Meditation

[DarkPrince]

So I was walking around at work today and stopped in the yoga section and remembered that a lot of people are using yoga to improve their flexibility which prompted me to move on to ask whether or not anyone here has attempted to use meditation to strengthen their mental game? I've never done it, but my professor I had for Eastern Religious Thought a year or so ago felt that its a very powerful practice (not necessarily for golf, but life in general). Any thoughts?

[Ben]

I broke my ankle a few years back and picked up a book about Buddhism to pass the hours laying in bed. Not only do I believe that the introduction to Buddhist beliefs helped me heal, only nine weeks after surgery I played my first tournament, but I think its an all around great way to go about life. When I feel as though I'm putting undue pressure on myself or thinking in the past or future tense, I clear my thoughts, find my breathe and recite the Buddhas name. Works for me.

[senorchipotle]

one of my professors in college, at once the weirdest and most interesting person i've ever met, was a yoga master for thirty something years. he meditates for an hour a day. once a month, he performs reverse peristalsis to ''clean'' himself out and he would sit for hours in a sweat box to rid impurities. he ran five miles a day and informed us that he did not need viagra and he and his wife made love at least five times a week. he is 82 years old. in short, the mind is a very, very powerful thing.

[Dad-2-3]

Give "Zen Golf" by Dr. Parent a read. I thought it was a bunch of hogwash until I actually read the book this winter and incorporated some of the teachings. I'm playing much better this spring and having a better time doing it. Even the bad shots aren't downers like they used to be.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Being in control of your mind is the 15th club in your bag. I have taught mind and body coordination for over twenty-five years and do breathing and meditation exercises daily. The principles of that discipline and the benefits of those exercises make it easy for me to let the last shot go, good or bad, and make good decisions concerning the next shot, and feel confident about the shot I am about to hit, which is a huge factor in having it come out right. If I choose the wrong shot or wrong club, the next time I'm in that situation I don't make the same mistake. I don't allow myself to get intimidated by the course. I have some skill-building to do to play better, but I can truly say I make few mental mistakes and I get the most out of the skills I have.

[CarlSpackler]

Give "Zen Golf" by Dr. Parent a read. I thought it was a bunch of hogwash until I actually read the book this winter and incorporated some of the teachings. I'm playing much better this spring and having a better time doing it. Even the bad shots aren't downers like they used to be.

I second that. I read it last summer and started playing better right away. It is a great book and has some great practices to keep your head in the game whether playing good or bad. The bottom line is that you need to focus on every shot regardless of how difficult or easy or what has happened before.

I use active meditation occasionally where I will play a perfect shot/hole/round in my head. It prepares the head for dealing with the first time you might break a milestone since you have already experienced it mentally.

[right handed phil mickelson]

I use minor forms of meditation on the course to relax my mind if golfers ADHD starts to kick in. I'll look up at the sky or the scenery around me for a minute or so, and close my eyes and just focus on breathing steadily and slowly. I'll start to relax instantly and become more focused on my game after that. That's how I shot a 34 in one of my high school golf matches.

It was one day a while back when I was just having a horrific round of golf. I looked at the nature all around me and immediately began to relax. I've always loved nature, so I feel really comfortable out on the course. After I took a second to collect my thoughts, I noticed that I could focus on my swing thoughts a lot more then before, and I shot -1 for the rest of the holes I played. I've never really looked into the statistics or studies about meditation, nor do I have an interest to. All I know is that meditation, in any form, is beneficial to a person. It's not a religious thing either. You don't have to be Buddhist to meditate. You can be Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Sunni, Hindu, hell even Zoroastrian.


Fact: Meditation is beneficial to your golf game.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Being in control of your mind is the 15th club in your bag. I have taught mind and body coordination for over twenty-five years and do breathing and meditation exercises daily. The principles of that discipline and the benefits of those exercises make it easy for me to let the last shot go, good or bad, and make good decisions concerning the next shot, and feel confident about the shot I am about to hit, which is a huge factor in having it come out right. If I choose the wrong shot or wrong club, the next time I'm in that situation I don't make the same mistake. I don't allow myself to get intimidated by the course. I have some skill-building to do to play better, but I can truly say I make few mental mistakes and I get the most out of the skills I have.

Can you recommend any good books on meditation? I bought 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind, Change Your Life a couple of years ago, but it really didn't dive in very deep on meditation. It was more like a meditation for dummies.

[The Recreational Golfer]

The method I teach isn't written down, but I can describe it for you. There are three methods. The first one is expansion meditation. Sit on the edge of a chair with good posture. Think of something infinitely small, then of yourself, then of something infinitely large, and keep the feeling of expansion moving. The second method is concentration. Think of something infinitely large, then of yourself, then of something infinitely small, and keep the feeling of concentration moving. The third method is to think of one, then half of that, then half of that, etc. You will quickly get to a point where you cannot imagine anything smaller, but keep the movement in your mind going.

The third method is called half, half, half meditation, and is the most useful one for daily life situations, since you can calm your mind and get it moving in just a few seconds. If you were to do an extended meditation session privately, do expansion and concentration, alternating between them every thirty seconds or so. The important point in all three methods is to keep your mind moving. That gives it stability. A mind that is fixed on something is easily disturbed.

Why this method works, and a few of its finer points, can only be understood clearly through personal contact, but this is a good start. The book that supplies the basis and rationale of the method is Ki in Daily Life by Koichi Tohei.

[The Recreational Golfer]

On the other hand, I heard a few years ago about a Yogi who said something like, "I have heard that golf is a mental game. I have a very strong mind, so why is it that I cannot break 100?"