 outside to give him a feel of the difference. As soon as he can distinguish between these two broad categories of movement while actually swinging, the student can be asked to distinguish more subtle changes. He might be asked, for example, to see if he can tell after each swing whether it was more or less inside out than the last. In this case, in order to pinpoint his focus more subtly on the swing, awareness can be heightened by the use of a rating scale. If a downswing that is square to the target line is 0, a swing that is slightly inside out could be called a +1; more inside out, +2 or +3. Likewise, outside in downswings would be rated - 1, -2 and - 3. (With advanced golfers, the scale can be refined indefinitely to focus on smaller and smaller fractions of differentiation.) This fine-tuning of the student's attention creates more refined differentiation in feel, and allows learning to take place. By experimenting, Self 2 discovers which stroke feels and works best for his body at his level of development. Sometimes a golfer's swing becomes stuck in a groove, and despite focusing on the downswing it remains stuck. If the student feels that his normal swing is a - 2, the instructor might say, 'Why don't you see what a minus 3 feels like?... Now try a plus 3, a plus 2, a plus 1.' After he has broken out of his rut by experiencing different swings, he can go back to swinging without trying, and if he sincerely doesn't try to swing 'right' but sticks to awareness exercises, his body will automatically select the swing that feels and works best. Through such a natural learning process the student can groove his new swing without thinking about it but by concretely feeling it. Here are some examples of translating do-instructions into awareness instructions. As you read them, try to imagine the difference in the way you might react to each instruction.
2 During the next few swings, pay attention to your right elbow. Don't try to change it in any way; just see if you can tell what it does, especially after you begin the downswing. Notice any changes in its position.
3 Keep straight.
3 Notice whether your left arm is straight or whether it bends on each swing, and scale the amount on a scale from 1 to 5.
4 On the next twenty shots, pay attention to your body and see if you can detect any rushing during the swing. If so, tell me how you rushed that is, which muscles you used to rush and when. Don't try to avoid rushing; just notice what you are doing, and any changes in degree.
5 Take a few swings paying attention to the back of your left hand. Notice if it is square, open or dosed in relation to the target line.
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6 Without looking, sense whether the shaft of your club is parallel to the target line, inside the line or outside it. It might help if you shut your eyes during the swing to increase your sense of feel.
formance whenever used, each time I am surprised. It blows my mind that changes for the better can take place so effortlessly. It is not always the change I anticipated, but that only makes it more interesting. Nothing but my repeated experience that awareness instructions do work has given me the confidence to rely so heavily on them. It is results, not theory, that warrants their use. Therefore I don't suggest that you make a heroic effort to forget about results, or to convince yourself that your score is really not important. What I do suggest is that you experiment with awareness instructions long enough and sincerely enough to discover their effects for yourself.
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X to be learned; and no, for the most part they do not have to be taught. At this moment Jeff, the tennis pro from the country club, came over to say hello. I introduced him to Al, who immediately asked him if he had ever played golf. When Jeff saidthat he had not, we persuaded him to be the guinea pig for an Inner Game lesson demonstrating how fundamentals can be learned without being taught. In the half hour we spent working with Jeff he learned many of the fundamentals of grip, stance, rhythm, balance and tempo. Of course, he didn't master them all, and there was still room for improvement in his swing. Every once in a while Al would say to me, 'It's amazing how fast he is learning without being told any of the hows, but I keep seeing things he's doing wrong and I itch to tell him. But I don't, and pretty soon the very flaw I was wanting to fix starts" to correct itself.' Within that half hour Jeff was definitely on his way to becoming a golfer. The next chapter discusses what I believe to be the true fundamentals of the game of golf and how they can be learned, practiced and taught.
techniques' they were reputed to be using. Even though I was an American and the coach knew I had no experience in fencing, he wanted me to conduct an Inner Game training program for the team. I was amazed at how a little international rivalry could open minds to ideas that previously had been shunned. Most of the fruits of the study of the mind-body relation in sports have been focused on professional and Olympic competitors, the majority of whom now play the Inner Game, using a wide array of mental techniques and procedures. But relatively little work has been done to help the average sportsman, although it is generally accepted that the state of one's mind significantly affects the quality of one's game. Chapter 4 explored the reasons why the mental states I call the trying mode, and the unconscious mode are not the ideal states for fulfilling one's potential. How can you gain more control over your state of mind when playing golf? My name for this optimum state of mind for performance is the awareness mode, and the remainder of this chapter explores how we can enter it, as well as the inner skills that can be developed to sustain it for longer periods of time.
the tennis court, and found that when playing badly my students' minds were filled with (1) a lot of self-instruction; (2) self-judgment (3) various thoughts and feelings stemming from doubt and fear of failure. Yet when they were playing at their best, they reported that their minds were relaxed, absorbed and quiet, free of these tensions. Often they would say that they weren't thinking at all, and that their bodies seemed to know without conscious thought how to hit the ball. Athletes often call this experience 'playing out of one's mind,' a phrase that indicates an absence of mental interference. I have interviewed many athletes who reported that when they are at their best they are not thinking; the mind is clear and very much aware. Ted Williams said that in such moments he could see the baseball so well 'that sometimes it also stands still for me.' Arthur Ashe calls this state 'playing in the zone.' Eastern martial arts disciples have known for centuries this fundamental equation between mind and body; the less conscious thought in the mind, the better the chances for pure and precise action. 'A single conscious thought through the mind diverts the arrow from its course towards the target,' says the Zen archery master (Zen in the Art of Archery). People who have just experienced heightened performance in this state of mind are often surprisingly humble about their achievement, attributing the credit not so much to themselves as to the amazing capabilities of the body and mind when working harmoniously. There seems to be tess room for ego (Self 1) in the awareness mode, and when it does intrude the magic of the experience usually vanishes. Self 1 demands that the magic return, but it seldom obeys. The objective of the Inner Game is to learn how to get out of the boredom of the unconscious mode (where we often are when unchallenged), and out of the stress of the trying mode (where we often are when challenged) so that we can reach the state of relaxed concentration of the awareness mode, where performance and quality of experience are optimal. We want to learn how to enter into the awareness mode at will, and then how to stay in it for longer periods of time. The key to doing this lies in learning the art of relaxed concentration.
Concentration in Golf Golfers are pretty unanimous in recognizing the value of concentration, but few are clear about exactly what it is and how to achieve it. Recently when I conducted an Inner Game clinic for twenty-five LPGA touring pros, I asked how many of them believed that concentration was the single most important mental attribute in golf. Twenty-three raised their hands. When I asked how many of them had been taught anything about what concentration is and how to increase it, only two raised their hands.
raise the quality of performance and experience in any activity. Many people don't even like the word 'concentration' because they associate it with strain, as in 'trying to concentrate' for a final exam. But trying can't produce concentration. When a pupil is told he must concentrate in class, he seldom does, and is often accused of not being able to. Examples of concentration might include a baby fascinated by a multicolored mobile, a cat playing with a ball of string, a hawk flying over hills watching for a field mouse, or even a kid playing after school with an electronic toy. Concentration is natural, and thus the best examples axe generally close to nature. You can't make it happen any more than you can make sleep happen. It occurs when you allow - not force yourself to become interested in something.
dependence on what is not reliable. In Inner Game terminology, this means that the golfer learns to trust Self 2 (the body) to hit the ball rather than Self 1 (the ego mind). Will skills develop our ability to