Human or The Chimp
October 01, 2020
How often do you hit a bad shot and afterwards realise that you didn’t really prepare properly for that shot?
It’s hardly surprising that we failed to execute anything remotely close to what we would have hoped for without preparing properly. But, it’s quite likely that you didn’t hit that shot….Your Chimp did. These instances are most likely to occur following previous poor shot or hole. You’ll stand over the next shot filled with rage or suffering with a lack of confidence. During these moments we begin to make bad decisions because we are thinking with emotion as opposed to using logical thinking.
You might have been going along nicely but suddenly a bad shot has led to a bad hole and now your round needs ‘saving’. You storm to the next tee cursing your collapse and stand over the ball almost blinded by the red mist. You’ve obviously pulled out an aggressive shot because that’s how you feel right now and before you’ve even stopped to take a breath you’ve compounded your previous mistake with another poor tee shot.
Let’s take a look at the psychological mind. I have recently read ‘The Chimp Paradox’ – Professor Steve Peters which is a mind management programme for confidence, success and happiness. The other half was a bit alarmed but I assured her I was interested because of the endorsements from Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Ronnie O’Sullivan. I really wanted to use this book to see how I could apply the techniques to my golf game and satisfy my intrigue into the world of Sports Psychology. Anyway, here’s a brief taster of things to look out for when you’re on the course and the Chimp is attempting to highjack your round.
When you were in the womb two different brains developed; Frontal ‘The Human’ and Limbic ‘The Chimp’ – an emotional machine. Theses brains developed independently and then introduced themselves as they started to form connections. The chimp is not you but it can make decisions. The chimp offers very emotional thoughts which can be constructive or at times very destructive. It’s important to listen to the chimp but do not let it over ride the Human (You). There is a third part to the psychological mind and that is the computer. Your computer is a storage area and automatic functioning machine.
So how do these three parts of our brain relate to our golf then? Let’s start with the Human part of the brain (Frontal Lobe). Stood on the tee the human will make an interpretation of what lies ahead using sight and then begin to gather facts and truths such as yardage and wind direction. This will lead to some logical thinking like It’s a strong wind straight into me and the worst trouble is short so I had better hit an extra club to make sure I carry the water. This has given us a clear plan of action and you step forward with some confidence after gathering good evidence.
Next on the tee is the Chimp. He’s just had a poor hole previous and is slightly agitated as a result. The Chimp makes the same interpretation as the human by using sight but is not feeling too confident he sees the danger on the right and that’s exactly where he ended up in trouble at the last hole. His emotional thinking reminds him that he’s sliced a number of shots today and he’s not playing well at all. The chimp elects aim left, opening his body up for an inevitable slice towards the danger. There is no clear plan of action and no confidence that the Chimp will execute a good shot here.
The computer part of our psychological brain stores information which the Chimp or Human has put in it. It then uses this information to act automatically or it can serve as a reference point. Your golf computer will be filled with information like; how to swing a club, pre-shot routines, practice sessions, previous rounds. If we can spend time loading our computers with useful information like those mentioned it will leave far less room for the Chimp to throw too much negativity into the mix. A classic case of this would be “I can’t play the 7th” this is the Chimp speaking and you need to override it here. Instead of beating yourself up that you played that hole poorly last week, approach it differently. The logical way of looking at it is that it’s still just hitting a decent driver and then iron into the green. Just because it’s the 7th doesn’t mean you suddenly can’t play the shots you have up to this point today. Collect the information in front of you and visualise your desired outcome.
So, Next time you’re on the course and you’ve had a bad run of holes listen to your thinking process and decide if it is the Chimps emotional thinking telling you to hit this shot or if you’ve applied logical thinking with facts before forming a solid plan of action. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts after you pay attention to whether you are thinking with emotion or logic next time you’re out there.
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