THE POWER OF THE PRESENT
“I just stay in the moment. I never think one hole ahead. I’m not thinking about tomorrow. I’m not thinking about the next shot. I’m just thinking about what I need to do right now. It’s very simple.” – Brooks Koepka
Being “in the present” and “in the process” go hand in hand. But being present is not easily achieved and takes practice. The process of game improvement, or any activity that you want to do as best you can, requires being present and choosing to direct your focus to the task at hand.
Unfortunately, most of us spend time switching between time zones: the past, present or future or we are distracted in and out of tasks meaning we aren’t able to give it our best. We are not immersed in what we are doing and having to re-focus constantly means we burn mental energy and lose time. In golf, our mistakes or lost opportunities can cause us to think about the past, whereas excitement or fear can cause us to think about what might happen in the future. Being in either the past or future during our rounds is not conducive to high performance.
The optimal place for high performance and making progress day by day and week to week, is the present moment. In fact, the definition of “The Zone” or “Flow State” – which you probably know of as the state of mind where peak performance happens – is being completely immersed in an activity. I.e. all that you are focusing on is what you are doing NOW. You’re not thinking ab0ut the past or worrying about how what you are doing now will affect your future.
Whenever I speak with a student after a great round, being present and focusing on “one shot at a time”, is what they describe. When you are present, you are experiencing the moment to its fullest. You are just “being” – not thinking and judging. Your focus is at its sharpest, your mind at its quietist and you have direct access to your skills.
However, from my ongoing work with competitive golfers, I’d say that being in the present is one of the biggest challenges that golfers face. The world that we live in with all its distractions is lowering attention spans and making it harder and harder to quiet the mind and be in the moment. But the good news is that we can train ourselves to be more present and more focused on what’s most important in that moment.
One of my Tour player clients told me of her experience of having a 1 shot lead with 3 holes to play. She had seen the leaderboard, which immediately made her feel more nervous, but we had trained her for the challenges of being in that situation.
She knew that staying in the present and keeping her mind quiet was the thing that was going to help the most during those long walks in between shots. She knew that her mind would want to start predicting the future and her chances of success – but if she let it – it would reduce her chances of getting the outcome she desired. She told me that those few holes seemed “to take an eternity”, but she kept reminding herself to be present and patient, and that time would eventually pass. And it did, with her first win on Tour.
To access our best skills in the biggest moments, we must work on the skill of being more present daily.
How to practice being more present
To train yourself to be more present, you’ll need to develop greater self-awareness of what you are focusing on (to know where your mind is) and have an anchor to bring your wandering mind back to. The more you can do this, the more you improve your ability to stay present. You might have heard of mindfulness, which is the practice of knowing exactly where your mind is and what you are choosing to place your attention on. Being “mindless” is the opposite, you go wherever your wandering “monkey mind” takes you.
Being more present starts with awareness – you need to be aware of when you are no longer in the present and drifting away with your thoughts.
Awareness Meditation
The practice of meditation has been done for thousands of years, but it’s been growing in popularity in recent years – probably because people are aware that they struggle to focus their attention, which causes stress and underperformance.
The purpose of meditation is to train you to be aware of when you are not in the present moment, so you automatically spend more time there. Most of my students are practicing meditation daily and improving their ability to be more present.
To get started with meditation, all you need is a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for 10-20 minutes. Research suggests that change in your brain starts occurring after 8 minutes of daily meditation. Here’s how to get started:
- Start by inhaling through your nose for 4 seconds until you feel your diaphragm go out. This is called “deep belly breathing”. If only your chest is moving while you are breathing, you’re not filling your lungs with air.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth to the count of 8 seconds. The long slow exhale sends signals to your nervous system and tells it that you are safe, and it activates the sympathetic nervous system to lower the stress response.
- Repeat this breathing cycle for a minimum of 8 minutes, paying attention to your breaths – how it feels as the air it goes in, it’s temperature, your abdomen moving out and how it feels as your lungs deflate and the air is released.
- If you notice your mind wandering, which it will from time to time, gently bring it back to the breath. Every time you become aware of your attention no longer being on your breath, you are training your awareness and ability to stay present.
- Try to do this daily for 10-20 minutes. If you’re new to meditation, start with shorter sessions for at least 3 days a week.
This type of meditation also trains you to be more aware of how you are breathing, which is key to controlling your heart rate and stress level.
Accessing the Present Through Your Senses
Another way to access “the now” is through your senses. What can you see, feel, hear and smell? On the golf course you might try “walking meditation” in between shots, (which is one of the reasons I prefer to walk than take a cart) where you pay attention to the trees, the sky, the clouds, the smell of the grass, the feel of the wind and the ground beneath your feet. When you notice your mind wandering to your thoughts, bring it back to what you are sensing.
Other ways to practice
Focus on something, a glass, a golf ball, your breath etc. (be very specific e.g. the light sparkling off one dimple of the golf ball). Now hold your attention and see how long it is before a thought comes in, then notice if your mind drifts, and if it does, gently bring it back. Practice daily at first, then often to maintain the skill. This is essentially what meditation is – noticing where your mind is, catching yourself when you are no longer in the present and bringing your attention back your anchor i.e. your breathing. Every time you can do it, you increase your attention span and your awareness.
Ask yourself: “I wonder what my next thought will be?” and ‘notice’ how long it is before a thought comes in. Keep practicing until you can extend that time to several seconds or more.
Reward Being Present
Reward yourself by staying in the present. When you are doing any task, set a timer and tell yourself that you are going to do this, and only this, for the time period that you’ve allocated to it. Whether it’s practice, work or study, put your phone somewhere that you can’t reach for it and reward yourself with a look at it after you’ve finished your highly focused session. After time spent doing this, you’ll begin to notice when you’re losing focus and by bringing it back to the task, you’ll improve your ability to stay present and immersed in your activity for longer.
We will cover meditation and mindfulness in Module 4.
When you can train yourself to be in the present for longer, and your focus is directed towards your optimal performance process, it will become a powerful combination.
