The Carrot File

Once again Grayden has set my mind going with his carrot peeling exercise. His latest comments and insight appear here and require further comment.

Is thinking about peeling a carrot going to help your golf game? Here’s my take.

I’m reminded of going to a party in my hey day. I was able to walk into a room of strangers, meet them once, and then remember their names.

But there was a problem with this.

It took work. I had to be concentrating from the moment I entered the room and I needed to be on the ball. The bottom line is that while it was interesting, I wasn’t really at the party. I wasn’t having fun.

By being so focused on people’s names, I missed out on other interactions and conversations that make party going so much fun. I didn’t have some magical ability to remember names – I had to work hard at it.

And this is where the carrot thing seems to fail. It’s hard work and quite possibly getting in the way of making the game fun.

The golf swing is complicated. It’s a tough skill and automatic golf works because it gives you a system for making execution as simple as possible.

So here’s my main point: You can play golf in any number of ways. You can go to the golf course with lots of baggage and have your mind full. Or you can simplify the process and let your subconscious do what it’s designed to do. The choice is yours.

And just maybe Steady has summed up my thinking and the automatic process perfectly:

I have found that automatic golf ain’t rocket science. Get behind the ball, stick with your decision, count, get set and swing.

If you can come up with a better description I’d like to hear it.