Inner game of Golf

Timothy Gallwey in his best-selling book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ said ‘Letting it happen is not making it happen. It is not trying hard. It is not controlling your shots.’ The book speaks about much more than what gives peak performance in Tennis, it speaks about how to get out of your way to deliver peak performance and deliver that mental state in sports, work and life.

This couldn’t be truer for Golf. I have been playing Golf for more than 10 years now and even today during the same game, on one hole I may score a birdie and on another one I may get a double bogey. This happens because just like life, Golf is also composed of an outer game and an inner game. While the outer game is played to overcome external obstacles there is a more powerful inner aspect of the game, one that takes place in your mind. It is played against obstacles such as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. In short, it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.

Golf has led me to value, in every sphere of life, this inner game by learning the art of relaxed concentration above all other skills. This requires me to constantly unlearn the habits that interfere with relaxed concentration and just letting it happen or ‘Flow’. In golf, shots happen when the mind is quiet and still, this relaxation gives rise to fluidity which in turn leads to accuracy. This helps the player in accepting the shots as they are or non-judgemental awareness.

Non-judgemental awareness is the key to discovering your own technique. Let’s compare Matthew Wolff’s swing with Rory Mcllroy’s swing. Rory has a very technical swing which has definitely helped him to become one of the best Golfers. In contrast Matthew, due to years of playing little league baseball and working on timing mechanisms in his swing, has acquired a little hitch in his golf swing. Instead of trying to change Wolff’s swing, high school coach, Rick Naranjo, told Wolff to continue swinging his own swing. This has given rise to Wolff’s magical unique swing. This works for him because he discovered his own technique with just the right mix of external instructions.?

What’s something that golf has taught you??