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golfers express that they need to get out of their own way, what they are really expressing is the need to quiet their cortex, to allow neural efficiency, and to let the myelin-wrapped neurons do their thing. One phrase that universally resonates with golfers is “Trust it.” Translation: Trust your habits, trust your feels, and, most important, trust your myelin.

A quiet mind and a sense of letting go pave the way for good control. Adam Scott regularly demonstrates admirable control on the course.

    © PA Photos
    So far we’ve established that practice myelinates neural networks to sharpen skills and that the quickest way to interrupt those skills is to think about controlling the movements—the backswing, the putting stroke, grip, posture, aim—that are ultimately beyond our control. In golf the events that lead to the flow-killing overcontrol typically revolve around results. When golfers are not scoring well, they tend to begin thinking and trying to overcontrol their thoughts and golf swings, which is impossible. They begin fighting themselves in the sense that their brain regions are in conflict with one another. The quality of their golf then typically goes into a free fall. For that reason, the mantra of many sport psychologists is “Process, process, process.” We have to let go of the things over which we have no control.

If the Buddha Played Golf
    Thinking about the paradox of control invites us to cross the bridge from neuroscience to philosophy because as much as modern-day empirical scientists want to measure and quantify everything at a structural level, a great deal of debate continues in academic circles about the relationship between materialism, spirituality, and belief. Indeed, research shows that a person’s mind-set and beliefs about controllability influence the syncing up of his or her neural efficiency. Research has shown, for instance, that spirituality plays a strong psychological role in helping people control their behavior and overcome their dependencies (Dingfelder 2003). MIT, known as the most research-intensive university on the planet, has sponsored conferences and symposia at the Mind & Life Institute, which explores the relationship between Western science and Tibetan Buddhism. Through such collaborations, researchers are beginning to report that many monks are able to avoid the typical startle reflex and emotional jolts that most Westerners demonstrate when they hear loud noises. Beliefs serve as the filters of experience, and it is in this area that expert performance will make strides in the coming years.
    The implications of the connection between mind-set, or beliefs, and behavior for golfers are many. First, they can learn to disengage from results and exercise vast amounts of patience and composure. For example, when we interpret a bogey as a negative experience, a corresponding physiological effect naturally occurs. The brain sends signals for the body to create stress hormones such as cortisol. Cortisol leads to stress and tension. Stress and tension compromise our ability to swing the club. Conversely, if we are able to exercise the mental discipline to interpret a bogey as just part of golf, to accepting the bogey or laugh at it, we won’t get the corresponding doses of cortisol that lead to the levels of stress and tension that compromise our performance on subsequent shots.
    In this way the ideas and beliefs that a golfer chooses to construct about the game really do matter. Those beliefs have corresponding physical and physiological consequences. Letting go of overcontrol boils down to trusting that the practice you are doing will ultimately produce greater efficiency and better results. Notice that I said “ultimately.” Focusing on results in the short term and expecting too much too soon can throw us off the path of improvement. Because a lag effect occurs between practice and the brain’s ability to integrate that practice into a behavioral repertoire, golfers