Article #22
Teacher: Lord Berry
To meet this week's teacher, or to purchase a copy of MUNIE ~ The Jitterbug Collection, go to www.bobbysteiner.com
People talk all the time about the mental aspects of the game, often using words like concentration, commitment, single-mindedness, focus, and determination. All these, they say, combine to bring about a state of peak performance most commonly referred to as the zone. And, while many have enjoyed this mysterious condition of mind, body and spirit, few have the capacity to tap into it at will.
What is it then?
Acceptance
Tell me why a journeyman pro shoots 67, 68, 68, and then, when paired with a superstar on Sunday, shoots 80.
Is it nerves?
I think not. This caliber of player obviously has nerve. The problem is that, rather than accepting the first three rounds as good enough, he gave into his self-image and believing he must do better still. Of course, the superstar limps in with a 73 to win by three shots.
How about when you, the average golfer, played the best golf of your life after a long lay off? Is it because you forgot all your bad habits?
Not likely. Rather, it was because you didn't expect much of yourself. You accepted that you hadn't been playing quite a lot, and therefore, shouldn't expect to shoot your best. With the self-imposed pressure of expectation lifted, you freed up your mind and played some fine golf.
Then there was the time you decided to lay up in front of the green, deciding it was too far to reach. And, with just an easy swing, your ball flew farther than it ever did before. Again, you accepted that you couldn't get to the green, and as a result, uninterrupted, efficient motion found its way into your golf swing; perhaps the most mysterious of all zone states.
Let's not forget that par four where you normally use a three-wood or long iron to tee off. But then, in a match in which you found yourself trailing, you used your driver, only to hit the ball out of play.
Was it a bad swing? Sure it was. But, you can be sure it was brought on by your lack of acceptance. In your moment of desperation, you decided that if you had any hope of getting back into the contest, your only chance was to hit the ball farther than experience and better judgment have proven adequate. Once more, no acceptance, no zone.
Bobby Jones must've been referring to this unconditional state of acceptance when he said, "You might as well swing freely at the ball; it will come down somewhere."
But, that's not how most golfers think. Instead, people approach golf shots as if there is a pass or fail aspect that is somehow tied into our character, and in doing so, lose all concept of what a good attempt is.
Conversely, golfers in the zone understand what it means, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, to "dare greatly," with an unswerving commitment to accept the good with the bad. This is not to say zone golfers take unnecessary risks, but that they don't play as if they're scared to perform at a level below the standard they've established.
Here is another example of a zone state:
Let's say I introduced you to golf today, and on the practice green, placed your ball six feet from a hole, handed you a putter, and said, "Use this instrument to knock the ball into the hole."
With great enthusiasm, you'd study the seemingly well-suited, flat-faced club, the perfectly round ball, and the adequately sized hole, eager to give it a go and overcome the odds by somehow holing the putt.
My guess is that, miss or make, you'd find it the most wonderfully challenging thing to attempt. In other words, you'd accept the outcome regardless of how you performed. In fact, you might be beside yourself with intrigue at how surprisingly formidable is this seemingly simple task. More importantly, you'd be twice as tuned in for your second attempt.
The more experienced player, however, would see this as a threat, with nothing to gain (after all, anybody should be able to make a short putt), and everything to lose (you mean you missed that short putt?). It is because of this pass or fail mindset that golfers reach zone level performance less often as the years go by. What, in the beginning, is a general level of acceptance is replaced by a personally imposed standard of performance that must be met for enjoyment to be derived. The irony, of course, is that the more strict the standard of achievement, the less often the golfer walks off the course satisfied.
My suggestion to all players, as they struggle for control over the mental and emotional powers that bring about good play, is to examine one's own level of acceptance. One might find one has room for improvement.