Golf Flow

cluttering 10,200 bits of information!
    How does this influence a brain that is designed, at any given moment, to effectively process seven bits of information (this fact, discovered by scientist in the early part of the twentieth century, is the reason phone numbers have seven-digits)? When you stand over a golf ball, what should you be thinking? What does the brain actually
do
with all the information it has accumulated? The answer depends on the individual, but for a large portion of the population, all that information essentially becomes cognitive gridlock, clogging your brain the way that cholesterol clogs an artery, or too many sheets of paper jam a paper shredder. Too much thinking makes your brain more inefficient, makes you less decisive, and generally distracts you from the simple task of hitting a ball at a target.
    Consider this: I have never had a golfer come to me looking for help because he or she was thinking too little, and no one has ever contacted me with the complaint of “there are not enough thoughts running through my mind.” Nearly all the golfers who have ever sought my advice have done so because, in one aspect of the game or another, they were having too many thoughts. In an atmosphere of contradicting swing theories, magazines offering hundreds of conflicting tips, and even varieties of grass ranging from Bent, to Bermuda, Kentucky Bluegrass, and Zoysia, golfers are bombarded with sensory and intellectual information. All of this affects interpretations, stress levels, and mood, and the emotional toll is enough to overwhelm even the sharpest of minds and to destabilize the purest of talents.
    Playing golf in flow is all about doing the simple things required for a golfer to stay out of his own mind, stay out of his own way, and simply hit shots to targets. Consequently, in this book I share with you what cutting-edge research tells us about the flow state and its impact on golfers of all levels, from the high handicapper to the PGA Tour golfer. Fortunately, research suggests that flow is universal (with very few exceptions, everyone can experience flow). My ultimate goal is for you to simplify and refine your thinking so that you can channel your skills and knowledge into simple, effective, repeatable processes that lead to winning golf.
    My quest to understand flow, and to apply that understanding, has spanned an entire stage of my life, accompanying me through marriage and the birth of a son, and it has introduced me to a group of athletes with whom I have shared many personal and professional milestones. Learning about flow has not only made me a better golfer, it has provided me with a framework and a perspective that has markedly improved the quality of my life. I hope that this book will bring you the same sense of enthusiasm and excitement that I feel when listening to people describe their flow states and helping my clients get into flow. I also hope that by helping you understand flow, the book not only gives you a clearer view of the game and opens up new ways to improve your play, but also provides some insights that will help you to live a more meaningful and more fulfilling life.

Part I
The Golf Flow Experience
    Peak experiences provide a window into an alternate universe that we visit beyond the covenants of our normal lives and, bound by nothing, are able to sample the energized freedom of our potential. The high that we feel when we are in peak states is like the high that accompanies a moment of courage or important self-discovery. Peak states flood us with the type of joy that teenagers feel behind the wheel of a car as they master the basics of driving or that first-time parents feel when they hold a newborn baby. Athletic endeavors offer myriad opportunities to perform beyond the norm and unleash untapped potential. The common theme of all such experiences is the overwhelmingly positive feelings that emerge from the sense of personal growth and the potential for this breakthrough accomplishment to help us to achieve even greater things in the future.
    Researchers studying these peak experiences have found that people consistently use the word
flow
to describe them. Furthermore, they reported feeling no sense of doubt, fear, or distraction; they were completely immersed in the moment.
    The past quarter century has brought about a remarkable amount of research on flow states. Two key findings from this research have revolutionary implications for the sports world and