Concentration - finding it & keeping it
 

the subject of concentration has been brought up recently on a couple threads

i'll offer up a definition that occured to me.... 'the crystallisation of intent into detailed mental imagery'
& that keeping it might be to do with 'the clarity of intense familiarity' - hey if you can get it to rhyme that has to be a bonus - no ? :-)

this might be complete bollocks, but there you go :-)

I like it. It includes "Focus".

Difficult topic for sure.

I believe it is important to have a tidy mental house. A ball striking knowhow that is well organised, so that you can use all your knowledge and skills to strike the ball the way you want to without thinking about more then a handful of things. Like ball flight and pressure point pressure in the hands. While the rest runs on auto pilot and is monitored in the back ground.

Good pre shot routines help.

You're probably right.

So far I haven't been successful with it. The times I've tried to follow a routine it is as if I loose focus on the task at hand. I am wondering whether a good routine can be created by design or if it has to evolve naturally.

I had this whole concentration thing brought home to me yesterday. It was 70 here in Ohio and I thought (silly me) that I'd get to the course at 3:00 and it wouldn't be crowded. Anyway, it worked out that I got started right behind a threesome and in front of a foursome. By the 3rd hole, I joined the threesome. I was par-par on one and two and made par on three despite the very thinly struck shot on that par-3.

I then proceeded to get really fast with my swing, which put me places I should have been. I then duffed a few chips along the way, couldn't put a darn and made double, triple, double.

Finally got myself together and finished par, bogey, par.

BTW, pace of play was very, very slow and I've gotten used to walk/hit/walk/hit/walk/putt.

My focus just left me for three holes (and easy ones at that). My inner voice was full of doubt once the first less than well struck ball. Easy chips got very hard. Distance control just shot.

Valuable lesson for me about not getting ahead of myself, playing one shot at a time, etc. See the shot, check alignments, feel and maintain the lag and listen for the rifle shot of compression.

Mental imagery is not concentration but it can be the subject of concentratIon.

Concentration is the capacity to bring the mind onto something and to bring back the mind back to that focus when It wanders. It is an exclusionary action which filters awareness exclusively on the object of focus.

Your mind is always focused, the only problem is that it might not be focused where you want it.

Focusing the mind onto the inner voice reduces the ability to be mindful of the senses. When you're lost inside your own mind we call that dreaming. It's up to you but perhaps you could try to concentrate your focus on reality instead.

Pre-shot - planning, visualising, collecting your required action to get the job done.
Execution - allowing your skills to execute the pre- planned action
Post- shot - enjoying the result and or comparing the plan to the resultant effort.

If you are over thinking, you are likely to choke your actions via being too controlling of skills you really own to a non-concious level.

Over concentration for an entire round is energy sapping. So save that energy for focusing on what is required in 2 minute bursts - walking to your ball, assessing the situ, working out the shot, making the shot and assessing the result....then back to the bag, chat, walk, drive up to the next mini focus session.

We can all tie a shoe lace and talk at the same time. We can do the same with our golf swings. Plan, execute. Yoda says fill up your cup with the good stuff....then you have to execute without being mind cluttered.

Focus- knowing what to focus upon - is a result
Concentration - knowing how to focus on the important things going on - is a process.

Interesting. With that "focus" as you say, if it were to be on the hole for instance when putting , would judging the weight be automatic? I believe this is so. Thats what I attempt to do. "Take the picture , putt to the picture" etc. Like throwing darts or whatever. I rarely take a practice stroke anymore , Im just trying to see the hole in my mind ... some days are better than others !

It seems that your trying to have a mentally created picture in your head as you perform an action. Anytime your consciousness is focused internally, you are in a dream state which detracts you from using the senses. You want instead to be in a state which many people call being present.

Internal processes are great for making judgements/predictions but have no place when performing actions. Actions call for awareness.

With regard to "take the picture, putt to the picture", this is half correct. The picture is judgement call before the shot which is important for line but there also has to be a mentally created kinesthetic feeling of the lag pressure. You need both elements. Once you have the judgement, the memory is encapsulated and stored just like a real memory. Now, you have to change your focus back to your senses and be a witness to your actions.

It seems that your trying to have a mentally created picture in your head as you perform an action. Anytime your consciousness is focused internally, you are in a dream state which detracts you from using the senses. Many people call this being present.

Internal processes are great for making judgements/predictions but have no place when performing actions. Actions call for awareness.

With regard to "take the picture, putt to the picture", this is half correct. The picture is judgement call before the shot which is important for line but there also has to be a mentally created kinesthetic feeling of the lag pressure. You need both elements. Once you have the judgement, the memory is encapsulated and stored just like a real memory. Now, you have to change your focus back to your senses and be a witness to your actions.

Im fascinated by this. My picture is not of the line though, for clarification. Just the hole and for lag pressure purposes. (Your comments show a superior knowledge of TGM ) . My line is consciously calculated behind the ball factoring in the speed of the ball necessary and then I align a line which I have drawn on the ball towards the correct start line . Line is calculated , weight once Im over the ball, is left to my brain and hands to work out without my conscious intervention. Like a baseball player throwing the ball to home plate...... a much further distance than putts traverse and done with precision and in an instant ,with the crowd yelling , while running etc. No stopping to preview mechanics , practice arm throws or anything. The brain can meter lag pressure in an instant if we just let it. When its working for my while putting it can really do some amazing things weight wise. Crenshawian.

Some days it feels like Im trying to summon it up , some days its seems totally automatic. The days Im trying to summon it up, make it happen , trying to hold the picture in my mind... I can get lost admittedly, dreaming like you say.

Im interested in your comments. Dreaming vs being present. So how does one stay present? Get out of your own way so to speak? Big question I know. Another of golfs secrets maybe.

I really believe most golfers go about lag pressure metering the wrong way .. While they could easily throw a ball a certain
distance or even to a moving a target , the act of putting or chipping or pitching a golf ball a certain (fixed) distance is given over to a different process. One that seems to be ineffective. It should be more like pitching bean bags to my mind. Im just not sure how to keep it going when it goes away.

Regards
ob

To be present of mind is to put the focus onto the senses and use the continuous process of concentration and awareness to maintain it. When the mind does become distracted by thought, you immediately realize this through the awareness of where your mind is placed and you preprogram the concentration to instantly refocus back to the senses. If you do this, single thoughts may appear about the present but these trains of thoughts that pull you into a fantasy world will not.

I always look at the hole when I putt not at the ball

Double Vision
 

Eyes on the ball, mind's eye on the target.
No regrets (past), no anxiety (future), stay present and love the process.

Well said and so so true. You could write a million words about this by way of explanation ... but this is all it is . It works.