We have taken the liberty to add friends with whom we wanted to share our newsletter. As with all transmissions these days, this one doesn't have to be in your inbox. If you prefer not to have it sent every two months, just let us know.

Also, we have elected to provide a URL from which our readers may download the current issue so as to deter anything resembling "spam."Thanks, CGM

One Under Par
Volume 6, number 5

A Newsletter fromKeyGolf.....October, 2005

To Focus, or not to Focus...That is the Question.

On a golf forum recently, a poster raised the following question: “What part of the ball should I focus on when putting?”

It certainly was not the first time we had seen such a question, and it surely has an innocent enough sound to it. What he received in return were a slew of responses advising him “where” to focus his eyes. “Back of the ball,” “top of the ball,” “pick out a single dimple on the ball,” “the front of the ball,” “close the eyes so as not to see the ball at all,” “look at the hole, not the ball,” and a few others equally as mundane.

What seems clear is that “variety may well be the spice of life,” but it is not very helpful when it comes to golf, unless the variety-discussion is aimed at nothing more than different courses you want to play or have played already.

Focus of attention is indeed an important concern for golfers, but what kind and when to apply it is the frame of reference to be considered. And if a player is puzzled about which “part” of something one should turn that focus toward, the essential nature of what is required has not yet come clear.

"Focus" is one of those English words that is so general in its meaning, that it needs a qualifer or two. There is more than one kind of focus. We need to examine two of those for the game. There is “sharp focus,” which is very much like what the sharp-shooter sees in the cross-hairs through his/her rifle scope. Interestingly, this form of focus has been used by some to illustrate how one should deal with "targets" in golf, too. But the two are quite different when you examine them. A shooter does not have to create any action except in the trigger finger, and does require hand/eye, or at least finger/eye, coordination. Golf does not require hand/eye coordination, else a blind person could not play the game (and more than a few do that very well). Besides that, there are many more moving parts to a golf swing. If you focus your eyes in golf the way a shooter does with a rifle, you will likely become so glued to the intensity of that sharpness that you freeze (or hesitate) at the point of action with several moving parts involved. In actual practice, sharp focus on targets in golf should be totally limited to the pre-shot planning moment that precedes execution.

For golf, the more appropriate term associated with shot execution is “defocus,” which is similar to what one “sees” and does while driving one's car or taking a walk in the park, or looking in the distance at the sky. If you look out your window right now and give thought to an idea, a concern, a notion about anything, you will be aware that there are “things” outside, but you won't be sharply focused on any of them. The trees, grass, sky, birds, bugs - you name it. They are all there and you are aware of all that, but no “sharp” focus of your eyes. That is a state of “defocus.” Everything actually is visible, but you are not “glued” to any one part of it. (Incidentally, this is similar to what players in other sports report of their experience when they are in what they refer to as "a zone.") One does not need to "force" defocus. It is found to be a natural part of the emotional and mental environment created as one approaches making a shot or performing at the automatic level. In other words, if you do not experience "defocus" within your moment of action in golf, you have not reached the automatic level. You have resigned yourself to all of the conditions that go with moving or acting at a manual (conscious) level. Simply put, "defocus" offers a check-point for the player that indicates being fully relaxed, in sync and at the "ready" for making a shot. Sharp focus means just the opposite, except when you use it properly in pre-shot. It is OK for pre-shot, but it is one of several behaviors that will open the door to compromise shot execution.

When you walk to the ball, with clear key running, that should place you into the “defocused” state. In other words, nothing but your clearkey should be in sharp focus, which is as close as golfers need to come to the cross hairs in the rifle scope. If, in fact, you are still sharply focused on anything other than your clearkey, you have not allowed yourself to “give up control,” and that dictates that you will likely remain mentally engaged at a conscious level, specifically immersed in the mechanical environment of what you are doing, in one form or another. That promises to introduce a short circuit into your automatic process. As you might guess, as often as not, that entertains defeating the purpose you are striving for. If you are unable to accomodate “defocus,” if that “defocus” does not show up, it is a most evident clue that you may not be applying the process properly. It means that for some reason, and it could be any one of several, either you have not installed the process sufficiently, you have failed to begin with what it means to trust it, or you may have so much anxiety that the process is unable to operate in balanced fashion in your behalf.

If the “defocus” is, to you, noticeably present, if you experience that, you are in possession of a firm indication that you have created the necessary environment for the automatic principle to work for you at your own best possible level, based on your development and preparation. So allow the focus/defocus issue to be to you a meter that measures your readiness to play the shot. If you aren't ready, meaning you are unable to recognize the ”defocus,” go back to your pre-shot moment. If you still can't get ready, go back to the practice area. If that doesn't work, go back to your instructor. If that fails, give us a call or send us an email. Of course, in the alternative, one certainly can continue to play this game, and even have fun doing it, at the third level of development - consciously, manually and susceptible to all that accompanies third level, manual, conscious conditions.

As we have pointed out many times, when you drive your car, you do not focus sharply on any part of what you are doing or the environment in which you are doing it - that is, unless you are a novice with your driving. You do not “stare” at, or otherwise become engrossed in, the traffic (we hope), the lines on the road, the steering wheel or the accelerator. You are normally in a state of “defocus” at that point with your driving. Everything is there and you do have peripheral awareness, but nothing enters the “sharp” focus mode, until or unless you meet a sudden or critical moment. If you have to slam on the brakes, however, your action will likely be in the ”react” mode. That is apt to come instantaneously and you will react based on the best ability you have from what amounts to your automatic driving development. You don't have time to think about what you should do (at least, not consciously). You simply do it. That will, of course, result in bringing things into sharp focus, until the emergency subsides or disappears.

This writer recalls a time when a driving emergency arose while he was operating a rental car with a stick shift. His own car was an automatic transmission. In the emergency situation he hit the brake but did not engage the clutch on the rental. In that moment, the reaction was based on his most current experience and he wasn't automatically ready for the stick and clutch - just the auto type. There was no problem other than choking the engine by not using the clutch, but it illustrates something of how our systems work. For sure, it brought him from the defocus of normal driving back to sharp focus that goes with emergencies. Hopefully that will also help us to see that not getting to defocus in golf essentially means that we are holding on to a state, condition, sense of “emergency” (better known as an emotional environment filled with more anxiety than we need), rather than getting to the calmer waters that accompany the process that begins with self-trust and is initiated by applying a clear key.

When you are able to walk to the ball with clear key going, and you find yourself consistently in a state of “defocus,” you will have made the trip to anxiety-free automatic. That is your chief signal that the process is working for you. If you are at a any point snapped to the attention level of sharp focus, that is the signal that some form of anxiety has invaded your process. If that happens infrequently, you can write it off as a exception to the rule. If it happens often, that is an indication that you have work to do to entrench the process thoroughly.

A definite “no-no” lies in anything that facilitates or directly attempts to create a sharpened focus connected to any shot execution in the game.

The recommendation is to practice regularly with your clear key, and by all means, play with it when you go to the course. If you do that, the defocus will come.

===============================
We have placed past issues in ourArchives.
Let us know if you have questions or comments.
eMail