It's 90% Mental!
So goes the “battle cry!” And of course, we all know that almost nobody spends that kind of time working on the mental game. It is doubtful that one could find a single player even giving as much as 5% of his/her time to exercising the mental game.
Beyond an occasional glance in that direction, not much effort is put into it at all. If you need “proof” of that, just notice the questions and responses from those who have posted on forums and the claims from those who have websites devoted to the subject. Without malice in the observation, it is clear that a very large proportion of what is said on the subject is either missing a lot of critical information or has been hypothesized from false or opinion based premises. Where the premise is faulty, the result is apt to follow suit...unless luck intervenes.
And then there is persistent confusion between what is actually mental and what is emotional and how those two “critters” relate to each other to form a complete picture. There are, after all, four dimensions to consider: thinking, feeling, acting and striving.
The most of what we hear and see comes from the many who think they have hold of the hub of the wheel when they are really grasping only a spoke in the wheel. It is an exception, concerning the mental game, to find those who are not pinched by the walls of “their own boxes.”
Why? Because on this one, we are always dealing with a non-discriminatory system. That reality is inescapable, so it must be fully considered and integrated into any measurement (evaluation) system a person uses. Problem is that most folks have a “blind spot” at the mention of the word “non-discriminatory.” It makes no difference what domain, arena, spotlight, concern, task or measure one wishes to undertake. It is crucial to make use of all available information in order to create balance in thinking and acting, without discounting either feeling or striving.
What can be said with validity is this. Anyone who wishes to excel (take it to its highest possible level) at anything involving action needs to find balance between what goes into the physical motion and what goes into the accompanying thought process. Whether balance means 100/100, 50/50, 10/90 or 90/10 in percentages, no one will ever excel consistently in an action unless those two dimensions are brought together soundly. The rather sad reality is that “excel” is a measure that has been largely sold short since “mediocrity” is more likely to show as a standard than is excellence. Oh, there is plenty of rhetoric, but the striving factor does not match it.
As for the 90% factor, that appears to have been a metaphor that has grown from nondescript guesswork. The “guess” is that there probably is more to human activity than motor drive. Of course, don't say that too loudly to golfers, since most are busy getting everything in it's correct position, building “muscle memory” and investigating the latest highly touted equipment and/or training aids.
It is not surprising that the trends tend to suppress good mental work. Since most people got “big” (from the little person they once were) without much attention to the mental side of things, except as a series of cognitive exercises in school, it's no wonder that most simply skip that part of development. It's never really been seen as important – except in one form or another of lip service.
The commentators talk as though they know all about the mental game and since the listening public really has no means to measure the value of what they say, it all comes through unscreened, with belief systems and opinions leading the way. Very few are there who can tell the difference between the real thing and a shadow.
One thing is sure. There is no part of the game that is untouched by what goes on in our minds. If a player's thinking is mismanaged, the game will only succeed, at its max, by accident or default. So maybe whoever said it had the right idea: “The game is 90% mental and the other 10% is in your mind.”
“If you keep on thinking what you always thought, you'll keep on doing what you always did. And if you keep on doing what you always did, you'll keep on getting what you always got.”
So goes the “battle cry!” And of course, we all know that almost nobody spends that kind of time working on the mental game. It is doubtful that one could find a single player even giving as much as 5% of his/her time to exercising the mental game.
Beyond an occasional glance in that direction, not much effort is put into it at all. If you need “proof” of that, just notice the questions and responses from those who have posted on forums and the claims from those who have websites devoted to the subject. Without malice in the observation, it is clear that a very large proportion of what is said on the subject is either missing a lot of critical information or has been hypothesized from false or opinion based premises. Where the premise is faulty, the result is apt to follow suit...unless luck intervenes.
And then there is persistent confusion between what is actually mental and what is emotional and how those two “critters” relate to each other to form a complete picture. There are, after all, four dimensions to consider: thinking, feeling, acting and striving.
The most of what we hear and see comes from the many who think they have hold of the hub of the wheel when they are really grasping only a spoke in the wheel. It is an exception, concerning the mental game, to find those who are not pinched by the walls of “their own boxes.”
Why? Because on this one, we are always dealing with a non-discriminatory system. That reality is inescapable, so it must be fully considered and integrated into any measurement (evaluation) system a person uses. Problem is that most folks have a “blind spot” at the mention of the word “non-discriminatory.” It makes no difference what domain, arena, spotlight, concern, task or measure one wishes to undertake. It is crucial to make use of all available information in order to create balance in thinking and acting, without discounting either feeling or striving.
What can be said with validity is this. Anyone who wishes to excel (take it to its highest possible level) at anything involving action needs to find balance between what goes into the physical motion and what goes into the accompanying thought process. Whether balance means 100/100, 50/50, 10/90 or 90/10 in percentages, no one will ever excel consistently in an action unless those two dimensions are brought together soundly. The rather sad reality is that “excel” is a measure that has been largely sold short since “mediocrity” is more likely to show as a standard than is excellence. Oh, there is plenty of rhetoric, but the striving factor does not match it.
As for the 90% factor, that appears to have been a metaphor that has grown from nondescript guesswork. The “guess” is that there probably is more to human activity than motor drive. Of course, don't say that too loudly to golfers, since most are busy getting everything in it's correct position, building “muscle memory” and investigating the latest highly touted equipment and/or training aids.
It is not surprising that the trends tend to suppress good mental work. Since most people got “big” (from the little person they once were) without much attention to the mental side of things, except as a series of cognitive exercises in school, it's no wonder that most simply skip that part of development. It's never really been seen as important – except in one form or another of lip service.
The commentators talk as though they know all about the mental game and since the listening public really has no means to measure the value of what they say, it all comes through unscreened, with belief systems and opinions leading the way. Very few are there who can tell the difference between the real thing and a shadow.
One thing is sure. There is no part of the game that is untouched by what goes on in our minds. If a player's thinking is mismanaged, the game will only succeed, at its max, by accident or default. So maybe whoever said it had the right idea: “The game is 90% mental and the other 10% is in your mind.”
“If you keep on thinking what you always thought, you'll keep on doing what you always did. And if you keep on doing what you always did, you'll keep on getting what you always got.”