attention is a big factor and variable in my golfing performance and the experience I have out there on the course. in a state championship event last summer I was in the midst of a meltdown. I had driven OB and then was playing my third shot with my second drive when it dawned on me that my position was so dead left of the green, that I could make an 8 or 9 on the hole if I did not watch out. so I visualized a 5 iron run shot through the trees to bounce into a bank and land on the green. It was a one in 50 shot but it caused me to focus and see the shot and another important thing happened; I knew immediately that I could not think how to swing to play this shot. I simply had to see the shot and focus on exactly where the ball had to travel for the shot to end up on the green. so I gave up on my approach of concocting a swing in my mind to translate to my body to pull off. the reason I remember this so well is because the shot came off exactly as I had seen it as it needed to, to escape from trouble. so why on the very next hole did I again revert to thinking how to swing? that's the mystery I'd like to explore today.

there are many times I recall someone saying, " I hit my best shots out of trouble, from the woods where I have to play between trees." I believe the reason for this is clear, when you are in trouble you must focus on what the ball must do to escape and get back to the fairway or onto the green. The trajectory and path are critical to the shot being played successfully. from the middle of the fairway there's the tendency to "fall asleep" in terms of your target and the ball path to get there. you get into your head and think about how you want to swing. being "in your head" if often harmful to performance and tends to diminish your athletic abilities. some of the worst shots of my life, when I reflect back just after I have played the shot, have occurred when I have totally lost track of my target and have been cocooned in my mind thinking how to swing. being in love with perfection and listening intently to the voice in my head giving me instructions for the shot is something I often fall prey to.

this week I saw a short blurb in the nytimes golf page entitled, you mind the ball, the body will follow http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/sports/golf/24golftip.html. jerry mowlds says well what I have just tried to explain here.

as I continue my journey with golf, I know so much more about my hopes and intentions for my time out there on the green landscape. to be aware of my target and exactly where I hope the ball will go is up there at the top of my list. and to then be "in my body" instead of trapped in my mind thinking how to swing follows closely behind.