GOLF and SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

The purpose of this BLOG is to inspire and encourage the golfer to be a student of the subconscious mind and commit to trust the well-programmed subconscious mind on every swing and putting stroke. Why trust the subconscious mind? The golf swing and the putting stroke are simply too complex and fast for the conscious mind to direct body mechanics and swing mechanics. Flack writes,

Let the subconscious mind—the source of invention—work on it. In the subconscious, thinking is not limited by the pedestrian, literal restrictions of conscious language. At this level, one can rapidly mobilize large quantities of data more efficiently than any computer and superimpose dissimilar ingredients into new perceptual and conceptual patterns. At some point, solutions pop into the mind suddenly, as if from nowhere, and new directions can begin to take shape.[1]

Let us start with two definitions and a vision:

The conscious mind acts, produces the impression, and determines what is to be done.[2]

The subconscious mind reacts, produces the expression, and supplies the mental material and necessary power. The subconscious mind obeys absolutely the desires of the conscious mind, and since the subconscious is limitless, it can do for a golfer whatever the golfer may desire.[3]

A well-programmed subconscious mind has unlimited possibilities and since these possibilities can all be developed, there is no end to the attainments and achievements of the golfer.[4]

As a student of golf, trusting the subconscious mind to swing the golf club has evolved a growing passion to be more positive, to learn, and to improve because the game is the “funest” and “bestest” ever. Placing swing thoughts on a bus to Tucson, offering clear “desired results” to the subconscious, and passionately connecting the conscious mind with the subconscious mind is a completely new, exciting experience. An innate desire to have the complicated golf swing “perfect” and growing awareness of the powers of the subconscious has energized interest in learning more about how the subconscious mind can be programmed—mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually—to facilitate improved performance. Christian D. Larson offers,

 When we proceed to train the subconscious along any line, or for special results, we must always comply with the following law: The subconscious responds to the impressions, the suggestions, the desires, the expectations, and the directions of the conscious mind, provided that the conscious touches the subconscious at the time. The secret therefore is found in the two phases of the mind touching each other as directions are being made; and to cause the conscious to touch the subconscious, it is necessary to feel conscious action penetrating your entire interior system; that is, you should feel at the time that you are living not simply on the surface, but through and through. At such times, the mind should be calm and in perfect poise, and should be conscious of that finer, greater something within you that has greater depth than mere surface existence.[5]

Trusting the well-programmed subconscious mind to swing a golf club to hit a golf ball to a target is a learned, master skill; and experience offers that developing this skill requires practice, practice, and more practice. Was struck that perhaps Dr. Joseph Murphy’s visualization genius, offered in Power of Your Subconscious Mind, can help during the Pre-Shot Routine on the golf course. Dr. Murphy offers,

The Chinese say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” William James, the father of American psychology, stressed the fact that the subconscious mind will bring to pass any picture held in the mind and backed by faith. Act as though I am, and you will be…The builder visualizes the type of building he wants; he sees it as he desires it to be completed. His imagery and thought-processes become a plastic mold from which the building will emerge—a beautiful or an ugly one, a skyscraper or an exceptionally low one. His mental imagery is projected as it is drawn on paper. Eventually, the contractor and his workers gather the essential materials, and the building progresses until it stands finished, conforming perfectly to the mental patterns of the architect…I use the visualization technique prior to speaking from the platform. I quiet the wheels of my mind in order that I may present to the subconscious mind my images of thought. Then, I picture the entire auditorium and the seats filled with men and women, and each one of them illumined and inspired by the infinite healing presence within each one. I see them as radiant, happy, and free…My awareness grows to the point where in my mind I can hear the voices…then I release the whole picture and go onto the platform.[6]

Working with the subconscious mind is a “new learning process” for this golfer; and I make absolutely no claim to be a subconscious mind expert. “Know what you want, and then want it with all the life and power that is in you.”[7] Some recent reflections concerning facilitation of subconscious programming are as follows:

• Positive and improvement language is a must. This is the law of attraction at work: one gets back what one puts out through personality, character, and mind.
• Relaxed concentration—all forces of mind, character, and personality are focused on the desired result—and a clear and quiet conscious mind are a must.
• Visualization: picture in the conscious mind a clear, passionate idea of the desired result, simply creating a vivid picture of the body becoming one with the environment, the club, the ball, and the target.
• Energize deep, “must have,” “must do,” serene, strong, and passionate connection of the conscious mind with the inner human systems: see it, feel it, taste it, smell it, think it, touch it in the eleven human systems: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, excretory, nervous, endocrine, immune, lymphatic, integumentary-exocrine, skeletal, muscle, reproductive, renal, and urinary. Simply feel the meaning of the desired result with consciousness; and see and feel in every atom of the human system the ball at the target. Eliminate doubt; and be present and calm, “…well balanced, persistent, deeply poised, and harmonious in all thoughts and actions.”[8]
• Think of all the facilities being used in golf when giving full expression to a desired result: body mechanics, club mechanics, ball position, and target. Mantras work for this golfer.
• Begin days with positive, desired result ways and means. Bring everything alive in the conscious and subconscious minds several times per day.[9] Think and live BIG YES!
• Go to sleep relaxed: review the day’s pleasantries; and chat with the subconscious about desired results and ways and means. Program the subconscious mind to work for you during a night’s sleep.
• If there are skills that need work and development, direct the subconscious with necessary improvements every day as frequently as possible and before going to sleep.
• Practice makes perfect: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The more one trains the subconscious to work with the conscious direction, the easier it becomes to get the subconscious to respond to directions.
• “Whenever the subconscious mind is aroused, mental power and working capacity are invariably increased, sometimes to such an extent that the individual seems to be possessed with a superhuman power.”[10]

Christian D. Larson reminds,

When properly directed, the subconscious mind can inspire the conscious mind to do the right thing at the right time, to take advantage of opportunities during the psychological moment and to deal with circumstances that all things will work together to promote the object in view. It is, therefore, evident that when the subconscious mind is trained to work in harmony with the objects and desires of the conscious mind, failure becomes impossible, and success in greater and greater measures may be secured by anyone.[11]

[1] Flach, Kindle, Location 4392, The Secret Strength of Depression, F. F. Flach (1975). NY, NY: Bantam.

[2] Larson, C. (2012). The Great Within, NY, NY: Crowell, 1.

[3] Ibid., 2.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Larson, C. (2012). Your Forces. NY, NY: Crowell, 58.

[6] Murphy, J. (2021). The Power of the Subconscious Mind. NY, NY: Macmillan, 112.

[7] Larson, Your Forces, 81.

[8] Ibid., 46.

[9] Ibid., 81.

[10] Ibid., 43.

[11] Larson, The Great Within, 15.