tension, fighting self doubt, and monitoring and fueling personal motivation. The mental game becomes more important, but learning how to be a complete competitive golfer requires the same dedication, commitment, and love for learning required to develop a sound, consistent golf swing.
    As Aristotle suggested, the greatest battles that we ever win are the battles that we win over ourselves and our inborn tendencies toward fear, self-doubt, indecision, laziness, anger, or impatience. Conquering these tendencies requires us to understand that the hardware in the brain is designed to respond to threats a certain way.

Accept occasional struggles and setbacks and learn to play with the fearlessness Rory McIlroy exhibits.

    Jeff Robinson/Icon SMI
    Thirty-five thousand years of evolution ensure that when perceived threats occur, your amygdala will fire and sound the proverbial alarm. Historically, these threats usually took the form of real danger: fire, violence, pain, aggression. The modern-day golfer doesn’t face those threats, and although our evolved cortex can tell the difference, our overcautious amygdala cannot. To the amygdala, a downhill, 6-foot (2 m), left-to-right putt to decide the match can feel every bit as dreadful and threatening as violence. Hence, overcoming your instinctive response to that alarm requires the ability to step back and to say to yourself, “Wait a minute. I know my stomach feels a little tight. I know I’m feeling a little off. I don’t need to be afraid of what’s happening.”
    Although you may not be able to control the feelings in the heat of the moment, you can control how you choose to handle them. You can decide to select a target, to soften your grip pressure to counter the increased tension levels, to go through your routine, and to trust the golf swing that you’ve spent hours routinizing into habit. Although you may not be able to stop the blood vessels in your hands from constricting, you can train yourself to resist the urge to grip the club tighter and thus be able to make a fearless swing. Being fearless involves a great element of choice!

Improving Your Skills
    In previous chapters I asked you to learn to play mastery golf, to remove mental barriers, to become more aware of your body, to emphasize rhythm, and to craft your environment. All those things have been designed to craft your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors so that you can feel confident in your process