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After years of golfing, can say experience of the ZONE has been rare and fleeting. One putt, a few holes at a time, rarely for a round. Sum it up , in words of YODA, 'dont try, DO'

On those rare occasions, visualization happened without conscious thought, External factors : lie, wind, target registered within without effort. The club selected me,

One example. Golfing in South America. I dont speak Spanish and others in my group spoke little English and caddy spoke even less. I asked caddy to keep score and told him, I didnt want to know my score until we finished. I played in the moment until we got to 18th tee and my caddy brought the score card to me and said, 'boss get a par for 78'. You know the rest of the story....dbl bogey. A 78 would have been 5 shots better than handicap at the time.

Whats your experience with the Zone. Maybe we can figure out what it is and how to get there.?

I think they are two ways to get there. One way is to practice so much that your body remembers what to do subconsciously to hit the desired thought. The problem with that is the moment you think about anything other than the next shot you snap out of it. The other, is to know so much about what you are doing you can gain feel by talking the details through and trying to get a conscious feel. The more details you know about the shot the more feel you can gain. Both of them, require a good, solid imagination.

This info I gained playing another game at the highest level. I am finding the same is true for golf.

I would have to take the other side of that option....

To fine the zone you have to have no worries! No swing thoughts and just play golf....


I have been in the zone a few times and each time I was not thinking a thing!!! All I remember is walking over to my bag a nd grabbing a club, no thought if it was the right one or not.... I just hit the shot free flowing with out though of the how's, what's or why's and a miss hit was not a concern because I believed I would birdy out.

Thats was before I found the range and only practiced my short game....

The Zone is a state of "being" devoid of "doing". "Doing" blocks "being". Most only get there by chance, then can't get there again because they figure it was something the "did". "doing" is the code that locks the door to the zone.

One of the charms of golf is that the score is a number and does not require perfection or a single method to achieve the goal. We all think/know we have a chance to achieve within reason regardless of our skill level. At times, the lesser skilled get it in the hole in fewer strokes than more physically skilled.

I am sure I am not alone, in putting, to experience (rarely) when walking to a putt, we see /feel the line, the pace and 'know' its in... and it goes in...,no surprise. A moment of Zen? the Zone?.
Why do some holes, 'fit our eye'. Its the same point A to point B, a certain distance, trajectory, shape. When in the Zone, every shot is simply what it is.

I agree that to be in the Zone, requires a certain level of skill that has been ingrained by past successes, a library of success (confidence). Its easy to say internally, TRUST your ability, you have done it before, but that in itself is a conscious thought. As Eric says, any conscious thought can take us out of IT.

No internal chatter about the lie, the wind, etc only quiet, peace, calmness....and our senses register the environment that pertains to shot at hand, without judgement ...see it, feel it.

Is it possible to build a Maslow type hierarchy of needs to achieve, self actualization(Zone)?

I Controllable:

Preparation: equipment, organization ( have all the necessary stuff, marker, sharpy etc)

Conscious thought: a trigger? key thought? ritual/routine? In those rare times, I recall having a single thought/key.... different each time. As Elk said in recent video, in regards to having won a tournament, you cant go back and duplicate what worked in past. Does the subconscious need something new, fresh to activate it. Does that explain why a new driver does work better than the old, for about 30 days.Is there a 'best before date' on our subconscious?

Is it possible that a single thought/intention/key on a given day unifies the conscious and subconscious.? Unified Theory of Golf ....I better stick with quotes from YODA.

II Uncontrollable(trainable):

subconscious: practice, muscle memory (the MOVE), library of successful of shot making/ playing

imagination: as posted by Eric, more detail our senses take in is better, but it is not a checklist. It just happens.

I used to think Tiger could go into the Zone at will, which explained those miraculous shots/putts to win. its obvious now that if he had it then , it is diminished now..Is he and do we need to build on a hierarchy of needs to get to that place?


As fulfilling as it is to hit much much better golf shots with Martins Move; to play in the Zone at the local muni would be better than without, at Pebble Beach. ( at least that is what I tell myself)
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begs the question:

"TO BE OR NOT TO BE"

Seriously, I do not disagree with you. However am guessing if we ask the obvious the answer is , if you have to ask, you are not in that state of 'being' and the 'in and out' will be by chance.which does seem to be the case.

Is your understanding of being different from conscious and subconscious? possibly merging of the two?
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I think situation is similiar to learning a new language, which I have tried to do unsuccessfully a couple of times. I knew I didnt get it when I had to translate the foreign word back into English(what I knew) in order to get the meaning. When you know , no translation is necessary.

you can not enter the zone from the same level of consciousness that is blocking you from entering it. the definition of that approach is called insanity.

Been in the "zone" & observed others in it. Every instance I was very aware of the goings on outside of me. The hole looked bigger, the flag more defined, the black ground squirrel near the limestone rock. Saw one friend snap out of the zone when a dog grabbed his ball off the green. I would loose it when I thought about my score or how good I was playing. Watch more and think less. It finds you - or you become aware of it.

Attachment to outcomes or expectations are a one way ticket out of the zone

Thanks for the post Brent.

Can you relate the Zone, to descriptions of Peak experiences? I can.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_experience


Peak experiences are transient moments of self-actualization.

(Maslow, 1971, p. 48)

On peak experiences:

Human beings do not realise the extent to which their own sense of defeat prevents them from doing things they could do perfectly well. The peak experience induces the recognition that your own powers are far greater than you imagined them.

Colin Wilson[5]

A somewhat more facetious and ironic viewpoint:

We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible.

Oscar Wilde

[quote="Blake Burleson" post=11872]I would have to take the other side of that option....

To fine the zone you have to have no worries! No swing thoughts and just play golf....


A bit like the swing thought of "learning to let go to give more control"


When I was younger I ruined myself by getting so hung up about the score, I invested so much in it I would invariably ruin the round. I remember one junior championship being -3 after nine, then started to think and expect......you guessed it, came back about +5!!

Now I'm older and while trying to get to as low a handicap as possible. I just try and go with it observe whats happening and be patient, I've learned that sometimes it just comes around eventually in the round... A good short game will always help massively when we're not in the zone tho' maybe thats the best fall back.......

Stuart wrote:

This is wisdom.... I'm on a golfing re-birth, my younger golf was plagued with this kind of round, worst case was shooting a 12 (5 off the tee, 7th shot into the water hazard and 3 putts all together) on the 15th during what was going to be my best ever medal round (I was 4 over after 14).

I'm trying to be wiser this time around, I'm doing cards for handicap at the moment, the first one I started bogey, double, double... rather than thinking it was blown, I just thought to myself I've birdied every hole on this golf course before, there's no reason I can't finish the nine 4 over or better and its all good. Ended up finishing that nine with a 5 over (41), in my younger and less wise days I would have thrown it away. Keeping a level frame of mind is hard though....but wisdom helps a lot.

I am deriving my wisdom from the knowledge that playing golf is a real privilege, I'm time poor with 2 daughters this time around and if it comes to it I can appreciate the game as a nice walk in the sun and decent conversation now.

perhaps i will try to offer something more practical, less esoteric. something you may try to use to enter the zone. a state of being rather than doing. you can practice entering this zone at any time while doing anything.

Embrace death. it is your sole trusted companion. death always delivers. so when you are stepping up to your next shot, know that the absolute wort case scenario is your own death (prior to or during the shot). compared to that outcome, how bad does the water, trees, bunker, shank, etc. look? and its true, you never know if it will be your last shot, because death is just around the corner. how fully into the shot would you be while believing it could truly be your last? would you be tied to the outcome, or just revel in the opportunity to be able to hit one last shot? I can hear dirters now saying, "what an extreme approach". If you can't take it seriously, you are just pretending to want to get into the zone. lie to yourself all you want, its what we generally do best anyhow.

Check out Carey Mumfords work using Clearkeys.

If you read through his stuff you/ll find it makes a heap of sense. Much research has been done in this area, but few, if any, actually offer a 'how' as apposed to just a what/why.

This is not spam, I really believe in this stuff and it has helped me immensely to find a constant usable mind set. Would be very interested in the opinions of those around here.

Darryl - I wouldn't say I experienced what Maslow describes as peak experience. What I think of as the ZONE for me is a succession of moments where things just kind of happend and I didn't try or think about them. I was aware of what was happening but not THINKING about it or trying to stay in the zone. The very moment I thought about it or tried to keep it going it was gone. In golf I've had maybe 5 or 6 holes like that. I read that Raymond Floyd would occasionally see his shots and his swing before he hit in a kind of slow motion. I think constant practice and repetition might help. Thinking and trying does not. Just have to let it happen.

If your playing partner seems to be in the zone all you have to do to get them out of it is to tell them how many under par they are or that they could shoot a career round. I wouldn't do that to anyone - but probably more times that not when the mind starts turning so do the golf shots - left and right. I remember being 5 under after 6 holes one day and actually being kind of scared that I might shoot in the 50's. Think I wound up with a 70. Guess I was more comfortable with a 70.

Awe inspiring beauty of the course, nature, solitude, calm, and opportunity to become integral part of the Whole, may make golf one of the best catalyst for Peak experience.

Peak experience pops up in the course of 18 holes, maybe most of us dont recognize the Peak, but recognizing that something 'awesome' has happened, that we attribute to the game or a particular shot/hole...or Martins move.and improved skill level will result in fewer challenges to take us out of the process..

So our obsession continues....to grow and to enjoy, to embrace life.

Its not important to put a label on everything.

Last summer I played with a guy who started to sink every putt he looked at. Three or four times he started to apologize/explain his normal putting. I told him to shut up and keep playing. I think he sunk another 14 foot putt on 18. I told the guys we had joined up that he had done that all round... he was happy as shit.

Its happened to me so nice to see someone else enjoy. Still wish it was me.

You will never arrive in the Zone by trying consciously to find it, and at the instant you have the thought "I am really in the Zone", you are no longer in the Zone.

It appears when you are emotionally disconnected from results, when you are able to visualize, and trust your physical actions in each moment.

Strip away the mental clutter.

You don't find the Zone, the Zone finds you, and only when you are ready to receive it.

So what do you do when you're not in the zone? How do you deal with anxiety and all the conscious mind games that we tend to thrust upon ourselves?

In the sphere of golf, I think if we are lucky we find SITD, improve our enjoyment of the game and maybe the sharpened focus brings surprises, but regardless,
'take it as it comes'

Whilst I understand the sentiment of let it happen, if we were really like that we wouldn't be here trying to improve our golfing life. We wish to get better, in many ways, not just our swing, but our minds. No reason we can't improve our chances of playing closer to or within a zone of some sort with a little work.

scott tinkler wrote:


I think we can all benefit from practice and improvement and building trust in our motions... and we should do just that.

We should also train the mind to unclutter and change our goals from score to execution of indivdual shots.. While we are playing, if we approach each shot as an opportunity to perform an envisioned physical action, then we can disassociate from trying to achieve the result, and we have a better chance of atually achieving the result. Focusing only in the execution of the shot that you first envision.

Being prepared and ready to receive the zone when it enters you does not have to be a passive endeavor... If we prepare and practice the mental states that allow the zone to find us, I think it will find us more often.

Try this, next time you play, on each shot try to visualize the hole in the sky and path you are going to take on each iron and wood shot. Can you do it on each shot?

This is good right-brain practice for mental preparation.

www.youtube.com/user/sevam1#p/u/10/CQ_4jzUKPFw

Drew,

Thinking about score is not really the issue here. It's attachment of the sense of self to the score that is the issue. Does thinking about your playing partner's score represent an issue? Not usually, because it is attached to your sense of them and not to your sense of self.

You can try to avoid this by not thinking about score, or try to use a bandaid approach and sing mary had a little lamb like Dr. Mumford, or you can simply choose to believe that you are not your score. When you equate the sense of self with your score, you also attach all of your other beliefs about yourself with your score. it's those nasty other beliefs that are tagging along and having your score reflect your beliefs about yourself. If you have any doubts ask Tiger why he is struggling so much. My thoughts are that he will come back better than ever once he accepts who he is now and understands that he is a better person for it.

I agree totally that the zone should be practiced daily in all of your life's endeavors. It's a way of being, not of doing. It'll come more easily on the golf course, if you accept it as your natural state.

After you have tried the hole in the sky visualization for a round, try a different visualization on the next round. Before and during every hsot, pick something that excites you and you love doing (like sex) and hit shots with only that on your mind. Check back in and report which worked better.

Ryan

Great post, Ryan.

Do you think it is the act of judging our "sense of self" and whether we are meeting our self-imposed expectations that leads to barriers to "going low" and also creates the "giving up" reaction, especailly at the beginning of a round when we have scores that are not what we wish?

Is self-judgment (meaning measuring our self against our expectations of self) the gatekeeper of the zone. I think it really is.

Drew,

I think we are getting somewhere now. It took a bit of time to find the right language for us to communicate this adequately.

From my point of view, most people's golf game is a mirror of their sense of self. Any attachment of this form, whether "good" or "bad" will be reflected in your performance and ultimately the score. On a simple level it can be looked at energetically. We tend to perceive that which takes the least energy to perceive. Those who sabotage going low are requiring too much energy to move into the perception that is outside of the normal operating range. Unconfortable and new require more energy to perceive. Conversely, giving-up expends far less energy than continuing to grind it out.

If one just accepts what is as being what is and does not invest in the form of attachment or expectation, this is the most energetically advantageous circumstance.

Ryan