91. It is very difficult for the conscious competent player to accept that in order for him to improve he has to now learn to” let go” of his mental checklists and allow the subconscious and muscle memory to run the swing

In this lesson we will look at the Unconscious Competent (stage 4) player whose Golf game is aligned to an elite group of golfers commonly referred to as Tour Players and Top Amateurs. The world is full of Unconscious Competent people when it comes to driving a car, typing, catching a ball or running down stairs but not when it comes to hitting a golf ball. Everyday, we perform many complex tasks without so much as a passing thought as to how we do it but when it comes to golf the majority of players never get past the Conscious Competent stage.

You may have played for 15 years, hit over half a million practice shots, had regular tuition from a Pro and developed a tidy looking swing in the process but if you retain the habit of Consciously working the swing, you will never leave stage 3.

After all those hard years of analysis and application it is very difficult for the golfer to accept that in order for him to improve he has to now learn to let go of his mental checklists and allow his subconscious or muscle memory to run the swing.

It will seem a reckless and foolhardy approach after all the years of calculated attempts at controlling your shots. Switching off the conscious mind is what makes the best players in the world what they are because it enables them to now use their mind for the task of visualizing the shot at hand.

Unconscious Competent Players see the shot and feel the necessary swing before the club even comes out of the bag. 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 to their muscle memory. Compare this to the Conscious Competent golfer who is still wrestling with the choice of shot and "How to do it," when he is stood over the ball.

Visualizing your shot is a form of self hypnosis and I cover it elsewhere in the archive. You can only apply this process properly when you are enlightened with an understanding of ball spin and applied through clubface control