MIND WANDERING IN GOLF

Your brain is trained to wonder [scan] by a million years of evolution and that’s not good for ether your happiness or your golf game. The architect sets up the course so your mind is forced to scan to the trouble in an attempt to distract you from getting to the target – it’s part of what makes the game so challenging. The designer uses mind-wandering attractions like water hazards and optical illusions so that you see the trouble on the first hole and your brain scans for more trouble the rest of the day.

Mind Wondering in General

Mind wondering in general gets a bad rap especially in a recent study where psychologists compared each person’s moods and thoughts as the day went on. They found that if someone’s mind wandered at say, ten in the morning, then at 10:15 that person was likely to be less happy than they were at ten.  It seems that when your mind wonders or goes on scan you visit “unpleasant” topics that effect your happiness but – and here is the key --enhance your safety.  Please remember it was a very dangerous world 100,000 years ago and, not withstanding songwriter Bobby McFerrin: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” our modern brain still worries about survival.

Insider Take: Humans are not structured to be happy; we are structured to survive and this makes mind wandering a real plus. Your eyes are constantly scanning the environment looking for threats – the best threat-finders are the best survivors and therefore get to pass on their genes. The will to survive is a primary urge while the will to happiness is a secondary level state, helpful in shaping your responses but not a primary goal.

Next Week: What you can do to focus on golf for just the right amount of time and with just the correct amount of mind wandering.