The explanation of “subconscious golf” is somewhat complicated. To get the basic idea, compare it to learning to drive a car. A beginner driver has to think of everything, attend to everything, see everything and get the feel of everything. Pretty soon everything becomes automatic. You can drive safely, chat with a passenger and hum a tune on the radio. As humans we rely on our subconscious for over 95 percent of our daily lives.
The “bible” for subconscious golf is golf mental coach Ed Grant’s “Subconscious Golf: Train and use your brain like the pros,” with a forward by former tour pro and putting guru Dave Stockton. Over his career, Stockton had 25 wins as a professional including 10 wins on the PGA tour and two PGA championship wins in 1970 and 1976.
For golfers who play regularly, the golf swing has become what is termed an “over-learned skill,” like swimming. It is consciously learned but subconsciously performed. The conscious mind can’t adequately perform over-learned skills. Grant writes, “When you ‘try’ to perform an over-learned skill like the golf swing, you’re taking yourself back to the beginner’s learning stage all over again. (Then) you’re ‘learning’ when you should be ‘playing.’ How can you be the best you can be at something when every time you perform the motion it’s like the first time all over again?”
There is a difference between “subconscious” and “unconscious.” Basically, your subconscious is below your threshold of awareness but still functioning without overt thinking. The unconscious is essentially a sleep state, but with some inaccessible mental processing. Evidence for the operation of subconscious mental processing includes research showing that surgery patients may be able to hear and later comply with instructions or suggestions while under general anesthesia and of which they have no memory.
Adopting and internalizing subconscious golf involves several habits and pieces of information you need to know about and practice. Positive verbal cues – self-talk – are known to reduce anxiety because they connect to the subconscious and trigger feelings and emotions it associates with them. Psychologists call this the “priming effect.” Another priming habit is mental imagery or “visualization,” where you create the image of the successful swing and result in your mind, creating a feeling of confidence. Swing thoughts – those brief, abbreviated words as you move to address the ball – need to be positive, never negative. “Don’t hit it in the water” is not a helpful swing thought. I use “trust it” nearly always and it helps. The idea of these habits is to promote the freedom with which your body is able to perform the golf swing.
When actually hitting the golf shot, many golfers find themselves thinking of the swing they want to make and the shot they want. They attempt to manipulate the club during the swing, and that never works. Then they become entangled in “circuit overload” and are sorely disappointed. You should be not be thinking how to do it, you should just do it, just like you did after you learned to drive, Grant says. If you tell yourself, “Try to hit a solid shot,” that’s back to the learning phase. Instead, just step out of the maybe zone and into the play zone and let it happen.
Don’t go out and freeze your brain and think you’re playing subconscious golf, and then grouse that it doesn’t work when you’re finished. There is adjustment and practice involved, like any other big change. There are nuances for practice sessions, such as what specifically you’re working on, including different swing moves. Above all, practice to feel confident, the way it should be on the golf course.
