I was playing golf with my friends last weekend, a common tradition I like to keep afloat, and one of my friends was having a poor day with the putter.

“My mind just won’t shut up” is the reason that he gave me. This is not new or unusual. It’s the reason why so many of us feel as if with every putt, we somehow relive every poor stroke on the fairway leading up to the green, every similarly missed putt at that distance, that time you did that embarrassing thing when you were 6.

As someone who has struggled with this same issue (and still at times find myself battling it), I know how difficult quieting your mind can be. But when we do experience those quiet moments, we understand how powerful they can be, how rejuvenated they can make us feel, and how much simpler our “big” putt can become.

Recreate your world with closed eyes

If asked to describe what we see when we close our eyes, most of us would describe it as the color black. However, the truth is that our closed eyes are often telling us a much more interesting story. Close your eyes right now, focus on what you see. Is it actually just the solid color black? Or is it more of a mixture of colors, some of which are undoubtedly created by the lighting in the room in which you are sitting?

Now take this exercise out to the golf course. Next time you are waiting for a partner to putt, close your eyes and recreate your own putt. (I promise it is not rude, and if your playing partner does something great s/he will be more than happy to tell you again.) Really study your putt, try to perfectly visualize the crest of the break, the bottom of the cup, the direction of each individual blade of grass. Look to that as if it is your only view of the putt, and then putt to what you see in your mind.

Feel Your Body

Our bodies are pretty damn intricate, and when you actually break them down part by part they can be quite interesting to explore. When it comes to quieting your mind, this same intricacy can also be quite a powerful tool. One of my personal favorite ways to bring myself into a quieter state of mind is to scan my body from top to bottom, focusing on how each part feels as I pay attention to it.

Does this seem stupid? Of course it does, what does this have to do with anything golf related? All I can say is that if it is stupid, but it works, it isn’t stupid. I did this myself when I recovered from a shoulder surgery. Any time I got down about the state of my arm, or the pain of my recovery I would take a moment to scan my whole being and after identifying that the only part of me that was in pain was limited to a spot on my shoulder the size of a dime, I was actually energized.

I have since taken this to the golf course and I find that focusing on this energetic flow not only quiets my mind but shifts my focus to the internal elements of who I am, rather than the distractions of the game I am playing.

Stay Connected To Nature

Nature is both colorful and happening like a city, but it manages to capture these elements in a way that is much more calming and connective, rather than rampant and distracting. Remember why you chose to play in the first place. Focus on how naturally a stream flows or how calmly a blade of grass sits and realize that you too can flow and be calm just as naturally. Golf is just a game. Nothing about it is any more or less real than the stock you put into how you feel you should be playing. The golf course is one of the most relaxing and calming places I have ever been. Take this in, and then come back to the world when you’re ready to play.

The Power of Breath

I learned this from practicing marksmanship in the Army. Your body must be relaxed to put a bullet on target at 300+ meters. Further, you have not just one, but two points in every breath when everything is lined up perfectly. Be it at the top of the breath, or the bottom, coming to your natural resting place will reset your perspective to the same place every time.

Make Your Par

We love inundating our minds with negative thought patterns and basking in reasons why people should feel sorry for us, but we rarely take the time to go through what we are appreciative of in golf. This may not quiet your mind completely, but it certainly helps to shut up that asshole in our brains we often let run as a part of our auto-pilot.

Yes, I get that you took a 7 on the last hole, but don’t you normally get two strokes there? Guess what, you’ve made your par. Makes that last hole a little easier to take now doesn’t it?

Drop The Label

So many of us admire people who can effectively quiet their minds, yet we also love labelling ourselves as incapable of being like them. I don’t mean to sound condescending, but just because you think all this stuff will make you look retarded to your friends, or even less consequentially your playing partners, is irrelevant. This is your game, and if it works for you then who cares.

Try it, it will help.

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Photo credit: ShinyPhotoScotland via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND