THE QATSPY GOLFER’S PAGE

By: Charles W. Boatright

There was a discussion on Arkansas Fairways and Greens radio show on Saturday, 05Nov2016. Bob Steel, the host, asked Jay Fox, the co-host what causes a golfer to lose their edge, control, or mental focus. I have a small window on what athletes refer to as performing “In-The-Zone” performance and not LOSING CONTROL.

I worked as a Grid Engineer with a utility for 33-years in the area of transmission lines, the larger high lines. Part of our work we performed is what is called energized work, or HOT WORK on 115kV, 115,000 volts, 3,000-amp lines. Let me first preface the level of amperage that is considered lethal. It only takes 0.2 amps to be lethal to the human body.

My career covered line design, maintenance, construction, and writing procedures for line work. I don’t have to explain that the nature of line work is very hazardous. The work we perform is covered by several safety entities and regulations. I could fill sixteen large three-ring binders with all of the regulations governing our industry.

Part of my job was serving on several accident investigation teams investigating injury or fatalities. It is never a pleasant task, especially visiting the site where the incident took place, as it is almost eerie feeling one can experience.

But one of the benefits from the investigation is lessons learned that could help others avoid the same fate. What we learned from the majority of our accident investigations was two main themes were in play– lost of confidence and complacency. Lack of confidence consisted mainly of not following proper routine and/or sequence established; and complacency consisting of distractions, lack of preparation, not allotting adequate time, and lack of focus.

Both lack of confidence and complacency are the catalysts that usually sets up the conditions leading to the incident. During the root cause analysis process, the underlining causes were distraction and complacency. Coach Nick Saban, Head Football Coach of Alabama, preaches to his football team of not getting complacent. It gets the person or crew out of their routine, by not following routine or proper sequence. You can’t eliminate distractions, but you can prepare for the distractions and manage them.

In the golfer’s case, distractions are enviable, either internal or external, but preparation is your best technique to deal with distractions. This is why practice how you play, and play how you practice, or the scrimmage-type 405 Training Drill, are important to the golfer. The golfer has to take the practice onto the course. This is the reason the golfer can’t set up the same conditions on the practice range that exists on the course. This develops the disconnect, therefore disrupting the routine there by one’s greatest advantage the golfer has, the SUB-ZONE, engaging the subconscious mind.

One way to engage or re-engage the subconscious mind is by developing an engrained routine that contains a very simple sequence to relax the mind. One thing that disrupts one’s routine and sequence is thinking something has changed. We found out during our investigations that the person or crew thought they were working under a different set of circumstances, and the routine and sequence no longer applied. This is a wrong mindset, since condition changes, but the objectives don’t.

The best technique to use to refocus is to keep conscious mind focused on the objective, and have confidence that your subconscious mind will perform as expected. What occurs to a golfer that hits the skids is having an overactive mind, thinking instead of focusing. One way to refocus is to step back and go through your fundamental routine, using the exact same sequence. In actuality, nothing has changed, except that the golfer is thinking, instead of focusing. The same routine and sequence that applies during a relaxing practice round, also applies during a tournament.

In line work during storm restoration, crews have a tendency thinking the situation has changed where the normal routines and sequences no longer apply. This is a deadly mindset, because the objective have not changed of doing maintenance, just the conditions has changed.

Just because pressures and distractions are present doesn’t mean the golfer’s routine and sequence change. The movie Flight of the Phoenix, underlines this same theory about principles, of working under different conditions. This movie is about a group of passengers who are left stranded in the middle of the Arabian desert after a plane crash. Their only hope of survival is to rebuild the aircraft.

On board the plane was an aeronautical engineer who built test model planes as a career. He took the lead in rebuilding the plane. One of the passengers asked him how many passenger planes he designed and built, and his reply was none. I build model planes. The inquiring passenger asked him what makes you qualified to rebuild this plane? The engineer’s answer is very important to the golfer. The engineer’s answered that the same principles that cause the model planes to fly are the very same that cause the actual aircraft to fly. The same applies to your golf routine and sequence. Just because the situations changes doesn’t mean the routine or sequence changes. You have to trust your routine and sequence under various conditions. This allows the golfer to be focused and confident and not get distracted preventing the golfer from getting into his/her SUB-ZONE.

What is interesting about this movie was the flight of the plan was from Jaghbub to Benghazi, Libya.

For more information about the mental game in golf, please purchase my book, The ESPY Golf Swing Coach:

The ESPY Golf Swing Book

The ESPY Golf Swing Book

Purchase your copy of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach to improve your golf swing and game:

By: The QATSPY Golf Approach

Charles W. Boatright

Madison, MS

1-888-514-1228

www.espygolfapp.com

The ESPY Golf Swing Coach:

Paperback $15.75

E-Book $8.99

Hardbacks, signed if desired, are also available

Purchase a copy of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach on my website, www.espygolfapp.com/store OR at your local bookstore.

You may also purchase my book from one of the following retailers:

Lulu Publishing: The ESPY Golf Swing Coach, Charles W. Boatright

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Once you learn WHY, you don’t forget HOW!

YouTube Videos:

https://youtu.be/ZGVNrIw_wlo (Cam & cam-over elements)

https://youtu.be/K2FDHZ3AX9w (Figuring your proper swing plane)

https://youtu.be/TO82PMO6G8M (Developing muscle memory)

You can make a difference for yourself and your kids by placing a golf club and a copy of my book into their hands. You will never look back, only forward. You should not miss this opportunity for yourself and/or your kids.

A Recommendation for your Golf Game:

I would like to recommend a wonderful radio program that I regularly listen to on my I-Heart Radio app on KARN 102.9 FM, out of Little Rock, AR. They air a golf show called “Arkansas Fairways and Greens,” at 7:00am CST on Saturday mornings. It is hosted by Bob Steel and Jay Fox. Bob occasionally has on his show a guest named Shawn Humphries, a Professional Golf Instructor from Dallas, TX. One thing that Mr. Humphries stresses is the mental part of golf, not focusing on the results but the process.

Until next time– Be Synced, Tee-to-Green, with The ESPY Golf Swing!