If you want to improve your game then it is not only your physical fitness that counts, you should also have the right mindset. Those people who want to get better at playing golf need to be able to deal with the mental challenge of clearly focusing on what you are trying to achieve. This is true of most sports, when a player loses their mental focus then their game deteriorates, no matter how fit they are. If you want to play golf then you have to teach yourself to focus and concentrate on the job in hand, the minute your concentration slips you will find yourself losing control of the game.

Just think about the top high ranking golfers for a minute, have you ever wondered how they consistently get longer drives and good shots? The secret is in their mental attitude, they refuse to allow thoughts of failure to interfere with their game, for them it is all about winning. Some golfers engage the services of a personal coach to help them develop a positive mental attitude and the ability to ignore any of the other things that might interfere with their game.

Developing the right mental attitudes when you are playing golf is an essential part of becoming a good golfer and improving your game. Taking control of your breathing is one way of becoming a better player, take a deep breath and then breathe out slowly – when you do this you will feel the tension go out of your body and this will impact on the type of shot that you take. Taking control of your thinking can reduce your handicap by half in a very short time – just think of the results you might achieve if you were always in the frame of mind that produces a good swing and drive.

Many new golfers don’t realize how important their mental attitude is to improving their game. They do everything that their instructor tells them, including a good golfing fitness program, but they still have a high handicap and not enough control over their swing. One of the problems that new golfers face is that their mind is on other things when they take their swing. Instead of concentrating on what they want to achieve in their game many new golfers worry about the way they are holding their clubs or the fact that they are being watched by a group of people. Mental training helps golfers to rise above these things and to improve their game.

If your in the senior golf category it gets even tougher. Fatigue and forgetfulness set in and can result in several blow up holes later in the round. Focusing on your mental training can definitely improve this situation, but it does take a concerted effort on your part.

If you are really keen on improving your swing and drive and reducing your handicap then you should make mental golf training as much a part of your routine as your fitness training.

In my work with athletes from many different sports representations there are some universal principles that apply to all sports. Some of the sports represented were amateur and national competitor figure skaters, gymnasts, tennis players, track and field contestants, amateur and professional hockey players, Olympic skiers, equestrians, golfers, swimmers and divers. The pressure and stress that comes with any competitive sport can result in the undoing of whatever technical ability and even longevity of experience that an athlete might possess. The pressure and stress of competition interferes with the mental and emotional controls necessary in order to compete satisfactorily. It can create an aura that makes the athlete lose track of the “game plan” that needs to be upheld in order to compete…in order to win.
The problem is no different for each and every competitive sport whether an individual sport such as tennis or figure skating or team sports such as hockey, baseball or football. The process of these factors interfering in an athlete’s performance is the same in all of them. If the competitor cannot control the manner in which they THINK, FEEL and ACT on the field of competition, something has to suffer. Essentially, the need to focus is a universal “given” in all sports. Without focus, all of the technical and practice training is for naught. When I watch sports, I try to watch the athlete’s eyes which tell me how capable he/she is to maintain focus in order to execute their roles. There is an element of predictability when and why an athlete loses that sense of control resulting in a missed play. Of course, there isn’t 100% accuracy all of the time and it’s not a gift that I possess. It’s a sense of the feel of an athlete’s performance, thinking processes and focus ability. Is it that predictable? I believe it is…yes. There’s a sense that can be viewed through the athlete’s body language that “tells the story”.
A HOCKEY STORY:
I remember working with the Buffalo Sabres Hockey Team. There were about eleven players who were being considered by their Coach of either being “benched” or traded if their play did not show improvement. I met with the whole team in the dressing room and explained who I was and what I proposed to accomplish. We agreed that I would be able to work with the group of players both as a group as well as individuals. It was also agreed that I would to be able to observe the team in play from the Press Box.
In working with the players we went into several different aspects of what I call the Mental Side of their game. Their anxiety and fears around the possibility of their being “benched” resulting in problems focusing, the effects of their plight on their families, doubting their abilities, having lost the joy of having a “feel for the game”, thinking about what they were doing too much vs. their “instinctive play” were just some of the issues that were discussed. I trained them to use deep relaxation before every practice and game as well as some techniques to use on their way home after games or practices so that their relationships with their families would not be jeopardized. I worked with them primarily as a group and some players were seen individually over the period of twelve weeks.
One of the main characteristic features that was noted that tended to influence their play was a lack of passion and having fun for the game. They were able to move into a deep relaxed state and to “re-live” their playing “pond hockey” as kids. I wanted them to bring back all of the “good feelings” that the memory of those times held in order for them to re-experience that same sense of having fun. My contention is that “the greatest learning we experience is when we don’t know we’re learning and when we’re having fun©”. Overall, my observations showed that there was a significant improvement in their attitudes, play and general performance which was substantiated by their Coach.
THE STORY OF AN EQUESTRIAN:
An equestrian in her mid-twenties approached me after having spent a great deal of money on technical training lessons to improve her riding because she was not placing as well in competitions as she or her coach believed she should. Upon talking with her and getting both personal and athletic histories, it became clear that her expectations of herself were creating considerable anxiety which she was being transferred to her horse resulting in disruptions in what otherwise needed to be a natural flow of movement in order to perform with excellence in the ring. This pointed up the principle that an athlete’s mental state…in this case her anxiety level…can affect our bodies and even be transferred to others with whom we have contact. In this case it was a horse but I have evidenced the same thing occurring between humans as well.
After several sessions with her around teaching her how to use relaxation techniques which we designed just for her, in ten competitions, she placed first in seven and second in three of them. In addition to the success she experienced in the performance of her sport, she began to train herself to maintain more reasonable expectations of herself in living her life. She had attained more than she had hope for.
A “MANLY” GOLFER’S GRIP:
A competitive golfer came to me after spending considerable time taking lessons for a problem she was having with her putter in her inability to improve that part of her game. The problem was assessed by her professional coach as being in her grip resulting in buying new clubs, new grips and changing her putting grip. I asked her to shake my hand and her grip was very firm…much like a man’s. I chastised her and said that she needed to be more “lady-like” and gentle. Naturally, she was insulted but I needed to get her attention because she was still on the track of needing more lessons and equipment. In talking with her I sensed that she enjoyed taking risks and was a bit of a “daredevil” as well as someone who needed to be in control all of the time.
Once her attention was gained, I told her that I wanted her to give me a putting lesson on her home course. She thought this to be strange but complied because she was curious as to what to expect and, certainly, she wasn’t going to let me “win”. In the lesson, she worked with my stance, head position, “reading” the green and, finally, my grip. I intentionally gripped the putter with a “death grip”. I told her that this grip always tended to insure that I was going to succeed. She asked me to loosen it but I continued to ease up just a bit each time. She ended by chastising me indicating that I wasn’t receptive to a necessary change. Clearly, she was very frustrated with me. I said that I was frustrated as well and asked that she show me how to do it. I set up five golf balls at different locations and distances from the cup and told her that I would watch while she stroked each of them into the cup.
She started off gripping her club tightly as she usually did but, because she knew that I was watching intently and wouldn’t be put into a position of losing control, she began to relax so that by the fifth ball her grip, stroke, etc. was very relaxed. She missed three of the first five puts but interestingly holed the last two balls as her grip became naturally relaxed. She gave a big grin when she finished and said, begrudgingly, “OK, I get the message”. We did some more work in the office around the use of relaxation techniques previous to her putting. Later on in the season, she wrote me a note of thanks indicating that she will always remember me and that the techniques I taught her worked consistently.

Do you ever suspect that you’re sitting in the driver’s seat of a high performance brain, but unfortunately it came without an owner’s manual? You’re certainly not alone; most of us have the unshakable feeling that we are inherently capable of “much more” if only we could get our brains in gear! Folk wisdom has always alluded to how little of our brains we use, but until recent ground breaking scientific discoveries we had no way of really knowing. The first neurologist to scientifically observe, “The brain indicates its powers are endless” was Australian Neurology Nobel Laureate Sir John Eccles. (Lecture: University of Colorado, July 31, 1974.) Today Neuroscience has discovered more about the brain in the last decade than in all the years of previous human history combined, and the implications of the latest research are clear — the human brain is far more powerful, with the potential for immensely greater intelligence and higher achievement, than was ever before imagined. British Pediatrics Professor, John Lorber, did autopsies on hydrocephalics, an illness that causes all but the 1/6th inch layer of brain tissue to be dissolved by acidic spinal fluid. He tested the IQ’s of patients before and during the disease and his findings showed that IQ remained constant up to death. Although over 90% of brain tissue was destroyed by the disease, it had no impact on what we consider to be normal intelligence. Russian Neurosurgeon Alexandre Luria showed, by performing ablation experiments, that one third of our frontal lobes are dormant. His method was to give physiological and psychological tests prior to surgery, remove parts and whole frontal lobes, the re-test afterwards. His conclusion: removal of part or all of frontal lobes causes no major change in brain function, (however with some change in mood alteration). (Luria, A.R. “Frontal Lobes and the Regulation of Behavior.” Psychophysiology of the Frontal Lobes. 1973) Finally, the human brain contains roughly 10 billion neurons, mostly in the outer layer of brain cortex. The function of these currently dominant brain-cells is fairly clear, but the brain also contains 120 billion glial cells. Aside from some secondary care and feeding of neurons, the primary function of the glia brain-cells is not clear. What miraculous discovery awaits mankind within these mysteries? The wisdom of the persistent urban legend that says “we only use 10% our our brains, at best” has taken on an added dimension. John Eccles remarks on this saying he thinks that number is too high, after all “How can we calculate a percentage of infinity?” The art and science of training our minds to tap into its greater potential is not new. Buddhism, for example, is an entire way of life based on the training of the mind. And in more modern times, mind training has become so widespead, that the same could be said for Olympic Athletes, or Professional Golfers, or Financial Market Traders, etc., where mind training is also an entire way of life. However, given the inspiring advances in neuroscience, a vast shift in Mind Training has begun to happen, taking on new more personal dimensions and touching our lives in very direct and immediate ways. It is as though each new scientific discovery gives us our own personal key to unlocking our mind’s greater potential. Personal mind training instruction abounds on every facet of personal development imaginable — health, wealth, happiness, relationships, physical fitness, income, sexual satisfaction, communication, just to name a few. And sprinting in the lead is Professional Mind Training with its many diverse areas, such as: Neurofeedback Brain Hemisphere Syncronization Bi-neural Stimulation Autogenic Training The Mozart Effect Kinesiology Brain Food Neurolingistic Programming Enriched Environment Neural Training Biofeedback in all its numerous forms Brainwave Entrainment in its many forms and the list goes on and on! Along with these types of technologically cutting edge mind training, ancient consciousness altering techniques are being retooled into such modern mind training modalities as Mind Altering Breathwork (Yoga), Vibrational Mind Medicine (Tibetan singing bowls), Sound Therapy (Mantras, Drum Beating, Chanting, etc). Even the more familiar, but still misunderstood, Self Hypnosis is experiencing a vast resurgance of popularity. All of this is making mind training one of today’s most exciting and rapidly expanding fields. But the results it is generating in terms of ever and ever greater human achievements is even more astounding. World sports records are now routinely being broken with each Olympic event. Sir Roger Bannister’s breaking of the 4 minute mile world record in 1954, a human threshold which was at the time believed to be impossible or at the very least ruinous to a runner’s health, is distant history now. Many runners have since beaten it and by the end of the century the one mile world record was 3:33.13 minutes. In a span of 93 years, 14 different athletes have been recognized as “the world’s fastest man” as world records fell one after another, but records fell lower after 1990 which is when coaching is acknowledged to have begun to include serious mind training. Additionally, the more wide ranging records in the Guinness book of World Records are also now being broken with regularity. Even the book itself keeps breaking its own records, as the longest running best-selling copyrighted series of all-time! Mind training has earned its stripes and as Victor Hugo said, “No army can withstand the power of an idea whose time has come.” Add to that John Eccles voice reminding us, “The brain indicates its powers are endless”, and the future of developing human potential — our personal greatness — has never looked more limitless!

What does it take to have “the perfect game?” Every athlete of any sport knows what those three words mean, and they may spend their entire career trying to have that one flawless performance. Many young athletes have trouble with consistency in sports performances, and have no clue why. They may come into the season in great shape, possessing the well-refined skills that there sport requires, having a solid game plan intact, having eaten well and getting antiquate sleep all week, but still having inconsistency during competition. What is the missing ingredient? The answer lies within the skull. Sports psychology is one of the most overlooked and underrated aspects of sports performances. Many psychological factors, such as memory, focus, arousal level, anxiety and stress can drastically effect a sports performance.    Attention in Sport    According to William James, attention is “the taking possession by mind in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneous possible objects or trains of thought.” (Huang & Lynch, 1992)   Memory can be held in one of three basic systems. The sensory regular system holds large amounts of information for a short period of time. Long-term memory holds smaller amounts of information for a long period of time, and the short-term memory system is the crossroad between the two. (Cox, 1998) To put these in perspective, the long-term memory would hold a skill, such as dribbling a basketball. The short-term memory would hold the scouting report of the opposing team. The sensory regular system would be responsible for in game awareness, such as the tempo of the game and adjusting to opposing player’s strengths.   Athletes must respond in some way to their environmental situation. The larger the amount of information being conveyed makes a situation more difficult to respond to. However, through careful analysis, the difficulty of a situation can be reduced. (Cox, 1998) For example, lets compare two baseball players with equal talent. Player A has done his homework on his upcoming opponent. He knows that the pitcher he will be facing is a lefty who loves to throw a fastball that reaches 85 mph. He also throws in a changeup at 70 mph and a splitter that breaks to the left. Player B shows up to the game having no knowledge on his opponent. The amount of information that player A will have to take in while batting is considerably less than player B. Naturally, he will have a higher rate of success, for he has a better idea of what to expect.   Information content can also be reduced with skill level. The more refined an athlete’s skill is in a game situation, the less information he or she must account for. (Cox, 1998)    Anxiety    Anxiety is another contributing factor in a sports performance. There are two basic types of anxiety that apply: somatic and cognitive state anxiety. Somatic anxiety is the physical component of anxiety. It is the butterflies in the stomach feeling before a game. A certain degree of somatic anxiety is perfectly healthy.   Cognitive anxiety on the other hand, can be costly. It is the mental component of anxiety that causes feelings of worry, self-doubt and loss of self-esteem.   Before a sports performance, certain levels of both anxiety types are to be expected, increasing in intensity as the event draws closer. During the performance, intensity should change. Somatic anxiety is best in the middle; levels that are too high or too low can hurt a performance. Cognitive anxiety can prove to be more costly at higher levels.    Arousal    Of course, each athlete perceives anxiety differently. The athlete must work to find his or her own optimal level of arousal. (Cox, 1994)   Arousal refers to the degree of activation of the organs and mechanisms that are under control of the body’s autonomic nervous system. More specifically, the sympathetic nervous system is primarily responsible for the changes in bodily functions associated with arousal. This system is activated by stimuli from the environment that are perceived as threatening.   Arousal level has a direct effect on attentional narrowing. Increased arousal has a narrowing effect on attention. Sports that require a broad focus must have lower levels of arousal. Oppositely, decreased arousal has a broadening effect on attention; therefore sports that require a narrow focus must have higher levels of arousal.   Finding the right level of focus depends on the sport being played or action being carried out. (Cox, 1998) If one has too low an arousal level, the may be easily distracted by things that do not apply to the game. If arousal level is too high, the athlete may be too focused on one aspect of the game, and will forget other important aspects. For example, a golfer may worry too much about hitting the ball hard that he forgets his mechanics, and hooks the ball far to the left.   Selective attention is another important characteristic of a successful athlete. Having the ability to weed out unnecessary information and focus on tasks in demand is a skill that can be learned. It is helpful to understand this concept with the focus chart. Imagine two perpendicular lines. At the ends of the vertical line lies external focus and internal focus. At the ends of the horizontal line lies broad focus and narrow focus. (Hatfield, 2004) As mentioned before, different sports require different levels of focus, and even within a sport, different positions may require different levels of focus. A quarterback would need to broaden focus in order to scan the field and see all of his receivers. A cornerback (defensive player who’s primary responsibility is to cover receivers) would have a narrow focus. A quarterback with too narrow a focus may throw a ball without seeing the defender in position to intercept the pass. A corner with too broad a focus would be susceptible to loosing sight of his man, and give up a big play. Finding the right balance of broad/narrow and internal/external focus for a particular assignment in a sport is key to success.   After suffering a setback during a game, it is important for the athlete to keep from loosing focus. Refocusing after a miscue, bad call, or any distraction can be the difference between a good player and a champion. First, one must displace the negative thoughts with positive ones. Second, they should center attention internally, and make minor adjustments in arousal level. Then, one must shift focus externally on the task at hand. At this point, the athlete has hopefully forgotten the distraction and is ready to execute. (Loehr, 1994)   Mental toughness is a term thrown around expendably by youth coaches and PE teachers. The fact is that acquiring the components of mental toughness is necessary to become a great athlete. Toughness can be understood by four categories. First, an athlete must be emotionally flexible. He/she must have the ability to roll with the unexpected emotional turns in a sporting event. The athlete must be emotionally responsive, being able to keep game awareness under pressure. The athlete must be emotionally strong, having the ability to exert and resist great force and keep striving for victory under pressure. Lastly, the athlete must be emotionally resilient, by bouncing back quickly from mistakes. These abilities can be learned. The best way to improve as an athlete is to recognize weaknesses, and practice correcting them. (Loehr, 1994)   The balance of stress and recovery are another component that affects an athlete. In our terms, stress is anything that takes energy, and recovery is anything that restores energy. There are three types: physical, mental and emotional. Stress can be from running, jumping and moving (physical), focusing, problem solving and thinking (mental) or anger, fear, depression and frustration (emotional). Recovery can be eating, drinking and sleeping (mental), decreasing focus and increasing fantasy and creativity (mental), or relief, positive feelings, fun and self-esteem (emotional). All three types of stress are interconnected. Excess in one area can affect all three. (Hatfield, 2004) This is why a balance is needed between stress and recovery. An athlete must push him/herself in order to grow in all three areas, but must also allow time for adequate recovery.    Reaching the Zone    Reaching the zone, which is also referred to as “flow,” is the most rewarding feeling for an athlete. There are several defining characteristics. First, it requires the ability to perform all necessary skills for a specific sport simultaneously. Second, there must be a merging of action and awareness. Third, goals must be clearly defined, which basically means knowing the sport and the game plan. Next, the athlete must receive clear feedback from coaches and teammates. Then, there must be a sense of control without trying. There will be a loss of self-awareness, as well as a loss of time awareness. The end result is referred to as an autotelic experience, a self-contained activity done simply because the activity itself is the reward. (Cox.1998)   It is in the zone that optimal levels of performance can be experienced. If an athlete can attain and maintain this state, the perfect game may be in his/her hands.    My Personal Journey     For me, the mental aspect of sports has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride. Naturally being a highly competitive individual, I learned early on that I was destined to be a jock. In my younger years, my extreme competitiveness and aggressiveness was a double-edged sword. I often fouled out of basketball games, and even got into a few scuffles during soccer games. My temper would rage when the ball was not bouncing my way.   Eventually I learned to curve my temper, and I found a sport that fit my personality, football. At first I was unaware of the psychological aspects of the sports. During games, it all seemed the same to me. The only thing I knew is that I would do anything to win. It was the mental preparation aspect that always troubled me. After a few seasons, I decided that I needed to obtain a certain mental state before the game to optimize my performance. Right before we hit the field, I would think about all of the things that angered me, and would work myself up to a state of rage. Sometimes this strategy would benefit (when it did, it was short lasting), and other times I would play out of control.   It wasn’t until my senior year of football that I really began to focus on mental strategies. Before each game, I needed to reach the most gratifying mental state: the zone. My body would feel loose and powerful. I would react without thinking about moving. I would have an intense focus on the task at hand. Lastly, my emotions would be under control, but ready to explode at any minute, in other words, a controlled rage.   Through trial and error, I found that there were a few things that I could do to reach the zone. The morning of the game, I would be sure to wake up with a little bit of anger. Throughout the day I would carry an edgy demeanor. I would avoid having conversations with people, and would stay relatively low key. As the game approached, I would gradually focus my thoughts. I would visualize myself doing my assignments. When we hit the locker room, I would find a quiet corner and listen to music. During warm-ups my focus would shift to my body. I ensured that every joint and muscle was as prepared as possible for the battle ahead. During the game, my mind would naturally focus solely on the game. I noticed that my pre-game anxiousness would usually subside after the opening kickoff. I would keep myself focused mainly on my assignment, but was always conscious of the game time, down and distance, and what the opposing team was doing. I can vividly remember many altercations I had with teammates and opposing players, but I would could completely lose consciousness of external events.   Looking back, I cannot remember ever hearing the crowd, the band or the announcer. During the game I was usually very critical of my performance. I would usually talk to myself, referring to myself in third person. If I did something good, I would yell out “ that a baby, that’s the way you play.” I would also yell at myself if I made a mistake. A few times I got into trouble with referees for yelling out profanities. I would also yell at myself if I felt lax, or if I felt I was losing focus. After big games, I could remember being emotionally drained. A few times I could not even put together sentences because of the amount of physical and emotional stress I had endured. Looking back, I now realize that most of the emotional stress was self-inflicted.   After researching this topic, I have come to realize that I had many weaknesses in my psychological approach to sports. My main struggle had to do with dealing with failure. I had always considered myself a mentally tough athlete, but according to the definition, I am not completely resilient. I was never good at forgetting a mistake. Instead, I would become angry, and my arousal level would become so high that I would sometimes focus on causing physical harm to my opponent, and lose sight of my assignment. Fortunately this strategy worked a few times, for I would become more physically imposing than usual, but other times it got me into trouble.   I also wish I had understood the concept of arousal level. I always thought that the more fired up I was, that the better I would perform. Looking back, I can recall a few instances in which my intense focus led to disaster. In a game against our cross-town rivals, I became extremely aroused after having made a big hit. The next play I was so focused on stopping another run play, that I forgot about the receiver I was covering, and he caught a ball over my head for a first down. If I had broadened my focus, it would have been an easy stop. Overall, I can relate my experience fairly closely to the material I have researched. I had never thought about game mentality in terms of something that could be studied. However, reading through the concepts was an enlightening experience; many of my theories had been confirmed, and the reason for many of my struggles became clear.   The contents of this essay described several aspects of sports psychology. Topics included memory as it relates to athletic performance, anxiety types and intensity of anxiety, arousal levels and focus, the benefit of selective attention, refocusing, defining mental toughness, balancing stress and recovery, defining components of “the zone,” and lastly my personal experience with the mental aspects of sports. Like any other scientific field, sports psychology is ever changing. What may hold true today is susceptible to revision at any time. What is without question, however, is the impact that mental state and emotion can have on an athlete’s performance.

Author:  Andrew Fogg

So what is this golf mind and unconscious golf stuff that I’m always writing and talking about? And how does it actually work? These are questions I occasionally get asked by more sceptical golfers. Thankfully the vast majority of people I talk to either accept my explanations or trust me based on the results they’ve seen other people achieve.   Hypnosis tends to be experienced in many different ways with different [people and what works in one session with a client may not work as well, if at all, the following week. That means that golf psychologists and hypnotherapists have to be flexible in their approach to every client session. It also means that it’s difficult if not impossible to analyse and document hypnosis and hypnotic technique scientifically. For some people that means that hypnosis doesn’t exist and that it’s dangerous because it can’t be explained.   Now I’ve often explained the unconscious mind as the source of our autonomous or instinctive actions. I illustrate this with stories about how difficult it was to consciously learn to drive, tie your shoelaces or a bow or ride a bike and how at some point it just becomes an automatic process that we don’t have to think about.   Before starting on a long car journey, most drivers spend a little time planning their journey. They consider the merits of different routes, taking into consideration factors like road works, whether they prefer to drive on main roads, the impact of rush-hour traffic and many other factors including the weather. Once they start driving, most of these people drive safely while settling down to conscious pursuits like talking to their passengers, working out the personal and business problems in their mind or just daydreaming. Their unconscious mind keeps them safe and follows all the techniques and processes they learned years ago. How often have you drivers been on a long familiar journey and suddenly just seemed to “wake up” thinking, “How did I get here?” It can be quite worrying the first time it happens, but your unconscious mind has protected you along the way.   If a top golfer described a similar experience, we’d be inclined to think they were “in the zone” or, as Tony Jacklin famously referred to it after his major wins in the early 70s, in a “cocoon of concentration.” Years later, Nick Faldo talked about getting into a trance-like state, he called it a “cocoon”, during the week of a major. He went on to describe it as “a state of oblivion where I shut out all the people on and off the course.”   So, like the driver I described earlier consciously plans the journey in advance, the golfer consciously plans his shot taking into account all the information available, including his lie, how he’s playing today, the weather and wind conditions, the distance, the landing area and his chosen target. He completes his conscious preparation and then transitions to his unconscious mind by recalling a similar shot and vividly imagining the experience of hitting by stepping into his stance and trusting his unconscious mind to hit the ball. Put differently, the golfer is “in the zone” or in a “cocoon of concentration”, a trance-like state of oblivion. That sounds good to me!