By James Hau
Golf is a great metaphor of life. The incessant quest for the perfect swing still draws people to golf like bees to honey. If you ask a PGA golf professional , what is the common denominator for excellence in golf and most likely there is one master skill underlying the myriad of specialized skills required to excel in the sport of golf. This is called “relaxed concentration” because once you have this master skill, you can use it to improve any skill and without it, it is difficult to learn anything. It is not easy to define or to be taught, but it can be learned and even successfully coached.
I am sure everyone has experienced the state of “relaxed concentration” at one time or another during the moments of peak performance or experience. In this elusive moment of heightened alertness and perception , actions seem to be artlessly excellent and life seems simple and whole.
What is relaxed concentration ? It is basically the ability to focus totally on the game. It is an occurrence whereby commitment, abilities and attention are channeled in a single direction. You become truly free of doubts, fears and confusion and you are truly conscious. If you ask martial artists from the East and West, they know that when one is totally focused, the mind cannot be interrupted by what is called “conscious thinking” and at this moment the most precise action takes place. To quote Eugen ‘s Zen and the Art of Archery , he says “A single conscious thought through the mind diverts the arrow from its course towards the target.” One professor Mihaly from University of Chicago points out that this state has been experienced on the battlefield and in concentration camps, which proves that this state is attainable even during almost unendurable activities and it is presumed then, it might also be possible on the golf course.
Chess players, mountain climbers, race-car drivers, creative problem solvers, dancers, public speakers, even people in love , have given similar description of this elusive state which is highly recommended by them. The intrinsic value is there and it produces amazing results. Everyone intuitively knows that there is no formula or words that can take a student through the door to this valued state of relaxed concentration. A true state of relaxed concentration can be achieved with some degree of effort to focus attention and to prevent oneself from being swept away by habits.
We have all been told countless times to “pay attention to what we are doing” , so we try to concentrate . But if we try too hard because we doubt that we will be able to achieve the desired concentration, then we will be subject to the law of doubt, when in doubt, we tighten up again and then the focus becomes anything but relaxed. So relaxed concentration does not have to be forced.
The first step is to make a disciplined effort to focus your attention . Your attention may want to go into thoughts about how to hit the ball or what will happen if you miss. The purpose is to provide a focus on something specific here and now, away from the interferences of past, future, should or should not and what might have been. The mind that is restless or agitated cannot make a clear contact with reality and we would have a difficult time dealing with the surroundings. Hence the first step in concentration is to quieten the mind. The mind must become interested in its focus and only then can the concentration reach a deeper level. When there is discipline but no interest, it takes so much more effort just to keep the mind still that the concentration is generally superficial and of a short duration. Each individual needs to find his own focus of interest.
A higher level of concentration is what is called absorption. It is a deepening of interest to the point where you begin to lose yourself in what you are attending to. He becomes so absorbed that he cannot be distracted. A golf professional absorbed in addressing an important shot would not hear people near him talking nor be aware of the cameras or his competitors because they are not relevant to his immediate task. This level of concentration is pleasurable as well as conducive to excellence in golf for you literally leave worries, doubts, and troubles behind. The mind is so focused that you cannot hear any doubt knocking at your door. In this state, we experience an intensive contact with reality. Golf balls and holes seem more distinct than usual and action flow with ease even in the midst of extreme exertion. You just seem to know the best thing to do with each change in the situation.
From my experience, there are 3 essential characteristics of relaxed concentration
· Increased awareness or perception
· Strong and undivided desire
· Increased trust in you potential and an absence of self-doubt.
The 3 skills are inter-related and in Inner Game terminology, it means that the golfer learns to trust himself to hit the ball. However the concentration produced by their combinations is only as strong as the weakest link in the 3 characteristics.
The essence of awareness skills is learning to see things as they are, using a non-judgmental view. Awareness never judges like a flawless mirror, this principle is basic to Inner Game understanding. If the game of golf has to do with controlling of a ball and a club with a body, and we know that better control is achieved by increasing awareness, then the priorities for attention are the ball, the club, the body, the course and the target. The course, target and ball (before hitting) are immobile and do not require the greatest concentration of the mind. They should be observed without attributing positive or negative values to them.
Clearly the most important focus for attention in golf is the body and the club. Golf is a game in which the sense of feeling is far more important then the sense of sight. That is why , many blind people , with a little assistance have been able to play excellent golf. So , where do you focus your attention ? It is ok to envision where you want the ball to go, but it is questionable whether you want to envision how to hit it. You may want to feel how you are going to hit it. During the swing, it is the feel and not thought that will control your movements.
Golf is a game where you want to be touchy-feely in relation to your own body and swing. To a large extent , excellence in golf is a function of how aware you are of the sensations of your body during the setup and swing. When you practice relaxed concentration in golf, give full and total attention to the feel of your swing during the 1st few seconds of each and every shot. Control in golf is synonymous with relaxed concentration on how the swing feels shot by shot, in practice and on the course.
Without desire, there is no goal and no action. A golfer has a small desire to shoot his best score ever, another golfer wants to play it safe and not make a fool of himself, another to do only what he has to do to beat Jerry, and a final desire not to break his normal expectations, the actual force and direction of desire brought to bear on a given shot will somehow be the result of these various desires. If your desires are confused, then focus will decrease and will be counter-productive. Ultimately, when all desires are moving in a similar or harmonious direction, full concentration can be achieved.
There are 3 universal goals in golf :-
a) A performance goal to score well and
b) An enjoyment goal to have the best possible experience
c) Learning of things outside of golf like confidence, self-discipline and relaxed concentration
These 3 mutually supporting aspects of golf form the PEL triangle. Always go for enjoyment and learning and its best performance is the natural results.
Trust is the 3rd component of relaxed concentration. Trust is the glue that holds awareness and choice together. It is the leap of faith that allows us to have greater and greater access to the potential that lies within us. Doubt is the greatest disrupter of that access. When that little voice of self-doubt knocks at our door, we invite it for tea and extended conversation. You hit the ball 4 feet past the hole. “ I told you that you will miss, “ it says mockingly
In the face of the most challenging situations , trust allows us to pay attention to priorities and to access the capabilities that we need. Trust is what allows us to learn and to acknowledge that we need to. Trust is the one and only channel that we have to be who we really are , and, as such, it is the only true ticket to enduring enjoyment.
Golf is a game about control. When I give total focus to the movement of my club-head, to the feel of the swing, I have to trust that the ball will be hit, even though I can no longer hear the voice telling me how to do it. Sometimes it is easier to trust when you are not aware. But you cannot learn to swing well without bringing awareness into the swing. So you have to learn to be aware and let go at the same time. This is the heart of the Inner Game experiment and practice. This is the practice of self-trust in golf. It will guarantee that you are not at war with yourself and you will learn to sustained higher level of relaxed concentration. This is the challenge of the Inner Game of Golf.
