Three Foot Putts and The Pre-frontal Cortex
What part of the brain misses the three footers in golf?
Published 11-20-10
Stewart Cink stepped up to take make a 3-4 foot putt on the last whole of the US Open Golf Championship to force a playoff and have a chance at one of the most prestigeous tournaments of the year. This is a career changing win when it comes to fan base and endorsements. As he watched the ball sail away past the cup he started contemplating the enormity of his failure. He was eliminated from the playoffs and would have to wait another day, if that day ever comes again, for a shot at the title.
Cink had made that putt thousands of times in his life. Ever since he was a boy he had probably practiced making 100's of them in a row as he secretly said to himself... "this is for the US Open". Why would he miss it at this crucial point, with the whole world watching and the hopes of a lifelong dream coming true? It is likely that his pre-frontal cortex got in the way.
This positing is based on the Article written by Alex Korb in Psychology Today.
The Pre-frontal Cortex is the pinnacle of brain evolution. It can basically look forward in time, and decide what actions to take. Without using his pre-frontal Cortex young Stewart would not have been able to look into the future and decide to start training for the professional tour in the first place. The Pre-frontal Cortex is great for long-term goals, to make yourself do something from which you get no immediate benefit: waking up at 6AM to go running, skipping dessert, enduring the tedius of hours and hours of hitting balls on the range and practicing 3 foot putts. It comes with a cost.
The Pre-frontal Cortex is the pinnacle of brain evolution. It can basically look forward in time, and decide what actions to take. Without using his pre-frontal Cortex young Stewart would not have been able to look into the future and decide to start training for the professional tour in the first place. The Pre-frontal Cortex is great for long-term goals, to make yourself do something from which you get no immediate benefit: waking up at 6AM to go running, skipping dessert, enduring the tedius of hours and hours of hitting balls on the range and practicing 3 foot putts. It comes with a cost.
While most brain areas live fully present in the moment, the Pre-frontal Cortex is painfully aware of the consequences of your actions. It has many connections to the emotional areas of the brain, and is thus influenced by the joy of anticipated victory or the agony of foreseen defeat. On the one hand the pre-frontal cortex can plan what to wear to the victory parade, and decide which supermodel to bring to which club. On the other hand it can also envision a life of devastation without fulfilling your dream.. It can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell, but it cannot make a Three Foot Putt.
The part of brain directly responsible for hitting the golf ball is the small central strip on the top called the primary motor cortex. The primary motor cortex sends specific instructions to muscles where to move and how much. It's part of the frontal lobe, but not far forward enough to be pre-frontal. The primary motor cortex contains a representation of every muscle in the body. It acts like a voodoo doll: a little poke elicits a twitch from the corresponding area of the body. The primary motor cortex gets input from the supplementary motor area, which lies in front, but not quite pre-frontal. The Supplementary Motor area works a little more abstractly, planning specific movements, getting prepared for what to do. The Supplementary motor area gets input from the Pre-frontal Cortex. Thus the Pre-frontal Cortex decides what to do, and then delegates to the Supplementary Motor Area and Primary Motor Context to do it. (Wow, that is alot! Neurofeedback can help this process along more efficiently)
The Supplementary motor areas and Primary Motor cortex and all the unconscious motor areas of the brain (like the basal ganglia and cerebellum) know exactly how to make a three foot putt just like he practiced it for thousands and thousands of hours since he was 6 years old. He doesn't need conscious intervention from the Pre-frontal Cortex. All the Pre-frontal Cortex has to do is say where it wants the ball to go, and how hard. Unfortunately the Pre-frontal Cortex is distracted by the possibility of lucrative endorsements or perhaps too concerned with breaking the hearts of his loved supporters. The Pre-frontal Cortex thinks about rolling the ball a bit to the right because there is just a little bit of break in the putt. Then he thinks well maybe the grain of the green or doubt about reading the green is wrong. So it thinks about putting it straight, but knows that the last time he had this put it broke just a little. It can see all the negative consequences and thus leaves itself without any good options, and also leaves the Supplementary Motor Cortex and the Primary Motor Cortex without clear instructions. Great athletes are able to silence their Pre-frontal Cortex under pressure, and just live in the moment, but even the best can't do it all the time (e.g. Kobe Bryant's terrible game 7 against the Celtics this past June2010).
Stewart Cink had an opportunity for glory, but he also (like the rest of us) had a pre-frontal cortex capable of getting in the way. Unfortunately for him the part of the brain responsible for stroking that putt doesn't care about winning or trophies or pride. It doesn't even care about disgrace or embarrassment. It just kicks the ball. So how can you make a three foot putt with the whole world watching, and your whole future sitting 3 feet in front of you? You just do it. Though, that's easier for you to say than for you to do.
That is where the rehearsal comes into play... Visualization Creates Reality. Look for the VCR Blog coming soon.
dr rob
