4. When you see a Top player hit a shot, he is in that moment showing the rest of the world, in the physical, what he was moments experiencing internally.

Unconscious Competence; very low amateurs and Pro’s. This is the final destination on the journey that is golf. This is the place where all who aspire to compete at the top level must find. If you remember, in the first part of the Skill Learning Principles, I made mention that the principles apply to any skill that you wish to develop.

An everyday example of what Unconscious Competence is would be your natural ability to drive competently across a busy town or city, in one piece, when your mind is on other things. Yet another example would be a Tennis player instinctively reacting to what their opponent hits at them. The opponent asks a question of you every time he sends the ball your way and you have an instant to respond with a reply. There is no time to think. Tennis is a game of continual questions and answers and most of the answers are an instinctive response.

In golf the course is the opponent and asks us the questions in the form of the Architectural design laid out before you as you survey the hole. (Weather conditions are also a factor). You could reply with several variations of shot but one of the options is superior to the rest. The best players have the ability to not only play all the shots but their answers are nearly always the right ones, and they come instinctively from the subconscious. Unconscious Competent Players see the best option of shot and feel the necessary swing before the club even comes out of the bag.

When you see a Top player hit a shot, he is in that moment showing the rest of the world, in the physical, what he was moments before experiencing internally. They know they only have to set up to the ball and swing, to get the result because the "How to do it," has already been programmed in automatically. Compare this to the Conscious Competent golfer who is still wrestling with the choice of decision and "How to do it," when he is stood over the ball. A top player has learnt how to hit the ball by applying himself to the mechanics of the technique but to perform at a top level, he has to forget, in the conscious mind and let his muscle memory and feelings take over when it comes to the playing of the shot. Just as the majority of car drivers on our roads can negotiate themselves safely across a busy town when their attention is elsewhere.                

However, sometimes, the Top Players come back into the Stage 3, Conscious Competence level. Remember how Ballesteros, Lyle, Woosnam, to name only three, all lost form, and in some cases have not managed to get it back. It all happened after they started working on their techniques in response to misguided advice that they would have to change their swings in order to stay at the top. By becoming overly analytical they made themselves Consciously Competent golfers again. The experience undermined their confidence and beliefs and affected their ability to perform to the magical levels they had previously achieved.