Golf Flow

Intrinsic motivation and love for the game fuel the long journey to expert performance in golf. More important, and more relevant to this book, they also set the stage for flow.
    Flow is an active process. Rarely if ever will a golfer get into flow while simply sitting in the clubhouse before a round. It is through active engagement, consistent challenge, and total focus that flow blossoms. We will talk in this section about what the Japanese call
kaizen
—the process of continual, escalating self-challenge. Engaging challenges that force people to push themselves galvanize the factors that often lead to flow.
    Golf is said to be the game for a lifetime. Unlike sports such as football or wakeboarding, golf is a sport that you can improve at until your twilight years. In 2012 I was at a PGA Tour event in which 63-year-old Tom Watson competed in the same field as 22-year-old Harris English. Only one of them made the cut, and it wasn’t Harris English. My point is that as we get older, as we gain experience and perspective, we change in ways that affect the way that we play the game. Therefore, at its most fundamental level, great golf over the long term requires that we grow and adapt.
    As you read this section, you will understand why I tell my golfers, “People will call you many things; don’t ever let them call you fragile.” Golfers break down into two camps: those who know how punishing golf can be and those who are going to find out. Improvement in golf rarely follows a straight line. You will have to endure zigzags, twists and turns, good shots paired with bad bounces, and subtle cruelties in the game as you strive to get better. Rather than rail against this fact, successful golfers recognize difficulties as opportunities.
    The final component that you’re going to read about, one that is essential for your mental toolbox, is confidence, or what you will come to know as self-efficacy. Perhaps no psychological construct is more important, or more elusive, than confidence. All golfers know that they won’t get far without it, yet they regularly do things that cause their confidence to deteriorate. We will discuss the sources and effects of confidence, and specific strategies that you can engage to strengthen yours.
    So as you turn the page, prepare to answer the following question: Why do you play golf?

Chapter 5
Skills to Meet Challenges
    When I was growing up, my father used all sorts of sayings and quotations to teach life lessons to my two sisters and me. If I slept in on a Saturday, he would wake me by saying, “You can’t soar with eagles if you hoot with owls.” In advance of school exams or Little League games, he would say, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” When it came to our chores, he said, “Well done is better than well said.” At the time, these always seemed corny to me, but over time I realized their value. I’ve come to appreciate the power of these simple words of wisdom to provide guidance even in complex matters, like the game of golf.
    One saying that Dad repeated many times across various situations was simply, “You get out of it what you put into it.” I’ve found this to be true of my undertakings in life, and it absolutely applies to flow. Getting into flow is not something that happens all by itself. Passivity and laziness will not bring it about. Flow requires that we make regular, active investments in ourselves, in our lives, and in the attitudes that we cultivate about how we play the game of golf. It requires the development and maintenance of a solid skill set and a commitment to seeking out challenging experiences to expand that skill set. The probability of flow increases when solid mental tools are paired with sound physical technique. Because flow states happen when we default to automaticity, it behooves us to develop sound mental and physical habits that we can rely on when we are on the golf course.
    The sport of downhill snow skiing provides the perfect metaphor through which to understand the flow state. Those who ski know that mountain terrain is rated by level of difficulty. A typical mountain has terrain that contains four levels of difficulty that are designated by color and shape of symbol: green circles, blue squares, black diamonds, and double black diamonds. Green slopes, often referred to as bunny slopes, have only a slight vertical incline, whereas double black diamonds are extremely steep and designated for only the most capable