What's in a zone?
“Zone” needs a bright light aimed at it. Is it a special “place,” “aura,” mental state, attitude, environment, condition, or some other anomaly of experience?
The word is commonly laced with the context of “floating through” activity with the greatest of ease, as in “Air Jordan.”
To an extent that's not far from true. But myths connected to the mysterious character of the word “zone” are, at best, confusing, maybe even confounding. Those who ruminate about zones keep searching, seldom finding, and wondering why they can't.
The myth is not whether there is such a thing, but in the fallout from attempts by sports figures (including the psychologists) to describe something that is obviously not clearly understood.
First off, there are two prominent zones (maybe more), not just one. The one most talked about is an exceptional, extraordinary, mysterious, almost “ghostly” happenstance. It comes upon a person, unawares, and in its own time. It cannot be commanded (as many are led or encouraged to think). It can only be welcomed when it happens. It is so elusive that it is doubtful that anyone can provide either its etiology, its time-frames, or its parameters. It just happens.
The other zone, which hardly ever gets mentioned is present for everyone of us all the time. It is so commonplace that we only notice it if it is called to our attention with “face-slapping” emphasis. We use it from the time we get out of bed in the morning, till we fall asleep again at night. The sad part is that it has been available for golf since the day each of us was born, yet hardly anyone utilizes it for the game.
We use it unfailingly in all of our common daily rounds and tasks. The only times we don't use it is when we face an action or task that is so unfamiliar that we have to think about what we are doing while we do it. The rest of our world allows us to go about doing anything that is familiar while we think of something else – and that's exactly what we do – think of something else. But not our golf! There we just have to keep our minds on our swings – or the target, both of which force a “fatal attraction.”
Here's the way it works. Mother Nature gives all of us a head start on virtually everything by making it possible to use a “short-hand” (short-cut) for most all our usual tasks. If we had to think about the mechanics of brushing our teeth, we might not make it to breakfast. If the guys stopped to consider the rhythm and flow of a safety razor, they might cut themselves. If the gals hesitated to think about their makeup, they wouldn't be able to put in on while driving 50 mph down the highway to work. If we had to consider how to hold and manipulate a fork, we might stab ourselves in the eye or up the nose.
Now, remember that a lot of us have hit enough golf balls to rival the use of razors, utensils, lipstick, and anything else of such nature, but not many feel they can do as well with a club as with a toothbrush. Fact is, indeed we can and a number of players have done it and continue to do it. And that doesn't count Clay Smith, who kicked the 40 yard field goal for 250 grand at the Peach Bowl this year and he did it exactly as I am describing. Here's the news link.
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/columnstoryS0207BROWNCOL.htm
How does one do all those things? Easy. We long since have developed habits for the daily “task list” and that frees us from having to think about what we are doing while we do it. (If it's unfamiliar, however, we don't have a habit so we have to rely on skill, and for skill we have to think about what we are doing while we do it). And there lies the rub.
Without laboring the issue, just consider this. When you are brushing, driving, clothing, eating, etc, you are in the commonplace, everyday zone. The point, then, is this. Take all the myths and toss them aside. Start with skill and then develop habits so you don't have to think about your swing when you play. Develop them well. Then, with a finished product you'll need to think about something, but stay away from thinking about the action while you are engaged in the act. Why? Because the body and the mind (which is NEVER without thought) don't work at the same speed, so that lack of synchronization is an open invitation to more anxiety than you can shake a stick at. That's the root of more misses than any failure in the ability to swing. Mess in your head, and you mess in your hands. Guaranteed.
So where's the myth? Largely in the notion that, with enough help from things like hypnosis, mind toughening, and will power, one can get in to “the zone.” If you listen to the right tapes, and do the right exercises, eat the right foods, strengthen your body and practice enough with your swing and zen-type things, you can get to “the zone.” While those sound good, notice that the context is missing. They may say “What,” but don't really tell you “How.”
Clearly, since not many get there and even those that do are only there very rarely, all of us must be doing something “wrong,” Right? It ought to be crystal clear that if all the promises related to getting to the zone that are made to golfers via advertising were really true, we'd all have made it long ago. It's not that we haven't bought the aids, equipment, instruction, books, tapes and magazines.
Fact: the only zone we need for golf is already present in every player who has ever made a backswing. We only need to know how the principle works – the automatic principle, that is. And that takes another chapter. No magic, just the real deal, as it relates to how easy it is to get to the zone.
“Zone” needs a bright light aimed at it. Is it a special “place,” “aura,” mental state, attitude, environment, condition, or some other anomaly of experience?
The word is commonly laced with the context of “floating through” activity with the greatest of ease, as in “Air Jordan.”
To an extent that's not far from true. But myths connected to the mysterious character of the word “zone” are, at best, confusing, maybe even confounding. Those who ruminate about zones keep searching, seldom finding, and wondering why they can't.
The myth is not whether there is such a thing, but in the fallout from attempts by sports figures (including the psychologists) to describe something that is obviously not clearly understood.
First off, there are two prominent zones (maybe more), not just one. The one most talked about is an exceptional, extraordinary, mysterious, almost “ghostly” happenstance. It comes upon a person, unawares, and in its own time. It cannot be commanded (as many are led or encouraged to think). It can only be welcomed when it happens. It is so elusive that it is doubtful that anyone can provide either its etiology, its time-frames, or its parameters. It just happens.
The other zone, which hardly ever gets mentioned is present for everyone of us all the time. It is so commonplace that we only notice it if it is called to our attention with “face-slapping” emphasis. We use it from the time we get out of bed in the morning, till we fall asleep again at night. The sad part is that it has been available for golf since the day each of us was born, yet hardly anyone utilizes it for the game.
We use it unfailingly in all of our common daily rounds and tasks. The only times we don't use it is when we face an action or task that is so unfamiliar that we have to think about what we are doing while we do it. The rest of our world allows us to go about doing anything that is familiar while we think of something else – and that's exactly what we do – think of something else. But not our golf! There we just have to keep our minds on our swings – or the target, both of which force a “fatal attraction.”
Here's the way it works. Mother Nature gives all of us a head start on virtually everything by making it possible to use a “short-hand” (short-cut) for most all our usual tasks. If we had to think about the mechanics of brushing our teeth, we might not make it to breakfast. If the guys stopped to consider the rhythm and flow of a safety razor, they might cut themselves. If the gals hesitated to think about their makeup, they wouldn't be able to put in on while driving 50 mph down the highway to work. If we had to consider how to hold and manipulate a fork, we might stab ourselves in the eye or up the nose.
Now, remember that a lot of us have hit enough golf balls to rival the use of razors, utensils, lipstick, and anything else of such nature, but not many feel they can do as well with a club as with a toothbrush. Fact is, indeed we can and a number of players have done it and continue to do it. And that doesn't count Clay Smith, who kicked the 40 yard field goal for 250 grand at the Peach Bowl this year and he did it exactly as I am describing. Here's the news link.
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/columnstoryS0207BROWNCOL.htm
How does one do all those things? Easy. We long since have developed habits for the daily “task list” and that frees us from having to think about what we are doing while we do it. (If it's unfamiliar, however, we don't have a habit so we have to rely on skill, and for skill we have to think about what we are doing while we do it). And there lies the rub.
Without laboring the issue, just consider this. When you are brushing, driving, clothing, eating, etc, you are in the commonplace, everyday zone. The point, then, is this. Take all the myths and toss them aside. Start with skill and then develop habits so you don't have to think about your swing when you play. Develop them well. Then, with a finished product you'll need to think about something, but stay away from thinking about the action while you are engaged in the act. Why? Because the body and the mind (which is NEVER without thought) don't work at the same speed, so that lack of synchronization is an open invitation to more anxiety than you can shake a stick at. That's the root of more misses than any failure in the ability to swing. Mess in your head, and you mess in your hands. Guaranteed.
So where's the myth? Largely in the notion that, with enough help from things like hypnosis, mind toughening, and will power, one can get in to “the zone.” If you listen to the right tapes, and do the right exercises, eat the right foods, strengthen your body and practice enough with your swing and zen-type things, you can get to “the zone.” While those sound good, notice that the context is missing. They may say “What,” but don't really tell you “How.”
Clearly, since not many get there and even those that do are only there very rarely, all of us must be doing something “wrong,” Right? It ought to be crystal clear that if all the promises related to getting to the zone that are made to golfers via advertising were really true, we'd all have made it long ago. It's not that we haven't bought the aids, equipment, instruction, books, tapes and magazines.
Fact: the only zone we need for golf is already present in every player who has ever made a backswing. We only need to know how the principle works – the automatic principle, that is. And that takes another chapter. No magic, just the real deal, as it relates to how easy it is to get to the zone.
