Better Golf is Unconscious Golf - Bob Rotella Advises Mike Weir

Now I'm really looking forward to some unconscious golf at Doral over the weekend, but I’m not sure what sort of spectacle it’s going to be with players like Mike Weir allegedly “going unconscious” – doesn’t sound like a lot of action there.

To be fair, the article I’ve just read from Lorne Rubenstein at Globe and Mail talks about the advice that Bob Rotella is giving Mike Weir in preparation for this weekend’s World Golf Championships. And any advice from Bob is usually good advice. You can read Lorne’s article at “Trying to ‘go unconscious’ on the course”

I talk a lot in my golf hypnosis work about the difference between the conscious and the unconscious mind in my work and I truly believe that better golf is played in the unconscious mind – by being in the zone, as it’s more commonly called.

There’s an important separation in the mind between planning a shot, a conscious process, and executing it. Have you noticed how when you hit a really good shot, you tend to think,” Wow, what happened there? What did I just do right?” The odd thing is that it usually happens when you didn’t have a thought, at least a conscious one, in your head. You certainly can’t remember what special move you made to get that result. You rarely get those special shots when you’re consciously thinking about all those things the pro told you to remember at your last lessen.

I know I’m always talking about being your own virtual caddy, but that idea also fits in well with this idea of unconscious golf. Just watch Tiger Woods consciously discussing his shot with his caddy and then seeming to glaze over as he unconsciously executes the shot. He’s getting the benefit of their collective experience in planning the shot and then trusting his unconscious swing memory to hit the shot.  If you haven’t already, you can get your free download of my “Your Own Virtual Caddy” article and Golf Hypnosis mp3 by subscribing to my free Golf Hypnotist ezine. You’ll find a sign up box on the right of every page of my website.

It works in reverse too. I personally use one of the Explanar Golf Training & Fitness Systems to groove my swing and I often take myself into self hypnosis before practicing on it. That way, all the feelings and muscle actions elicited by the Explanar are going straight into my unconscious muscle memory without any interference from my critical factor – my conscious mind.