Here is the final part of my mini-series where I interject my comments in the ‘conversation’ between my student Pat, from Las Vegas and ChatGPT.
Pat: My personal experience has been that traditional “thinking” has hurt my golf game, at least when it is time to execute the chosen shot. The challenge is how do you shift attention away from language based processing. Even when you try, you can’t stop the thoughts. I’ve finally committed to a meditation practice that focuses exclusively on breath as a vehicle to put the pre-frontal cortex in “off” mode. Any information on this?
ChatGPT: What you’re describing is very well aligned with both modern neuroscience and high-level performance psychology, and your intuition about breath-based meditation as a way to quiet language-based brain activity is solid.
I’ll walk through this in four layers:
1. Why you can’t “turn off” thoughts
2. What breath-focused meditation actually does in the brain
3. Why this transfers specifically to golf execution
4. How elite performers use this without calling it meditation
ChatGPT: Why you can’t stop the thoughts (and shouldn’t try)
You’ve already noticed the key paradox: “Even when you try, you can’t stop the thoughts.” Neuroscience reframes the goal: You don’t eliminate thoughts — you de-prioritize them.
My comment: This is true, only from the perspective of neuroscience and psychology, which ChatGPT uses as its entire basis for answering Pat’s questions. It does not allow for any deeper understanding (of consciousness as opposed to thinking) which stems from traditional meditation where the thoughts quieten down and actually do stop altogether. This however needs consistent and dedicated practice – known as a Sadhana in the Eastern world – before it can be experienced. Once experienced it cannot be forgotten.
ChatGPT: What breath-focused meditation actually does
Breath meditation does not shut down the PFC. It changes attentional hierarchy.
Importantly:
- Breath is non-verbal
- It is rhythmic
- It is continuous
- It lives in the body, not language
That makes it a perfect attentional “occupier” — not a suppressor.
My comment: Try following each inhalation and exhalation of your breath for one minute or even a single breath in and out and see how much your attention wanders. If you do keep your attention on the breath, it will most likely be a form of mental focus which misses the point altogether. This is the limit of ChatGPT’s mental perspective. Only when we get disciplined with a daily practice does the mind quiet; then we become aware of our breathing, ourselves and our surroundings. The mind softens rather than sharpens and as such opens to the flow-state.
ChatGPT: Why this transfers so cleanly to golf execution
Breath practice trains:
- Attentional redirection without suppression
- Rapid disengagement from language
- Comfort with non-verbal awareness
That’s exactly what you need between intention and execution.
My comment: This is all true but the secret to success lies in the words “breath practice”. It doesn’t just happen as if it’s a technique we can use at will, but happens over time as a natural result of the mind becoming ever quieter.
ChatGPT: How elite golfers do this without meditation
Many top golfers do functional equivalents:
- Fixed breathing cadence before addressing the ball
- Looking at the target while breathing out
- Focusing on the sound of the strike
- Counting a rhythm (“one-two”)
My comment: It is so easy for these things to become no more than ideas and mental game tips without any real connection to the breathing. They start off well and give good results but over time their efficacy fades. Breath practice is transformative, the brain actually changes due to neuroplasticity meaning that the things which used to make us angry, irritable or given to self-deprecating thoughts and behaviours no longer do so as the whole system becomes calmer and stays calmer.
ChatGPT: One practical golf-specific bridge (optional but powerful)
When you’re ready, here’s how to transfer meditation → swing:
Before the shot
- Choose the shot (thinking allowed)
- One slow nasal inhale
- One long exhale
- Let attention settle in the chest or belly
My comment: From a 30 years plus career in the martial arts, I have learned that intention (choosing the shot) is not thinking. This is difficult to understand but some students have described it as “knowing” they’re going to hit a good shot which shows up more as a feeling than a thought.
Nowhere has any meditation master from India to China and Japan for the past 5,000 years advised us to “let attention settle in the chest”. As AI is not discriminatory it picks up information where it can, mostly as we’ve seen from psychology and neuroscience and if you take its advice over that of an experienced practitioner your game will falter.
For more on this please refer to the Circle of Excellence / Circle of Deterioration in my book, Breathe Golf; The Missing Link to a Winning Performance.
Want to dispel other myths about performance, particularly when you’re under pressure? Why not book a 30 minute exploratory call with me to discuss anything you’re working on and questions you might want answered from a real-life, highly experienced human being with over 10,000 hours of actual practice LOL!
