Meditation and your Pre Shot Routine

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞?

The goal of your pre shot routine is to get to a specific mental state.

It is the mental state that is research proven to help you hit better golf shots.

It is also proven to have powerful positive effects on all sports and daily life.

It is called the Zone or the Flow State.

Even if you do not fully access the Zone all the time, getting close to the Zone will trigger dramatic improvements in your play.

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝.

Meditation means different things to different people.

Here is a quote from Anna Wise… one the leading brain wave researchers relative to performance and mental states.

The quote is from her book “The Awakening Mind”. An excellent read btw. 😊

It was written after she had done over 25 years of EEG research on thousands of high performers from athletes to musicians and many pursuits in between.

“𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 - 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 - 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏.

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 “𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏” 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒈𝒂, 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒔. 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔.

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 10 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕.

𝑶𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑬𝑬𝑮 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆.

𝑻𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 - 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕.”

The bottom line is… how you meditate is not important.

What is important is that you can access the mental state that gives you the best chance to perform to your capability.

In my research and coaching experience, I have found that it is critical to have a number of different meditation “tools” for athletes.

What works great for some… is useless for others.

The key is helping each individual understand what the optimum mental state feels like, learn how to access it on command and then apply it to their on-course performance.