WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240
this mental game video is getting into the zone now the zone is the state where

2
00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.280
basically you're going to be performing at your optimal so it's one of those

3
00:00:10.280 --> 00:00:13.920
states that we want to try to get into as frequently as possible it's described

4
00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:19.160
as kind of the flow state or you know unconscious or any of those key words

5
00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:23.940
that help you feel what it's like to just kind of be automatic so I was

6
00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:28.800
talking with Dr. Lynn Beasley about this and she's got some great ideas on it

7
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.480
she doesn't have a ton of stuff that you can research yet but she will be

8
00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:35.960
coming up with you know programs and things like that and I'll be sure to

9
00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:40.240
link them whenever they do come around so as far as getting into this zone or

10
00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.320
getting into this flow state there's kind of the spectrum that we look at

11
00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:50.460
versus automatic versus cognitive so cognitive is basically when I'm thinking

12
00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:55.920
my way through a process so if I were to tie my shoes and I was singing myself

13
00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:01.160
that song or basically you know doing one loop over the other across if I'm

14
00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:06.280
thinking my way through each step that's going to be more cognitive if I'm just

15
00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:11.000
doing it while I can you know carry on a conversation or my body is just kind

16
00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:11.080
of

17
00:01:11.080 --> 00:01:15.720
going in what we call automatic that's gonna be more this zone or this flow

18
00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:22.520
state now there are two big causes or two big barriers to reaching the flow

19
00:01:22.520 --> 00:01:26.920
state first one is going to be anxiety and the second one is going to be its

20
00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:33.000
cousin frustration so anxiety is basically anytime that your body is in a

21
00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:39.440
aroused or elevated state so when you're on the range you're in a relatively

22
00:01:39.440 --> 00:01:42.120
calm state and that's when you're doing all your practice and then you get on

23
00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:45.840
the golf course and your blood starts pumping you start releasing some

24
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.200
hormones and basically you reach this state of arousal and that's gonna make

25
00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:55.480
you more and more cognitive so any tips that you can do or any tricks that you

26
00:01:55.480 --> 00:02:00.040
can use in order to minimize the stress on the golf course so whether that's

27
00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:04.520
breathing whether that's meditation whether that's the most common one which

28
00:02:04.520 --> 00:02:08.920
is having a pre shot routine to basically make the whole process seem very

29
00:02:08.920 --> 00:02:14.040
automatic any of those things are gonna help keep your arousal level down which

30
00:02:14.040 --> 00:02:18.880
will make it more likely for you to get into that flow state so the second one

31
00:02:18.880 --> 00:02:23.920
is frustration and now this is the one that as a golf instructor I have to deal

32
00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:28.140
with more than anything else yes people definitely get anxious on the golf

33
00:02:28.140 --> 00:02:33.480
course but frustration is going to come primarily when there's this gap and the

34
00:02:33.480 --> 00:02:37.520
gap is when there is a difference between my expectations and my

35
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.440
performance so if I go on to the golf course and I expect that I'm going to

36
00:02:42.440 --> 00:02:47.280
shoot 120 in top every shot I can actually get into the zone while playing

37
00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:52.880
terribly the the problem is if I go on to the golf course and I think I'm gonna

38
00:02:52.880 --> 00:02:57.920
shoot 80 and then I'm topping every shot this creates this frustration which

39
00:02:57.920 --> 00:03:01.800
makes me more and more cognitive which takes me further away from the zone so

40
00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:07.120
one of the tricks that I like to use is using tests on the range to paint

41
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.320
realistic perspective or realistic perspective of your performance ability

42
00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:16.800
so if I'm on the range and I'm hitting seven iron after seven iron after seven

43
00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.230
iron and I'm hitting them all great what my brain is gonna do is it's gonna

44
00:03:20.230 --> 00:03:20.600
look

45
00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:24.020
at this and be like oh my goodness I'm awesome when I got on the course I'm

46
00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:28.360
gonna shoot 65 and so then I get on the course and I have one bad seven iron

47
00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:32.320
and now I start to get frustrated because my expectations are different than my

48
00:03:32.320 --> 00:03:37.840
performance so when you're on the core or when you're on the range you want to

49
00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.640
do things that help test your skill level so that you can get an accurate

50
00:03:42.640 --> 00:03:47.800
picture of where your your game is and this can go both ways I could either

51
00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:52.060
overestimate or I could underestimate my performance ability and both of those

52
00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:57.160
will make it harder for me to perform at my maximum so a common one especially

53
00:03:57.160 --> 00:04:03.120
as Lynn described that she sees with a lot of her female clients is that they

54
00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:08.760
will typically underestimate their performance ability and as a result they'll

55
00:04:08.760 --> 00:04:13.800
they'll look at a shot and they'll lay up on say a par five where maybe five

56
00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:13.920
out

57
00:04:13.920 --> 00:04:18.000
of ten they could actually hit the green and but they're just they've

58
00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.680
conditioned themselves that I'm not very good and I'm not gonna do very well so

59
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:28.080
I'm just gonna play it safe so either extreme of either my performance is way

60
00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:31.120
worse than my expectations or my performance is way better than my

61
00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.520
expectations is actually going to make it harder and harder for you to reach

62
00:04:34.520 --> 00:04:39.920
this state of zone so the biggest piece of advice I can give you if you're

63
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:45.040
trying to get into this zone state I am by no means a licensed sports

64
00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:49.400
psychologist but I talk a lot or I talk with a number of them in order to get

65
00:04:49.400 --> 00:04:54.800
information for you for this site the two biggest pieces I can give you is to

66
00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.880
have as clear a process as you can so develop a really solid pre-shot routine

67
00:04:59.880 --> 00:05:04.720
because that will help make things a little bit more automatic have a post

68
00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:08.040
shot routine which helps you manage emotions because that'll help keep the

69
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:14.480
frustration levels down and then third when you're practicing do tests in order

70
00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:18.840
to see where your performance actually is so that you can have realistic

71
00:05:18.840 --> 00:05:23.000
perspective and the better you can stick to kind of those three rules the

72
00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:23.520
closer

73
00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:28.640
you're gonna be or the more frequently you're gonna find yourself in the zone