Golf and Meditation –
“Non-Thinking” is
The Key To Better Golf
Golf and meditation? It might seem like a strange combination when you first see it, but a little bit of investigating will show how meditation can make a huge difference to your game.
You’ve probably read in golf magazines things like, “Golf is 90% mental”. Well, I don’t know how you can put an accurate figure on it, but it’s obvious to anyone that from the moment you start trying to hit a ball when you’re learning the game, to the point when you’re actually playing on-course, what happens in your head plays a huge part in the outcome.
Being calm on the inside helps you play relaxed golf – even when the pressure is on!
Typically we play better golf when we are more serene on the inside – having less tension in your body can instantly make you a better putter, and if you can sustain inner focus and stay in the moment over a number of rounds you are on your way to more enjoyable golf and a lower handicap.
Golf Range – Stop Fixing, Start Enjoying
I hate visiting golf ranges. They are probably some of the most soul-destroying places in the golfing world. Typically when I’m there I see people fighting themselves, desperately trying to find something, fix something, and beating themselves up internally. The atmosphere at these places is normally tense, there is no sense of relaxation or pleasure.
Who learns well when they are tense and beating themselves up? Nobody I know! That’s just one example of where you may need to make a change if you are to allow yourself to progress.
On the course it’s no different!
The number of times when I have been playing and saw golfers begin to slip down the drain in their own mind is frightening. The negative talk begins, the pressure mounts, the swearing starts, all pleasure is lost, and the round collapses into purgatory (or sometimes even hell!).
Golf and Meditation – Benefits
This is where meditation helps. The techniques I teach on the Golf In The Moment class help free you from the clutches of these internal voices and repeating patterns. They don’t do this by having you replace bad thinking with good thinking. No, what they do is help you access a space of non-thinking.
That might sound a bit strange, but it’s something you do already. Do you think about where your feet are when you walk? Nope. Do you think about your finger positions as you write? Probably not. Do you think about the fork whilst you eat? I didn’t think so.
The fact is, if you were thinking about any of these things then the actions would become mechanical and less efficient. Do you see where I’m going with this? Yes, the golf swing.
I can guarantee that your best golf shots were the ones when you were relaxed and not thinking about swing-mechanics or other details. You’ve probably even played with someone who was trying for a good score, and then when their card was filling up with high numbers they stopped trying and miraculously they began playing amazing golf.
Golf and Meditation – Going With The Flow
Meditation helps you access this fluid state on the golf course and in the other areas of your life. The techniques I teach can be used in two ways – the traditional method where you sit in a comfy chair and close your eyes for 20 minutes and practice it, and also you can use them whilst engaged in activity (on the golf course, with your family, at work, anywhere). They are simple and practical, and you may find that they are the missing components to taking your golf game to the next level.
Golf and meditation? Who would have thought it?
For meditation instruction worldwide please visit TheBrightPath.com