You are standing on the tee. Thick stands of trees run down either side of the fairway making it look like a bowling alley. Far ahead you see bunkers jutting out into the short green, giving you a landing area about the size of a closet. Beyond that you see water to the right and in the distance, a postage stamp green protected by deep bunkers.
What you need to do is to hit a bullet, a laser beam shot right down the middle of the fairway. What you don't want to do, and what happens to players all too often, is to bring any of that trouble you see out there inside your head when you're thinking about your shot.
A student of mine, with a lot of psychology in his background, once described this 'don't do' thought process as the 'Don't Think of the Elephant Syndrome.' Excuse my double negative, but the mind can't 'not think' of something. Attempting to 'not think' of something automatically puts it in the mind. So 'not thinking' of the elephant automatically brings up a picture of a really big elephant in your mind. You think it, you'll see it and likely do it.
The first and very important part of pulling off this shot is to get Tunnel Vision. When people talk about 'tunnel vision,' it usually isn't in a very complimentary sense. But Tunnel Vision in golf is good. That is, look only at and focus only on the spot where you want your ball to finish.
The second key is to know that the trees and other hazards are there, but you have to put them out of your mind. By that I mean you cannot dwell on them and, heaven forbid, have negative thoughts like, 'Don't hit it in the bunker and PLEASE, absolutely not, OB!' How many times have you approached a shot praying and or begging yourself and the golf gods to hit a good shot by not hitting into the bad places?
This 'don't do' attitude is the absolute kiss of death. The brain can't function in negatives. It is designed to only function in positives. When you tell yourself not to hit it in the lake, the last thing you put in your mind's eye, your focus, is the lake. And, since the mind is designed to deliver what you think, wham, you hit it in the lake.
So, how do we break this 'Don't Think of the Elephant Syndrome?' By thinking positive thoughts, and looking at and seeing only positive places and results in our shot preparations. Use Tunnel Vision and positive thinking to get the desired results!
The Surge!
Note: My responses on the blog will be at a minimum this week because of our Nike Junior Golf School. It's going great!