Professionals also know that the Zone is fleeting.  It’s a mystery as to why and when it will show up, and you never know how long it will last.  To answer these questions you first have to know, what is happening in your mind and body when you’re in the Zone.

Let’s start with the mind first.  Athletes will tell you they don’t think when they’re in the Zone.  Actually they don’t think consciously.  They’re body gets movement instructions from the subconscious and in the Zone this happens without interruption from the conscious.  So mentally, the Zone is the absence of the conscious.

Why does your body move so perfectly in the Zone?   When the body is working perfectly it’s because it is in perfect balance…perfect dynamic balance.  Dynamic balance means, that the muscles of the body are all engaged, and they are working evenly with their opposing muscles.  When it comes to trying to capture what is happening in the body, athletes try to capture a feel.  Here’s the paradox: when the muscles are working evenly they all feel the same.  Since there is no feel that stands out, there is no feel to capture.  So, basically, there is an absence of specific feel in the Zone.

So, how do you find the Zone?  Take away all feel and conscious thought? But how?.. Right?

Just another quick question for you to think about: If the Zone is the absence of conscious thought, can you consciously think your way into the Zone?  I ask this because mental gurus around the world are trying to teach their golfers do it.

Personally, I don’t think, given the parameters of the Zone, that it’s even possible. Getting there is a process, not a way of thinking.

And the question remains: How, if you can’t get there consciously, do you find the Zone?

Comments?

You’ll see how you can quit looking for a new golf swing because YOUR golf swing plus the simple elements of control I will show you will give you a consistently better game and yes, it can be done in 30 minute or less.

This is a new concept for many golfers but it is built on actions that ALREADY take place in your body 24/7. I just show you how those same processes can be used to get your game under control for better accuracy, and length with an easier golf swing (yours).

So check out the video below and let me know your thoughts.

Hit’m well,

Tracy

Click this video to learn the hidden keys to play your best golf consistently for the rest of your life.

Hidden keys for Consistent Golf-Tracy Reed on Vimeo.

(Not bad for someone who stuttered as a kid…don’t you think?)

And of course, I’d like to hear your feedback.

Hit’m well,

Tracy

I wanted someone to ask the question… But alas, I guess I’m just that much farther ahead of the curve, I don’t know…

So, in golf, the object is to get the ball to go to the target… How in hell can that happen if you’re not suppose to think about the target (because it is a future thought) !!!

I hear you. But I didn’t say, don’t think about the target, I said don’t think about future thoughts…

Your own mind put the two together and probably along the way blew a fuse. I know I would have!

Figure it out yet?

How about now?

No? It’s ok. Here’s the answer: Bring the target to the present!

Now steam is really coming out your ears! Especially if you have been teaching golfers to focus on the target!

Instead of thinking about the target, think like the subconscious would think…

The question? How do I have to hit the ball to make it go to the target?

That’s a present thought!

Making any sense yet?

But in my life, I’ve made the greatest discoveries by taking that next step when I wasn’t sure what would happen…

We’re working on playing golf from the subconscious mind and improving THAT process. The response is to a comment on the post below.

Here’s the catch: Your goal isn’t to just hit the ball…

Your goal is to “see” the image the subconscious is trying to see.

When you see the image, you’ll hit the ball.

It sounds backwards, but that’s how it always works. That’s also how I know that the ball on the ground is the present and the target is in the future…

The subconscious MUST stay in the present because that’s where it must be to keep the body alive.
And the subconscious controls movement through the use of images.

SO… Any image that the subconscious uses to control a movement is positively in the present!

If the target were the present image, that’s what you would see, but that is the goal of the shot and doesn’t come into play for the subconscious until AFTER the ball is hit.

You see, there’s an argument as to whether the target is present or future. I base my findings on the pictures the subconscious uses to control movement (which again, HAVE to be in the present).

Those on the other side of the argument use a demonstration of throwing a ball to a farget, which makes the target the present… And for that case it is, because the ball is in your hand and the subconscious can FEEL it, making it part of the feedback the subconscious can use to gauge the movement needed to propel it toward the target. The target is the present because the distance and the arc of the throw between the hand and the target is what the subconscious has to picture.

But when you hit a golf ball, the golf ball is NOT connected to the body; the GOLF CLUB is, so the feedback the subconscious uses to make the swing can only be gauged by getting feedback from the weight and movement of the golf club towards it’s target… the golf ball.

As a side note, Biomechanically, the golf swing IS a throw, but in this case we are throwing the club, NOT the ball, which is why Fred Shoemaker’s method of throwing golf clubs in his book “Extraordinary Golf” gets results.

What decides the target for the subconscious is based on the goal of the movement the subconscious has to control combined with the live feedback from the object being moved. The subconscious uses the feedback from the object the body is controlling to adjust that movement toward the goal.

In golf, the target is an additional step away from the goal of striking the ball, so unfortunately, the target of the shot is in the future.

And this is why focusing on the target during the golf swing has caused so much anguish for so many golfers for so many years. The damage is caused when the golfer finds that focusing on the target isn’t working…

AND HE HAS NOWHERE ELSE TO TURN. Imagine that feeling of loss… I know because I was there (yup, I used to focus on the target and wonder  WTF when the shot didn’t work), and it took ONLY 20 years or so to figure out the answer that DOES work.

Sorry, just a little bit of pent-up frustration venting there…

In answer to the questions I asked in the 2 lower posts: Why Does The Subconscious Mind Still Fail and The Perfect Golf Swing Has Been Found!…

The reason Golf Swing Control gets such fast results is because the process ties the golf swing to the Auto-Balance system. The Auto-Balance system is one of those higher priority “life or death” tasks the subconscious gives a higher degree of focus.

By tying the golf swing to the need to stay in balance, the swing immediately gets moved up in priority and immediately gets more focus than before.

Now, I add another concept with Bio-Visual Focus. That is focusing on what the subconscious is focusing on during the shot.

The way I get the conscious to help out (instead of interrupting) is that I involve the conscious in the process.

1) Hit balls with your eyes closed until you “see” (consciously) what the subconscious is looking for during the swing - when you do… provided you are moving in balance, you’ll hit the ball well.

2)Take the picture the subconscious is making, “tweak” it in the conscious to create a more vivid picture and to better achieve the desired results.

3) Drop the picture back into the subconscious… Except now, since it took part in the process, the conscious is sitting by quietly watching to make sure you see the right picture!

The results are ridiculously uncanny accuracy and relaxed distance with no interruption from the conscious. If you make a mistake, you can recall the swing and you can tell where you made the mistake so you can fix it right there. That way you don’t continue making the same mistake, which would lead to doubt and a serious feeling of loss… (you’ve probably been there.)

The visualization works well for two reasons.

1) It is the same picture the subconscious uses to make the golf swing…

2) It is tied to balance feedback so that the picture is being checked and further “tweaked” by comparison to live feedback from the body.

In other words, the subconscious mind cannot disregard this picture as “made up” because it agrees with the feedback the subconscious uses to check and correct its movement.

There is no argument in the mind about the picture and the conscious is watching the process to see how it turns out. There is no doubt because both minds know that this is the shot process and they are both working together toward the same goal.

Sound Complicated? It’s a helluva lot easier than trying to fix or remember your golf swing…

And it doesn’t involve pouring your guts out to a golf psychologist… Unless you just can’t help but talk yourself out of your game… In which case, I know a real good one I’m currently communicating with that I’m rather sure can help you.

If you know your conscious mind needs help before you can work on the subconscious, let me know and I’ll put you on to someone that can help… Seriously, I will!

We have already established that the Conscious is the easy target… There are plenty of good specialists that will help fix the conscious, so let’s put it aside for now.

We KNOW that the subconscious makes the swing…

GIVEN the golfer (professional) who does this well… No conscious distraction, trust the subconscious…

WHY does he still have bad days? You know… when he’s thinking properly yet he still doesn’t hit the ball right, even though he KNOWS he’s not distracting himself…

It means that the subconscious DOESN’T ALWAYS make the perfect golf swing…

WHY NOT?

(This is how a golfer who KNOWS how to think unconsciously and does it well, CAN STILL end up doubting everything he has been taught.)

I gave you the answer…the subconscious will only raise the golf swing to the top of the priority list of stuff THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE keeping you alive and safe.

Less priority means less focus. You want the subconscious mind to focus more on your golf swing, you have to move it into that area of “life and death” stuff… But…

THE Brain IS NOT going to allow anything above that point!

But I found a loophole… I have found a way to move the golf swing up into the “untouchable zone” of stuff in the subconscious priority list so that the subconscious focuses more on the swing.

I’m just asking if anyone has an idea HOW I did it?

To rephrase the situation… I’m asking you to think OUTSIDE THE BOX here. Although the comments are at the outer edges of the box compared to the most popular thoughts of “fix the darned swing”, I’m looking to stretch your minds, because that’s when the light comes on and you smash the walls holding you back.

Anyone want to smash walls?

(Here’s a hint… I have to get the Conscious mind to help out with this one.)

Now you KNOW I’m off of my rocker…

I say it all of the time. There is a perfect golf swing in each one of us. You’ve probably made a perfect golf swing at one time or another. In fact, when you did, it probably caught you by surprise, making you wonder how you did it…

And of course, it made you wonder how to do it again, which is the wonder that brings us back AND the frustration that can make us throw clubs.

It’s there… Inside of you… Trying to get out.

So WHY can’t you do it when you want to? That’s what I’m going to finally answer today.

The perfect Golf Swing is locked inside your subconscious mind, which is where the problems start. You see, the subconscious mind runs just about everything going on in your body right now… AND it controls physical movements such as the golf swing, or shooting hoops, or catching a football.

And then, there’s the other brain… The conscious brain. That’s the brain that thinks, or so we think. Actually, the conscious brain is the boss of the two brains and it’s the brain that handles problems, asks questions, notices things and communicates with the outside world (the inside world being “in the brain).

Contrary to popular belief, the conscious brain CANNOT handle the complicated task of guiding the body through a complicated movement like the golf swing. Heck, try to walk while consciously thinking about how you place each step and you’ll see how weird it feels. It’s no wonder the golf swing is so hard to learn!

In terms of thinking, the conscious mind is actually only a Director, which tells the subconscious which memories or facts to pull up and examine in any situation. it tells the subconscious what to look for as it scans the memory banks, much like you would enter a search term into GOOGLE to find information.

As the boss, the conscious also directs the subconscious as to what movements it wants the body to make… And if there’s a mistake… The conscious is quick to tell the subconscious that it is screwing up… Even sometimes trying to take over for the subconscious, which often leads to frustration.

Say for example you have a somewhat routine shot to make o the golf course. The conscious KNOWS the subconscious can handle it so it gives the order and goes off to “multitask” while the swing is being made. Suddenly, the conscious mind realizes that the shot was messed up and starts asking the subconscious what happened…

So… Do you want the truth as to why the shot wasn’t perfect, or the excuse that comes out?

The truth is that the subconscious is busy doing lots of things based on list of internal priorities… And the golf swing just ain’t at the top of the priority list.

The subconscious has a few priorities that are more important… Like “keep the body working and unhurt”. Which means that if you trip on something, you IMMEDIATELY react in a fashion that will hopefully keep you from injuring yourself.

So that’s the real problem you have to deal with every day on the golf course… A list of priorities in the subconscious that supersede the golf swing, so if the swing wasn’t so good… Only the conscious cares, the subconscious has moved on to what ever is happening to the body at the very moment.

The subconscious doesn’t have time to care, nor does it have the capacity to care what happened! The subconscious HAS to stay in the present… The ONE place where emotion doesn’t exist.

Now I could go on and show how it’s the conscious that screws up the golf swing, but that would lead us away from the real discovery. Actually, that is the thinking that created golf psychology and NLP, which both correctly blame the conscious for interrupting the process and try to fix the conscious mind…

BUT, the real problem leading to inconsistent golf shots still exists when you only correct the conscious mind!

The REAL reason for inconsistencies from shot to shot is that the subconscious places the golf swing low on it’s priority list!

So how can you fix that?

I think, I want to see what ideas come up before I reveal the answer…

So… Ponder this situation and leave your comments telling me how YOU would get the subconscious to raise the priority of the golf swing.

Let me know, or I won’t bother answering the problem!

Hit’m well

Tracy

Well, if the latest results I’m seeing is any indicator, I may be the only one who finally has this golf swing thing right!

I recently had a Div I College golfer down to see me to work on his focus.I do this on the golf tee… NOT in a shrink’s office. Why? Because if you’re going to focus on anything, it BETTER be the task at hand…

So, what IS the task at hand?.. Anyone?

The shot. The putt. That’s it. Those are the two things that decide the outcome of your round.

So that’s the secret of great golf… Super-focus on the task at hand. That’s old news…

But HOW? That’s the real news! Because I figured it out and the results are ridiculous

Imagine… Being able to hit any shot on the money, shape it any way you wish, from only on stance… With your eyes closed! It’s not imagination, now its real.

This is NOT hypnosis, NOT golf psychology, nor is it NLP…

OK, so I worked with this college golfer strictly on focus during the shot using the new process of Bio-Visual Focus.

• We start by tapping into the brain’s subconscious feedback system that tells it whether the body is doing what its told.
• Next we use awareness of that feedback to control body movement and increase the accuracy of golf shots.
• Once accuracy is achieved, we move on to shaping shots based only on awareness of bio-feedback from the body.
• Once control through awareness of bio-feedback is achieved, the next step is to tap into subconscious visualization… We’re not creating pictures, but rather just seeing what the subconscious sees during each golf shot.
• Once we can see the pictures, we tweak the pictures for even more accuracy, but this time, the pictures also bring increased distance.
• Lastly we combine the bio-feedback with the subconscious pictures to achieve uncanny accuracy and distance for each shot.

So what happens in simpler terms is we tweak the golfer’s routine so that he moves from the conscious mind into the subconscious mind…the zone, each time he makes a golf shot. He can slip out between shots and go right back in to hit the next shot.

The process gives this golfer total control of each shot, and all I have to do is give him total control of the process.

The results?

•  Where he only played a fade, he can now fade and draw the ball with pinpoint accuracy, both from the same stance, by using the combination of bio-feedback and tweaked subconscious pictures
• He has added 50 yards to his average drive.
• He can hit any shot accurately with his eyes closed.
• He can swing at 120% knowing that he cannot lose the shot right or left because of his control.

And we never worked on his golf swing…

So the only question to ask is; “Why would anyone who wants similar results waste their time working on their golf swing?

Instead, you simply need to work on your control mechanisms.

To learn more about controlling your golf swing, read the rest of the articles on this blog, check out these three web sites:

• Ultimate Golf Society
• Golf Swing Control
• Bio-Visual Focus

If you have questions, call me, my number is on the web sites.

Hit’m well

New Research has shown exactly what happens in the brain during PROPER practice to create supercharged improvement at any task, including golf. This new research shows shocking new evidence that proves:

Skill IS learned rather than a gift.

Translated: You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Daniel Coyle has written a book called ,”The Talent Code” that goes through the process that takes place in a person’s mind when they practice any activity properly. He also studied various hotbeds of talent around the world to pin down this new skill secret. If you wish to excel at anything, this book is a must read.

So what is the difference between those who appear gifted and those who seem to work much harder, but cannot seem to achieve the same level of competency?

During any activity specific neurons in the brain fire depending on the activity. Whenever those neurons fire they get wrapped with a material called Myelin. The myelin protects the “circuit”, but more importantly, as more myelin wraps that neuron, the better and faster that neuron can fire. In other words, repetitive firing of those neurons turns their communication circuits in the brain from ‘dial-up” to T-1 high speed Broadband.

So if you want a higher degree of mastery, build more myelin! But it’s not that easy or we would all be masters…

What separates the masters of any field from the average Joe struggling to improve?

Proper practice. As a golfer I’ve heard one phrase quoted often but all too quickly ignored…

Practice DOES NOT make perfect; PERFECT practice make perfect.

Science has now proven this to be true and discovered what constitutes perfect practice. There is a lot more than constant repetition to achieve mastery.

Consider that Ben Hogan turned his game around in a couple short years from a struggling pro who fought a nasty hook to one of the most controlled, accurate golfers of all time.

To this day, the golf magazines write articles about one certain technique or another that Hogan used to achieve his accuracy… But they completely missed the boat, because…

His secret wasn’t in his technique… It was HOW HE DEVELOPED HIS TECHNIQUE! In other words, his practice technique.

You see, even back in the fifties the methods proven by this new research were already in use… And Hogan was one of the few who used them.

Hogan practiced in such a way as to accelerate this process researchers have discovered inside the brain. But this doesn’t just work for golf. It works whether you are; playing tennis, soccer, the cello, piano, or even learning to overcome shyness!

As long as you practice properly, so that you enage this newly discovered process of myelination in the brain, you can improve any ability at exponential speed.

So what constitutes proper practice?

There are a number of elements:

• Focused practice - all attention should be aimed toward every detail of each practice session.
• Breakdown of movement to smaller movements - Each component of an activity should be mastered separately so that the whole activity doesn’t blur the details of smaller parts. The more detailed the practice, the more neurons get wrapped so that the resulting movement is more exact.
• Accurate practice - Every movement needs to be compared to a “map” to immediately catch and correct mistakes. Mistakes need to be corrected immediately and constantly so that every repetition fires the same neurons to cause the brain to put more wraps on the circuit.
• Passion - because it takes an immense amount of energy to focus so closely and accurately during practice.

So, how did Hogan practice to achieve his turn-around?

Hogan used to take hours to hit only 40 balls. He would hit a golf ball, take a drag from his cigarette, and ponder each shot for a while before he hit the next. He practiced to correct errors and repeat only exact movement. Hogan often practiced his swing movements in slow motion to insure exact movement. He used the balance feedback felt in his feet to create a map he could accurately compare every swing to to insure exact movement.

But there is so much more than the golf swing that makes up a great golf shots. For the rest of the golf shot, a golfer must have excellent focus because he or she must use both the conscious and subconscious mind together to consider all of the variables and decide on the perfect shot shape and spin. Although the swing hits the ball, focus puts each individual swing together that a specific shot requires.

The ability to customize any shot comes from practicing in small parts before reassembling the whole swing. There is the setup, the backswing, transition and downswing and each of these parts can be broken down into smaller parts. Each part may have slight variations that need to be practiced as well so that each individual shot “package” can be created as needed for the varying situations that each shot presents on the golf course.

Hogan was consciously aware of every detail of his body’s movement during his practice. Hogan also practiced his FOCUS technique so he could play without distractions, and properly plan and execute every golf shot. Hogan was not only building his golf swing neurons, he also built up his focus neurons, Something Tiger has done as well.

Now for some bad news…
Because of the degree of focus and attention needed during practice, this also proves that Muscle Memory is the slowest way to groove a golf swing. Your muscles cannot act to engage the mind into the process of remembering your golf swing. Because practitioners of Muscle Memory believe that they can passively engage the brain through mere repetition, they are basically… Wasting most of their time! Sorry guys, but proof is proof.

All of this focus and mistake correction sounds like a lot of hard work doesn’t it? The advantage if done properly is that you can condense 8 hours of practice into 30 minutes or less.

I was teaching golfers world-wide these very practice techniques long before scientists discovered the myelination process and since the start, have been hearing my students rave about how quickly they are improving…

And these methods are easier to use and they still get much faster results than current mainstream teaching methods… And now science has proven the value of this type of practice. (If you can’t tell, I’m a little excited about this.)

This is the very same process with which I was able to successfully teach 1000’s of golfers around the world to quickly and permanently improve their golf games using just the written Golf Swing Control Manual over the last 8 years.

More specifically, what Golf Swing Control has done is to show golfers how to make sure they practice accurately and with the type of focus that generates the myelination process in the brain for the fastest improvement of their whole golf game.

If you have Golf Swing Control and haven’t seen the results I’m talking about here, go back to the manual and read these two chapters:

• “Practice for Quick Improvement”
• “Programming Feel Into Your Game”

And pay attention to DETAIL, because that’s what builds myelin on your neurons.

You may have heard me talking about boosting the abilities of your brain’s communication circuits by using Balance Feedback as the basis of visual focus during movement. Well, what I’ve been saying all of these years has finally been scientifically proven .

My current project, Bio-Visual Focus is another step toward exact practice and super stimulation of the myelination process, but this process is targeted specifically at the neurons that control focus. Bio-Visual Focus is the process I use with better golfers to give them the super-focus to get the final fine-tuning it takes to consistently shoot those sub-par round it takes to win consistently on the PGA Tour. The side effects I have seen of super accuracy and consistency are amazing even to me!

Now before you start writing me emails about Bio-Visual Focus, it’s only for better players
(hcp 4 or less). It is the next level for professionals or those who have mastered the practice techniques in Golf Swing Control. If you want to learn ultimate focus, you must have a legitimate 4 or better handicap OR have mastered the practice techniques in Golf Swing Control (in which case, you’ll probably have or be very near a 4 hcp.)

If you don’t have Golf Swing Control, this new scientific evidence should prove that it is the best method to gain your fastest improvement for your golf game… Even if you can only practice at home during the off season! As I’ve always said, if you do nothing, nothing will change. If you want fast permanent results, get Golf Swing Control. You won’t regret it.

Stay tuned for more cutting edge golf…

Hit’m well,
Tracy
www.golfswingcontrol.com