In your journey to loosen the "unseen grip," you've explored various strategies to re-establish control over your mental game. Now, let's introduce a profound perspective: what if the key to unlocking your best golf isn't about more control, more thinking, or more strategies, but about simplifying your mental approach?
Many traditional golf psychology tips focus on trying to control or manage your thinking, aiming to shift you from one state of mind to a more preferable one. However, this approach can be flawed. Sam Jarman, a golf psychology expert, suggests that human beings don't actually control their thoughts. We've been led to believe that we do, and that doing so is beneficial, but logical evidence often contradicts this belief.
Think about it: Do you play your best golf when your mind is clear, or when you have many thoughts swirling? When you just let the shot go with freedom and enthusiasm, or when you're burdened by multiple swing thoughts? When you're relaxed and enjoying the game, or striving for a predetermined outcome? Most golfers would choose the former in each case, yet much golf psychology pushes towards more thinking and controlling.
This chapter will help you evaluate these conflicting ideas and simplify how you approach the mental side of your game, leading to more joy, awareness, and creativity.
The core insight here is that thoughts arise in your awareness whether you like it or not; you don't choose them before they appear.
The Illusion of Control: If you've ever lost your keys or forgotten a name, it demonstrates that you're not truly in control of when thoughts arrive or depart. Your own experience contradicts the belief that you choose what you think about. This misunderstanding is a main reason why the mental game can feel so confusing. When an unwanted thought arises, you feel compelled to do something about it, which requires even more thinking, creating a problematic cycle. For example, if you try not to think about hitting the ball into the water, you inherently have to think about hitting the ball into the water.
Thoughts as Harmless Packets of Energy: The good news is, when you understand the true nature of thought, you realize you don't need to control what comes into your awareness. Thoughts are simply "harmless, neutral packets of mental energy". When you see them this way, the desire to control or dismiss them no longer makes sense.
Thoughts Don't Dictate Outcome: A crucial understanding is that a thought has no power to directly influence the flight of a golf ball. You can hit great golf shots regardless of what you are thinking or how you feel. Believing that certain thoughts can affect the ball makes you more vulnerable to the ebb and flow of your thinking. When you truly grasp this, you can stop being bothered by your thoughts and get on with your game.
Just as with thoughts, trying to control your emotions in the moment will often make things worse. Telling yourself to relax when you're uptight is rarely helpful.
Understanding Where Emotions Come From: It's natural to feel annoyed or frustrated after a bad shot, as even the best players make them. The key to not letting emotions get out of control is to understand their origin. Often, your anger or frustration isn't solely because the shot didn't go as intended, but because you had a belief about where the shot should have gone. You have a "story" about how reality "should" be, and that story often excludes bad shots.
True Acceptance: True acceptance isn't a strategy you force; it's a state where there's no judgment about the situation in the first place. As Tiger Woods famously says, "It is what it is". When you are fully open to whatever unfolds, without preconceived ideas about how things should be, acceptance happens naturally.
The drive to simplify extends to how you approach technical thoughts and pre-shot routines.
Focus on the Task, Not the "How": Most golfers play their best when focused on hitting the ball to the target, not on the mechanics of how to achieve it (e.g., right elbow position). Your job is not to understand "the" golf swing, but your golf swing, focusing on persistent faults and checking basics regularly. The true value of technical instruction is to reach a point where you stop thinking about "how" during your swing, rather than accumulating more to worry about.
Rethinking Routines: While many advise a predetermined routine, Sam Jarman suggests that when you have a clear mind and a well-defined intention, you'll naturally do what's needed for the task in the most simple and efficient way. It might look like a routine, but from the inside, you're just doing what's necessary in the moment. Having to think about whether you performed a routine correctly adds another layer of unnecessary thinking that can distract rather than enhance your experience.
The emphasis on simplification also challenges traditional views on staying present and focusing "one shot at a time."
You Are Always Present: It's often said you need to "stay in the moment," which implies you can be somewhere else. However, you cannot ever be in another time and place except "here and now". Thoughts about the past or future are still experienced now as thoughts. The moment you notice your mind has wandered, you are already back in the present. Understanding this fundamental nature of awareness is key.
Curiosity Leads to Presence: Losing concentration simply means you've become more interested in something other than what you think you should be focused on, often thoughts about the past or future outcomes. The remedy for a loss of focus is simply to be fully open and curious again about what is happening right here, right now. When you become genuinely curious about the details of the current shot, you become absorbed, and presence naturally follows.
Perhaps the most profound insight for simplifying the mental game lies in understanding the ego.
The Ego as a Story: The "ego" is simply a thought, an activity of the mind that explains the continuity of our experience; it's not a separate entity. We identify with a fictional character—the "Hero" in our own life story—who wants success, but paradoxically, often doesn't want it to come easily. Why? Because the ego wants to claim credit for overcoming challenges.
The Ego Fears True Flow: When you are truly at your best, there is no struggle, no willpower required. You're just in the moment, enjoying yourself, allowing things to unfold. This effortless state is "anathema" to the ego, which loves drama and will embellish stories to exaggerate its role.
Choking and Over-Trying: Feelings of choking or trying too hard arise because you've attached your well-being and value to the outcome. The ego feels threatened by failure, triggering a "fight or flight" response. The moment you realize this error—that you're trying to control reality—the ego disappears, and you can simply attend to the process of hitting the shot in front of you.
The Elusive Zone: Flow, or "The Zone," happens when performance, enjoyment, and learning are in balance, making the game feel effortless. You can't deliberately "get into" flow; it happens when you are fully immersed. The harder you try to find it, the further away it gets. The remedy is to let go and allow the zone to find you.
Freedom Through Understanding: Understanding that you are not your ego, but rather the awareness of your experience, is the understanding that will set you free. This simplification allows you to play with clarity, creativity, and intuition.
For the professional golfer struggling with the "unseen grip," Sam Jarman's insights offer a profound path:
Less Controlling, More Allowing: Instead of fighting thoughts and emotions, acknowledge their presence without judgment, and allow them to pass.
Focus on Curiosity and Presence: Cultivate a deep curiosity about the present moment—the lie, the wind, your body's feel—to naturally draw your attention into the "now".
Trust Your Instincts: Rely on your ingrained understanding of your swing, rather than constant analysis or external information.
Let Go of Outcome Obsession: Recognize that attaching your self-worth to scores and results creates unnecessary pressure and sabotages enjoyment.
See the Ego for What It Is: Understand that the ego's desire for credit and struggle is a mental construct. When you let go of that narrative, the freedom of true performance can emerge.
The route to playing your best golf more often lies in simplifying. It's about stripping away layers of beliefs and concepts that create illogical and unnecessary patterns of thinking and behavior. When you have less "going on" in your mind, you are truly free to play with clarity, creativity, and intuition. This simplified approach is not passive; it's an active choice to align with the natural flow of your innate ability.