Talking to the Subconscious mind 2/2

 Why would we want to talk to the Subconscious? We all have raised children and we know how they seem to have their own opinion and usually do what they feel is right.  Well, your subconscious mind is much like our children. When it gather data about a delivery and wants to use that data in the next or a future delivery; it is very hard to change that from happening. With a child we suggest where their idea or opinion is not what it appears to be.

In communication with the subconscious mind we must take it aside and talk to it as we would a young child at home.  This taking it aside is what in Lawn Bowls is called the "Pre-Mat" Routine. 

Yes, to many as we learn Bowls, the "Pre-Mat" routine is the time to verify all the different things we learned and do not want to make as mistakes.  But the next step in your Bowls development is to use these "Pre-Performance" Routines and "Post-Performance"  Routines to talk and discuss with the Subconscious mind. The photo (right) from BrianTracy.com webpage discuss the role of the subconscious mind in our personal and professional life. Our sport performance is often overlooked because we see sports as performance and perfection and are not willing to accept we are not in total control of it.

When we hear your words in thoughts or as instructions in our sport, we are involved with telling the conscious mind what to do. Your instructions are to be used in controlling your muscle's movements. At a point in our performance we simple "Do it" and work on perfection. At this point the subconscious mind is involved and  we hear terms like "Muscle Memory" ass the performance is done instinctively from previous experience or practice. This is the beginning of an absence of communication. Much like the silence of the teenager in our family.

Often during this Subconscious silence during the actions of performance we discover  that we were in a "Void of thought" during the action. (Instinctively we did it) A conscious action or modification to correct our performance are our conscious thoughts, But the subconscious mind takes control and performs and returns control to the conscious mind afterward. From the time this instinctive performance begins, we are in a "void of thought" and there is no changing the sequence of the performance. If the "Muscle Memory" or instinctive action to be performed needs something changed; it must be done with a brief visual images or verbal thoughts to the subconscious prior to this "Void". Just prior to beginning or  starting the actual delivery or sport action; as a last thought in the preparation routine we can suggest a change.

 Because thess thoughts or visual images are short and  the last thinking the subconscious mind receives prior to beginning it performance or action; the "tag", or short thought (image) will instruct the instinctive action to make a certain change to the sequence of events in the performance. Like with a child at home being taught a habit, the subconscious may need many introduction of the "tag" prior to becoming a new aspect of the performance.  Sometimes, the "tag" is not a corrective action but a one-time action. Like saying "Don't forgot to Lock up when you leave" to the co-worker or child leaving soon. These short "tags" are helping hints. 

This blog is 2/2 on "Talking to the Subconscious" and if you have not read the 1/2 where I discuss "Muscle Memory" as instinctive performance and suggest the use of "Tags" and "Tells" as communication to the subconscious mind; you might get a better understand by  reading it also.  However, because readers jump between blogs I will refresh here some of that previous information. But it is still better to read 1/2 before this blog because the basic idea is what this blog builds upon.

 "Muscle Memory" is the ability of the mind to remember muscle performance routines which we have developed over many hours of practice. A competition athletic progress in their training to a point where the subconscious mind is performing their bowls delivery or sport routine completely instinctively. However, often we need to correct something in "Muscle Memory" and we therefore send images  of short vocal thought which then become the communications to the subconscious. Too much or many words and the mind will revert back to the conscious control and see it as instructions to the muscles.

During this time the athletic is often in a "void of thought" as the subconscious mind (or his instinctive actions) are performing the action or developed routine. In a Youtube video with Tiger Wood, he saids "Between the swing and seeing the ball in flight, I have no memory of what just happen" which is his explaination of his performance. His perfection of delivery (or golf swing) is now to the point he only thinks of his shot and then lets the subconscious do it instinctive.

"Tags" and "Tells" are signs of the athletic's talking to the instinctive action or subconscious communication. A "Tag" is an action inserted into the pre-Delivery routine which does not affect the performance but distracts the subconscious mind just prior to the action of the "'Muscle Memory". If we suggests something the subconscious see our routine is a bit different and does a few quick changes. As an athletics expands their mental perfections they will allow more and more subconscious control over their performance. If we watch their routine, we often  see   a "Tell" (or a strange action) as their communication with the subconscious just before their release of control to the subconscious and allow it to  perform.

Dogs Playing Poker by
 Cassius Marcellus Coolidge,

 Like in poker where a professional player may make a facial action following having receiving a good card; and that small thing is telling others of his satification with the card. The "Tell" is often seen during a performance delay just prior to the individual begans to communicates with the subconscious.. The athletic's subconscious communication may be to indicate the raison for a change from normal routine or even a remainder to the subconsicous about a recent change in performance that it wants to perform correctly. Yes, the subconscious mind, like a child, can be confused when a change in action is suggested and will began to doubt that the athletic is requesting to take control and do the instinctive action.

Lets look at three similar sports. Curling, Lawn bowls and Petanque. All three roll, slide or throw an object to a precice distance. Curling is the easiest because it is one constance distance to the target from a "Release Line". Petanque has a shorter distance as the "Cochon" or target is between 6 meters and 10 meters, but each endo of play may find the distance has changed. Now the subconscious has memories of distance and beside the routine of delivery now has a difference of force for the new distance of play. But in Lawn Bowls the "Jack" distance is anywhere in the 10 meters between a "short jack" at 21 meters and a "long jack" at at it 31 meter if starting the game or even up to maximun of 33 meters if it has not been moved during play.

"Muscle Memory" developed with practice is the subconscious knowing how to perform for that fixed curling distance and we see the curler becomes natural as they draw their stone to the centre of the house. Their only modification is a little more weight (energy) and a small wrist twist for the spin of the curling stone.

 In petanque, the shooting player can throw his "Petanque ball" through the air and hit the target ball which is in a "counting position" and because it is between 6.5 meters and 8.5m ( the greatest common distance of the "cochon") this short 2 meters difference makes the shot easly. Expecially if he has the correct direction as a hit on the ground in front of the target still produces the required result. With practice the Petanque player usually is rather accurate and immediately after his performance he sees  the result of his performance. But because he is throwing a 3.5 inch ball at a 3.5 inch ball, the shooter knows the mind  can gets the measure of the distance of his target. (has learned from practice). 

However, Lawn Bowls which has the large distance to be played requires more precision on the delivery weight (energy) if the bowl is to stop near or touching the "Jack". Secondly,  even with the fast playing surface that distance and the delay until the bowls stops can be 8 or 9 seconds. This delay is  important because after the subconscious performance and choice of the calculated  distance; the mind returns conscious control. In the waiting time of those 8 or 9 seconds the Lawn Bowls athletic feels his "void of thought" as he watches for one more roll of the bowl which can means being shot (point) or not. This "performance delay" means many things, even the flick of a finger during delivery; can mean two feet farther before the bowl stops. It is here that the athletic need to communicate with the subconscious mind. What is a habit of the delivery routine might need to be changed. If you are during your  "Pre-delivery Routine" thinking this change it is instruction to the muscles; but to do a small suggestion to the subconscious (instinctive) performance will force the re-calculation of the energy for that shot.

So lets look at "Muscle Memory" and communicating with the subconscious as a method to improve the Delivery performance. "Memory Distance Retrieval" is a method of using "Memory Data" to know the distance to the jack from the mat in Lawn Bowls.  During the "Pre-Delivery Routine" you need to judge the distance to the jack and if you think of the TV game show "The price is Right" you will find that distance. There is a game of "Find the price" where the individual guess the price of a product and the game host says "Higher" or "Lower" as the player attempts to find the right price.  In the "Talking to the Subconscious Mind 2/2" we see in the video the athletic doing several arm movements before delivery.

It is suggested that she seeing in her mind her bowl being delivered and rolling to the jack but not being the right Memory Data" for that distance she is doing it again with a different distance.  The athletic's mind as she learn the distance  in Lawn Bowl is doing that "Closer" or "Farther" study of the distance to the "Jack". Remember, the eye judges distance by the tension of the eye muscles as we focus on the object which is  easlier at a close distance like Petanque. But after 20 meters or more  it takes a lot of practice to be accurately knowing the distance. 

So in the blog 1/2  we see the video of the 2016 World Bowls Finals in Christchurch NZ how  Angela Bold (NZ) is rocking and swing her arm as if to deliver because she is seeing the bowl roll to the jack but her image does not show the bowl going all the way to the jack so she choses a different memory image and again does an armswing and see her bowl going to the jack.  She may do this several times and when she has the correct distance there is a feeling and she know now to "Do it" and moves into the subconscious "Muscle Memory" performance.

In the same way, there are only two methods for the subconscious to know the distance of the Petanque Thrower's target (for a take-out) or the Lawn bowler's Jack distance for a "Draw" to the jack.  One is practice and practice and the mind feels the distance, and some time very precisely. But in Lawn Bowls, this take years of practice to arrive with that proper feeling for the longer distance and then the surrounding can influence  the subconscious mind's calculation.  Example, a club house behind the "jack" make it seem closer to you because of the big object in you line of view; as also a open field or space behind the jack makes it seem farther away. 

For petanque the short 6.5 to 8.5 distance to the "cochon" it is easy for the subconscious to feel the distance; but when the "cochon" gets to 9.5 meters or farther we find even the Petanque players using the "Memory Data Reteival" method. Although Dyan Rocher is the best Petanque shooter of our time and usually does a one-arm swing take-out; we can see in the 2024 Petanque "Tête-â-Tête" Final of Dylan Rocher and Marc Cognard  that Dylan does several back and forth steps into the shooting circle. (probably do a distance calculation like the lawn bowlers above).

This second distance calculation is more difficult and the telling our self a little "Farther", "farther" as the subconscious works to find the proper distance need a lot of practice to feel the "OK do it" for to instruct the subconscious to activate the "Muscle Memory" When you have a established  "Muscle Memory" for an action it is fixed (like fixed in stone); and it is hard to change later and especially hard to interrupt to do something different.  (Stats  show that volume of reader visitors are Lawn Bowls)

For the success of "Memory Distance Retrieval" it is done prior to the Subconscious activate the "Muscle Memory" performance.  In time the subconscious will need only a "Tag" or small remainder and it will do the re-calculation automatic with only one or two visual swings. In the above example of Petanque Dylan is probably just starting to develop this part of his Muscle Memory interaction and has yet to get  the feeling of distance. But with practice and an established "Tag"; communicating with the subconscious will eventually come and  be easy with a couple of swings. (Tag,Tag, Do it)  

In many Petanque take-out shots, the Petanque player's subconscious mind goes into the void of doing the shot with the player is just looking at the ball to be hit and feeling it's distance. And some players just go to the shooting circle (mat in Bowls) and do a single swing and throw their ball (or roll the bowl). But like in Lawn Bowls, the Petanque player has more precision at certain distance and seems to miss more often at other distances which is why the "Tag" is used. 

The lawn bowler learns to know his "Natural Distance" where if he does a relax performance his rolled bowl goes a certain distance. Of course, he gets to read the distance as a marker on the side boards indicates 21 meters (the legal short jack) and from there to half way  to the back boards is 5 or 6 meters farther and the Backboard of the Lawn Bowls green is 31 meters. But to tell the subconscious mind the distance in words causes a revert back to conscious instruction delivery.

In the blog of December 2016 "Muscle Memory and The "Zen" Zone" I mention  "the Petanque video of Mark Wildboer where he taps his toe.. (his "tell" of pre-visualizations )  in the video  before his actual action of throwing his takeout shot. At the time of his shooting he is in a "Void of thought" and we say he is  "In the Zen Zone".  This blog was remade and updated in February 2023 and may contain new material. 

 In the video, what we see is that Mark  has established the "Tag" for his subconscious to find the distance to the target and if he is  "seeing his shot mentally" he is doing the shot. If he has chosen the wrong memory for that distance he will have gone back to retrieval another memory of a longer distance but unlike the video of Dylan Rocher he has limited himself to only 2 or 3 retrievals.   To those of us who do this type of previsualization we feel the correct distance and then do the throwing of the take-out shot of the rolling of the bowl.

 In the above mention of the 2016 World Bowls Pairs Finals  both leads bowlers ( Angela Boyd and Laura Daniel) each have different methods of "Distance Projection but once their communication with the subconscious is finished and they have found the correct distance; theu let "Muscle Memory" roll their bowl to the jack as they very quickly look at the jack and roll. 

We all realized with the movie camera and television that the eyes captures only a part of what it sees (about 1/60th of a second) and the brain creates our understand. To finish this blog I wish to warn you that the subconscious mind sometimes make a decision which it concluded happen but it was wrong.  The raison for these errors is the instinctive nature of actions was developed for survival and prevention of danger and sometime the decision of danger still prevents us from doing things which we would never think of doing as Survival or an Instinctive (subconscious) Action. Don't believe everything you think you see because the mind does make mistakes but the following example show how extremely the subconscious can be in calculation of what it sees.

Several years ago, maybe 20 years or more, I was showing the precision of the subconscious mind to a Petanque athletics who was practicing and was expected to go to the World Petanque Competition within weeks. Because of my own experience in Archery where I was an instinctive shooter (no sights) I learn that you can't always believe what the subconscious mind send you as information.

The Petanque "cochon" or jack is about 1 1/4 inch in size and in shooting to hit it at a distance of 6 meters or 7 meters, as many Petanque players do; your take-out shot must be precise. To show this to Alex who I had asked to hit the "Cochon" which  was hidden behind the petanque ball but which is a shot which many players can make. His object shot was to pass over the top of the petanque ball and hit the jack. A shot he and many at his level had done many times. However, as Alex walked from the target 'cochon' and ball to the shooting circle; I  removed the "Cochon" which I now had in my hand.

 Alex had not seen me remove it, so he thought it was still hidden behind the petanque ball and with his first shot, which was too high, he knew he had missed it. But on the 2nd shot; his shot was exact, and if the "cochon" had been there he would have hit it. But because he did not know it was not there, his mind expected to see the "cochon"  go flying into the distance as happens when this shot is made successful. 

His subconscious mind could not show him that it went flying into the distance because it was not there. But Alex's mind expected to see that and so the subconscious mind took a similar memory of when a "cochon" had been  hit in the past and show that image (a thought) to Alex.  Alex walked to the area of the target ball adn "cochon" and knowing his shot was good and excited. He said as he discussed the hard shothe had just made that  he had seen the "cochon. go flying off to the left of the playing area. So we both went there to look for the "cochon". After some time I show Alex that I had it in my pocket and explained how I had removed it when he was walking back to the shooting circle.

Explaining  the reason for this deception exercise was to show how precise the subconscious mind is in calculations as it develops it "Muscle Memory" and "Performance Feedback". The reason that Alex went off to the left to locate his "cochon" which he saw fly after his shot was that the subconscious had seen the take-out shot would had hit the "cochon" (if it had been there) on the right side and send flying to the left. Therefore, in this case the subconscious showed a memory of  what Alex should have seen. But what is important is not the memory replacement; but that the subconscious was able to see within a fraction of an inch at over 30 feet away where the ball would had hit the "cochon". For the 3/4 inch "cochon" to be hit on the right side at about  1/8 inch near it's edge was Alex's mind seeing precisely these few millimeters at over 30 feet away. The precision of the subconscious  is amazing and this exercise makes the point to not be too sure what you think you see but with practice we can be amazed what the subconscious mind can do.

This exercise was to teach Alex to let the subconscious mind do it's work. Too often we feel we need to analysis and then change things.  Just have confidence and let it happen and be surprised that you did so well. Pressure at a World Competition may force an individual to try to take more control (return to conscious instructions) when all that is needed is confidence in oneself ( that the subconscious can do it). Remember, you have practice for this moment, don't make the competition a practice where you change everything. If you have to suggest a change to the subconscious use your "Tag" to say, "Opps check this".