Golf Flow

responsibilities ease up, do you fill in your spare time by being lazy or working toward your goals? Indeed, when you really dial in to how to use time effectively, you realize that each moment of each day counts and that you can keep moving in the direction of your goals even when you can only steal little windows of time throughout the day. Sleep habits, diet, goal setting, and the company that you keep all contribute to the quality of your life, to the quality of the time that you use, and to the degree to which you can experience flow both on and off the golf course.
    If you want to pattern yourself after most PGA Tour professionals, then get to the golf course an hour and a half before your tee time. Get in a good stretch or even a light workout. Be sure that your strategy is sound and that you have checked and double-checked your equipment. Spend a few minutes getting your game face on before you head to the driving range for your warm-up. You will likely find your warm-up more productive, your rhythm more fluid, and your overall performance better. Most important, you’ll improve your chances for generating flow.

Chapter 18
Practice With a Purpose
    Traveling with the PGA Tour for the past 15 years has allowed me the privilege to engage in conversations with some of the best minds in the game. I have spent time with great swing instructors and coaches like Sean Foley, Mark Blackburn, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Mike LaBauve, Jeff Paton, and the unparalleled Buddy Alexander. I’ve chatted with historically great players, including Toms, Els, Nicklaus, Palmer, Price, Love, and Couples in addition to the stars of this generation. Through my work I’ve also had the chance to exchange ideas with the top psychologists, scientists, and researchers from a variety of domains including neuroscience, medicine, kinesiology, physiology, and, of course, psychology. One of the beautiful things about golf is that many of the greatest minds converge in this one arena—trying to figure out this wonderful game that Sean Foley calls “the beautiful struggle” and that Jack Nicklaus calls “the mystifying, aggravating, wonderful game that had become my life’s work” (Nicklaus 1997, p. 127).
    Perhaps the most interesting and hotly debated topic has to do with efficient practice. Ultimately, the questions have to do with whether there is a right way to practice, whether practice can be a formula, and how much individuality exists across practice. For instance, it is commonly believe that more practice leads to sharper and better skills. Certainly, scientific and colloquial evidence supports this belief. Generally, better golfers tend to be those who work hard and who practice more. But then there are the exceptions to that rule, and some golfers believe that there is such a thing as too much practice. When asked the question about working on his short game, Hall of Famer Fred Couples argued that if he practiced as much as other people, he would get worse. Nicklaus agreed that many golfers weaken their game by hanging around the practice tee too long. During my personal interview with Jack, he quipped, “I see these guys hitting it great and they just stay out there until the sun sets. What are they doing, waiting till they hit a bad one?”
    These opposing views were illustrated during the 2011–2012 season as Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald battled back and forth for the number 1 slot in the world golf rankings. Those who were able to watch it up close could see that they have different approaches to golf and to practice. Rory’s warm-ups are admittedly pretty short. After arriving late to the golf course before his tee time on Sunday of the 2012 Ryder Cup, Rory commented,
My warmup sessions aren’t—if I warm up for 40 minutes, it’s a long time anyway. I warmed up for like 25 minutes before I won the PGA this year, and it doesn’t really—just to get loose, but I’m pretty loose anyway. It was probably a really good thing I didn’t have to think about it too much.
    One could never imagine Luke Donald saying such a thing, and Luke made this observation about the difference in practice habits between them:
Well, I’ve said in the past, I think Rory is one of the most naturally gifted players there is. He just has that look about him—free flowing, hits the ball far, just seems really effortless. I don’t really watch myself play that much, so it’s hard to talk about myself in those terms. I feel like