Golf Flow

self-efficacy, it is important to be able to interpret that arousal as adaptive; it is always better to interpret that energy as excited and eager rather than scared or frightened. With that said, you also need to manage the physiology itself by learning to read yourself and by engaging the right tools to stay in the proper state of body and mind. Nicklaus captured these two, the arousal and the soma, nicely when he observed,
I have always gotten nervous at golf. I have played 90 percent of my rounds in major championships with a touch of tremor. There has always been some floppiness in my stomach. Moreover, I have always welcomed those feelings in that, so long as I am playing well enough to have genuine confidence in my game, they will get me up, keep me alert, and prime me for maximum effort (Nicklaus 1997, p. 268).
    In what is famously known as the James-Lange theory of emotions, William James suggested over a century ago that emotions follow, rather than precede, physiological reactions to events. James provided the example of a man walking through the woods and seeing a grizzly bear. His physiological reaction is to tremble at the sight. His heart races, and he begins to sweat. The man then interprets these physiological reactions and concludes that he is afraid.
    Modern brain research validates the direct relationship, through neural circuitry, between specific brain regions and certain parts of the face. For example, asking a stroke victim to smile often produces a lopsided grin such that the muscles in only half of the face are actually firing. Telling the same person a funny joke produces a full-faced smile. The reason for the different reactions is that trying to smile registers in the thinking part of the brain, the cortex, whereas finding something funny registers in the limbic area. The part of the brain that is engaged determines which part of the face responds.
    The opposite is also true—the physical action can stimulate the brain and the emotions. Studies show that holding a smile on one’s face produces feelings of happiness. Conversely, holding a frown can change a person’s affect to sadness.
    We know now that a reciprocal relationship exists, such that thinking can change our behavior, and changing behavior can change how we think and feel.
    What this means to you is that the time-honored admonition to “act like a champion” is well-founded, because it is likely that doing so will help you look and feel, and therefore perform, like one.
    Sport psychologist Bob Rotella once observed that confident golf consists of “playing with your eyes,” alluding to the fact that when athletes are confident most are simply zeroing in on their objective and letting their bodies react without thinking too much about the mechanics of their action. Similarly, people who are in flow have a determined, focused look on their faces and a quiet look in their eyes. When you study athletes in flow, as I have for years, you see clearly that flow does indeed have a distinctive look.
    I’ve personally seen athletes transform before my very eyes and go from casual conversation to total concentration in a flash. Ben Hogan once said that his round of golf began the moment that he put his hand on the locker room door. When he gripped the handle or knob, he found his focus, fell into rhythm and concentration, and kept it until the final putt dropped on the 18th green.
    You can’t control everything in your environment, but you can do things to mitigate its influence. Although we will focus on controlling your body, you need to be able to control what features of your environment you focus on. As I’ve indicated previously, because scores in a golf tournament are erratic, they tend to bring about an erratic state of mind and an erratic nervous system. In 1957, while still a young man striving to develop his ability to regulate his internal constitution, Jack Nicklaus qualified for the U.S. Open. After starting 3-under through three holes, he saw his name on the leaderboard, and he proceeded to shoot 80-80 to miss the cut. This is an example of a golfer who couldn’t control his environment but could have controlled which features of the environment he paid attention to. Fortunately, Jack learned this valuable lesson and henceforth focused not on the score or the field, but on the golf course itself.
    The ability to maintain composure under intense pressure is the hallmark of a champion. Maintaining composure has both