Golf Flow

experience that fragments our thinking or fails to capture our full attention creates a splintered, atrophied state of mind that is the exact opposite of flow. This is consistent with John Dewey’s famous observation that “there is no greater enemy of effective thinking than divided interest.” Whatever the task is, it has to capture your attention and bring positive feelings.
    When I use Matt Kuchar as a common example of a golfer who gets it and who therefore often gets into flow, a common reaction is this: “Well, how hard can it be to love golf—especially when you’re playing for million-dollar purses every week?” This reaction misses the point entirely and flies in the face of abundant research that shows the diminishing effect of external rewards on motivation and performance. The reality is that succeeding at Matt’s level of play requires so much time, commitment, sacrifice, and dedication that external rewards, in the absence of love for the game itself, would never produce the type of golf that Matt produces week in and week out on the PGA Tour.
    The more acquainted you become with the game, the more you realize how frustrating it can be for many people. Golf often begins as a love affair between the person and the game. How many of us, in our youth, would stay on the golf course or driving range until dusk or dark, often hitting balls into the blackness of the night and looking for them with a flashlight? When I was in my early teens my friends and I spent many evenings playing golf at night. We’d hit the ball and say, “That one felt like a push.” We’d go look for it with a flashlight, prepacked in our bags in anticipation that we’d be unable to drag ourselves off the course at dusk. I know many golfers who fell hard for the game at a young age and couldn’t get enough of it
    This love affair eventually turns bittersweet as we enter periods of high effort without seeing any improvement (the game turns on all of us at times). We find ourselves in the dreaded slump, which often devolves quickly into hating the thought of ever playing golf again. How golfers respond to this phase of development powerfully shapes their future development. In this regard a philosophical approach to the game can be helpful.
    While mired in the midst of his slump in 2003, Steve Stricker commented, “This game is so fickle. You can just find it from one tee to the next or lose it from one tee to the next, so you’ve got to keep plugging away and keep working at it.” As his game progressed and he began playing better, he reflected, “I think it’s the nature of the game, and that’s what I’ve come to realize.”

For Better and Worse
    Over the years that I’ve been working with golfers, I’ve heard more than my share of stories of golfers breaking golf clubs, throwing their clubs into a lake, and vowing to quit the game altogether.
    Frustration is part of the game. The fact is that you can work relentlessly to improve your game, but you will not progress at a predictable, steady pace, nor will you ever fully master the game and be able to perform perfectly in every outing.
    The frustration that plagues recreational players is not lost on the best players in the world. As we discussed in chapter 8, the best players probably got there not because they don’t ever play poorly or get frustrated, but because they absorb those experiences better than others do. Think of how you feel after a missed putt or a drive that sails out of bounds. Now imagine having those feelings thousands of times, week in and week out. Compound that with week after week of airports, rental cars, hotels, blown leads, missed cuts, chokes, snipes, and slumps. All told, living the life of a professional golfer can be weary, dreary, and exhausting.
    Yet some players stick it out, embrace the highs and lows of the game, and enjoy great success.
    Matt Kuchar’s mind-set buffers him from developing a negative attitude. In 2010 Matt offered some insight into how he thinks about the game:
I love the game. I love playing golf. I love practicing. I love everything about it. I love having chances. And even when the chances don’t go your way, I think it makes you tougher, makes you stronger. If you don’t get beaten up by it, if you keep on stepping forward, all those close calls, they’re going to make you better for opportunities in the future. It’s fun. I have a great time out here. I have my family traveling. I’ve got a great