yoga11912

If I gave you a million dollars do you think you may have one or two thoughts about the money? Of course you would. If we were driving very fast along a road perhaps you would have some thoughts about the speed we were travelling? Quite probably. And if you were standing on the tee of a 170 yard par 3 hole with a small lake in front of the green do you think you may have some thoughts about the water? Absolutely!

But what very often happens is that the instant those thoughts appear we become lost in a drama. We act as if there is something wrong with the thought. Perhaps we focus on what we dont want to happen - OK, just keep it out of the water, the voice in our head tells us, so we swing not really sure if we are laying up, going for the green, or focussing on the water. A top, a fat shot or a splash is the likely result.

Or perhaps faced with this shot we try and convince ourselves that the water isnt there, we visualise it as grass or use some other mental trick to try and block out what we see. There is no water we may tell ourselves on one level, but at a deeper level we know it is there, weve seen it, and we are not fully integrated as we swing.

Surely it would be better just to acknowledge reality. See the water, decide what shot you can confidently play (there is no shame in laying up if that is what you know you can comfortably do), fully commit to that shot, and play it.

I used to get a bit anxious when faced with a shot over water. But then I realised I was making this much more significant than it really was. It wasnt so much a water trap, more of a mind trap.

The nervous system sees water and produces a thought about it - thats absolutely normal. What begins to drag us down is when we react to that perfectly normal thought and begin to make a story about it - Oh, oh, maybe Ill use a cheap ball on this hole, just in case I drop it in, or Oh heck, the last time I was here I knocked two balls into the lake. You dont need that kind of pressure. We jump forward into what if? scenarios, or drag up all of our past mistakes. We are certainly not fresh and in this moment with this shot.

One of the things that makes the GolfInTheMoment approach so unique is that we are not trying to control our thoughts. That is virtually impossible and uses us a horrific amount of mental and physical energy. Its much easier to simply let them be, but not get involved with them. life is experienced with much more peace and fluidity in this way.

These past few weeks I have been working with the head professional of a leading course in Scotland. Last week we played the Torrance course at St. Andrews Bay resort, a beautiful links course which I highly recommend. As we were playing he shared that he often experienced fear at times during competitive matches, and he had tried many methods to manage or reduce this. When we looked a bit closer at this it became obvious that the biggest fear he faced was the fear that fear may strike. This induces timidity into our play, where we focus on trying to hold it together during a competitive round rather than relaxing and exploring just how good we can be on that particular day.

But he was now beginning to have a different experience as he was able to use these new techniques to let go of trying to control his thoughts and emotions. He felt freer, able to see that he had a choice, and that if he simply didnt get involved with the thoughts and emotions they would move on their own anyway.

And very often our interpretation of them is wrong. For example, those first-tee nerves that you have convinced yourself you always have - well, maybe thats just excitement. They both have a similar physical sensation.

So, your homework from this article is very simple - let everything be as it is, just accept it. Thoughts are normal and natural, and having energy moving through your body is absolutely OK.

And if you really want to go for broke, take a ball and deliberately play it into the water, then take a look around. Is there any blood on the ground? Have your arms fallen off? Have you gone bankrupt as a result of it? Has anything in your world suddenly fallen apart? No, so lets get some perspective on this thing, eh? Even the best players find water now and then, and they accept that it is part of the game. So if that attitude serves them it surely will serve you too. Until next time, have fun.

Mahadeva Ishaya is a monk of the Ishaya Order, and also an avid golfer. He is the publisher of http://www.golfinthemoment.com which is committed to helping golfers of all abilities realise that mastery of the "inner game" of golf is not only vital, but simple and enjoyable.