Golf Flow

years ago, Vygotsky was discovering what flow researchers would finalize many years after his death, namely that the sweet spot of learning and performance requires enough challenge to stimulate the brain to pay attention but not so much challenge that the brain shuts down and freezes. In schools, this sweet spot exists where students are challenged at a level just a fraction beyond their capabilities, a level just beyond their mental fingertips that requires them to reach, stretch, and strive.
    Just as mental challenges at a level slightly beyond peoples’ current capabilities stimulate cognitive growth, physical challenges at the same level stimulate physical growth. Those who desire to improve their physical strength often use slightly more weight than they can independently lift. Readers familiar with physical fitness and strength training know exactly what I am talking about: The best way to gain strength is to try to lift more weight than you can, all the while having someone spot you to avoid injury. It is through challenging the muscles that growth occurs. Brain and muscular development follows the same principles involved in aerobic and anaerobic development.
    So vital to the flow state is the challenge–skill correspondence that Csikszentmihalyi called it the golden rule of flow. With that said, at this point it is important to note an important detail regarding the relationship between C–S and the flow state.
    Many challenges are subjective in nature, and in the grey area of subjectivity people actually have a measure of control over whether they get into flow. By framing such situations in an adaptive manner, people can set their own personal level of challenge to correspond with their level of skill. For instance, golfers who want to increase their chances of getting into flow by establishing an effective C–S may set a goal for the day to get into a routine on every single hole, to pick a target on every shot, to par every hole on a challenging golf course, to commit to every shot. That is, they may set their short-term goals as anything that gets and keeps their attention while simultaneously establishing a healthy level of vigor and challenge to stimulate flow.
    I previously noted that people who are able to generate flow states in other areas of life are more likely to generate flow on the golf course. This tendency is related to the way that they view what they are doing as well as the activities that they choose to do. Csikszentmihalyi identified certain activities as being
autotelic
activities, which are activities that we “do for its own sake because to experience it is the main goal” (Csikszentmihalyi 1997). People who spend a lot of time performing self-rewarding activities tend to get into flow frequently.
    People who frequently get into flow fall into two categories. The first consists of people who know themselves well enough to understand which activities bring them flow. After they identify those activities, they hone in on and spend a lot of time doing them. An example would be the high-level surfers I’ve met whose motto is “Live to surf.” This phrase is more than a catchphrase to them; they mean what they say and spend little time thinking about anything but surfing. When good waves are predicted, everything else—jobs, other hobbies, the news—takes a backseat.

To get into flow frequently, golfers must first develop their skills by embracing challenges. Hunter Mahon has been displaying his considerable skills on the tour since 2004.

    Michael Tureski/Icon SMI
    The second category of people who spend a substantial amount of time in flow is made up of those who possess the uncanny ability to become deeply involved with and committed to almost anything they are doing. They don’t need a particular domain, per se, because their minds are so strong that they can use many activities as bridges to flow. These people possess adaptive traits rather than simply adaptive skills. What I mean is that they have learned to bring curiosity, competitiveness, joy, and enthusiasm with them into almost everything that they do. These traits buffer them against the toxic emotions—boredom, apathy, negativity—that plague many others. Indeed, as I’ve mentioned, these are the types of traits that I work to develop with my clients so that they are more fully in flow off the golf course, which makes flow more habitual and easier to generate when they are on the golf course. When at work,