The 4 Phases of Flow | Flow Golf Podcast | Rick Sessinghaus & Hallam Morgan
Summary
TLDRThe Flow Golf Podcast, hosted by Rick Sessinghouse and Helen Morgan, explores strategies for achieving peak performance in golf. They discuss the 'Flow Code Golf' framework, which includes four phases: struggle, recovery, peak performance, and transition. The hosts emphasize the importance of embracing struggle for growth and the necessity of intentional recovery to maintain high performance. They also touch on the role of motivation, the balance between intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and the use of technology in measuring recovery and performance.
Takeaways
- 🏌️ The Flow Golf Podcast is a platform to share stories, interview experts, and discuss strategies for achieving peak performance in golf.
- 📈 The concept of 'Flowcode Golf' is a framework that helps individuals transition from a state of fear to a state of optimal performance, known as 'flow'.
- 🌐 More information about Flowcode Golf can be found at www.gloco.golf, indicating the podcast's interactive and informative nature.
- 🔄 The 'Four Phases of Flow' include struggle, recovery, peak performance, and transition, emphasizing the importance of each phase for long-term high performance.
- 💪 The struggle phase is crucial for creating high performance; it involves overcoming frustration and stress, which are necessary for growth.
- 🧘 The recovery phase is equally important, allowing for relaxation, meditation, and reflection, which are essential for moving towards the flow state.
- 🔄 The transition phase is about rejuvenating energy and preparing for the next cycle of struggle and peak performance.
- 🤔 The importance of balancing work ethic with recovery is highlighted, as continuous struggle without recovery can lead to burnout.
- 🎯 The podcast discusses the application of the flow phases in both micro situations, like a pre-shot routine, and macro situations, like a golf season.
- 📊 Modern tools for measuring recovery, output, and sleep patterns are mentioned, indicating the role of technology in enhancing performance and recovery.
- 🔄 The idea that recovery should be active, not just a cessation of activity, is presented, suggesting that engaging in certain activities can actually help recharge energy levels.
- 🤝 The value of intrinsic motivation for long-term success is emphasized, as it helps individuals push through struggle phases and achieve repeatable success.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the Flow Golf Podcast?
-The Flow Golf Podcast focuses on sharing stories, interviewing experts, and discussing strategies for achieving peak performance in golf through a framework known as Floco Golf.
What is the purpose of the Floco Golf framework?
-The Floco Golf framework is designed to help individuals transition from a state of fear to a state of flow, which is the optimal performance zone in golf.
What are the four phases of flow mentioned in the podcast?
-The four phases of flow discussed are the flow build-up phase (struggle), the flow gain phase (recovery), the flow peak (optimal performance), and the flow transition phase (rejuvenation and preparation for the next cycle).
Why is struggle an important part of the flow process according to the podcast?
-Struggle is important because it is a necessary step to create high performance and move towards the flow state. It helps in problem-solving and embracing challenges, which are crucial for growth and improvement.
How does the podcast suggest using recovery as part of the flow process?
-The podcast suggests that recovery should be intentional and active, involving activities like meditation, reflection, and light exercises that help in rejuvenating energy and preparing for the next phase of struggle.
What is the role of motivation and work ethic in the context of the Flow Golf framework?
-Motivation and work ethic are essential for pushing through the struggle phase and working towards the flow peak. They are the driving forces that help golfers maintain their efforts and achieve high performance.
How can golfers implement the flow framework on a shot-to-shot basis during a game?
-Golfers can implement the flow framework by having a pre-shot routine that includes a brief struggle phase, a release phase, and a focus phase before executing the shot. They should also have post-shot routines to reset and recover for the next shot.
What is the significance of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in the podcast's discussion?
-Intrinsic motivation, which comes from internal desires and passions, is considered more sustainable and effective for long-term success compared to extrinsic motivation, which relies on external rewards or recognition.
How can technology assist golfers in understanding and managing their recovery needs?
-Technology, such as wearable devices and apps, can measure sleep patterns, energy levels, and other recovery indicators, helping golfers to make informed decisions about when and how to recover.
What is the importance of intentionality in the recovery process as discussed in the podcast?
-Intentionality in recovery means being purposeful about the activities chosen for rejuvenation. It's about understanding what activities truly refresh and energize, rather than simply resting or engaging in passive activities.
How can golfers avoid the pitfall of over-recovery according to the podcast?
-Golfers can avoid over-recovery by ensuring that their recovery activities are active and intentional, and by balancing recovery with periods of struggle and work ethic to maintain their performance levels.
Outlines
🏌️ Introduction to Flow Golf Podcast
Host Rick Sessinghouse and co-host Helen Morgan introduce the Flow Golf Podcast, a platform dedicated to sharing stories, interviewing experts, and discussing strategies for achieving peak performance in golf. They explain the concept of 'Flow Code Golf,' a framework designed to transition individuals from a state of fear to optimal performance, or 'flow.' The podcast aims to engage listeners by encouraging questions and feedback, fostering a sense of community around the shared goal of high performance.
🔄 Understanding the Four Phases of Flow
The hosts delve into the four phases of flow: struggle, recovery, peak performance, and transition. They emphasize the importance of embracing struggle as a necessary component for high performance and discuss the dangers of not allowing oneself to recover, which can lead to burnout. The conversation highlights the need for a balance between work ethic and recovery, using golf as a metaphor for the ebb and flow of energy and focus throughout a game and the importance of post-shot routines for resetting mentally.
🌱 The Role of Recovery in Peak Performance
Rick and Helen explore the concept of recovery, distinguishing between active recovery and over-recovery. They discuss the misconception that recovery means complete inactivity, which can lead to rustiness and poor performance. Instead, they advocate for intentional recovery activities that refresh and rejuvenate, such as light exercise, meditation, or engaging in tasks that are personally energizing. The conversation also touches on the use of technology to measure recovery and the importance of being self-aware of what activities bring energy versus those that drain it.
🚀 Embracing Struggle for Growth and Motivation
The hosts discuss the value of struggle and the importance of intrinsic motivation in the pursuit of excellence. They argue against avoiding struggle and emphasize the need for a clear intention behind recovery activities. The conversation highlights the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, suggesting that while external rewards can be valuable, it is the internal drive that sustains long-term success. They encourage golfers to find joy in the process of improvement and to view struggle as an opportunity for growth rather than an obstacle.
🌟 Final Thoughts and Future of Flow Golf Podcast
In the concluding paragraph, the hosts express excitement for the future of the Flow Golf Podcast, hinting at upcoming episodes with guests and further exploration of topics related to mental performance in golf. They invite listeners to subscribe for more content and to engage with the Flow Code Golf Academy community. Additionally, they announce two new masterclasses available for free access, one for coaches on growing their business and another for golfers on mastering their mental game.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Flow
💡Peak Performance
💡Struggle
💡Recovery
💡Motivation
💡Work Ethic
💡Post-Shot Routine
💡Pre-Shot Routine
💡Intentional
💡Master Classes
💡Intrinsic Motivation
Highlights
Introduction of the Flow Golf Podcast with hosts Rick Sessinghouse and Helen Morgan, focusing on strategies for peak performance in golf.
Explanation of 'Flow Code Golf' as a framework for achieving optimal performance states in golf.
Emphasis on the importance of engaging with the podcast community for a shared learning experience.
Discussion on the four phases of flow: struggle, recovery, peak performance, and transition.
The necessity of embracing struggle as a precursor to achieving high performance in golf.
Critique of 'hustle culture' for neglecting the recovery phase essential for optimal performance.
Importance of recovery for transitioning into the flow gain phase and achieving peak performance.
The concept of active recovery versus complete rest to maintain and improve performance levels.
Insights on the balance between work ethic and recovery for sustainable high performance.
Application of the flow phases to golfers' pre-shot and post-shot routines for mental preparedness.
Discussion on the use of technology to measure recovery and performance, such as sleep patterns and energy levels.
Misunderstanding of recovery as an on-off switch and the need for active recovery strategies.
The role of intentionality in all aspects of performance, including practice, recovery, and motivation.
Importance of intrinsic motivation for long-term success and overcoming struggle in golf.
The value of understanding what activities bring energy versus what drains it for effective recovery.
Announcement of new master classes by Rick Sessinghouse on growing a coaching business and mastering mental game for golfers.
Call to action for listeners to subscribe and engage with the Flow Golf Podcast for continuous improvement.
Transcripts
hi i'm your host rick sessinghouse and
excited to launch flow golf podcast each
episode we will share stories interview
experts and share cutting-edge
strategies for peak performance here is
my co-host helen morgan to explain more
about flow code golf
thanks rick floco golf is a framework of
strategies principles and techniques
that take us from fear to the state of
flow the state of optimal performance
and the zone where we play our best goal
you can find out more about floco golf
at www.gloco.golf
and i just want to finish up by saying
this podcast is as much your podcast as
it is ours so please ask questions
provide feedback and get engaged i hope
you enjoyed today's episode
rick we're back again another episode of
the flow golf podcast in today's episode
i really want to talk about what we call
the four phases of flow
we it covers things like motivation work
ethic struggle but also recovery and all
those different components because
ultimately they're all valuable when it
comes to high performance over a long
period of time and that's what we know
we want to achieve that's what all our
listeners want to achieve and what we
want to help everyone achieve that that
takes the time to to engage with our
resources so just to go through those
four phases of flow and just to kind of
open the world up to all of our
listeners we have this flow build up
phase the flow build up phase is
actually struggle it's going through
some frustration it's increasing
cortisol levels it's getting a bit
stressed it's getting a bit
kind of tired it's getting worn out it's
getting fatigued you need that struggle
in order to actually create high
performance in order to move towards
flow but with this whole world of of
hustle culture which we definitely have
had in
on youtube in podcasts in various
different places a lot of people what
they don't do is they don't stop that
struggle they don't stop that grind they
don't stop that hustle and we have to
understand that in order to move into
this flow gain phase which is the second
bit we have to take that step back we
have to move more into kind of a more
recovery place a more relaxed place we
have to transition to a place where we
can go into meditations where we can
reflect and all that kind of thing so
that allows us to move up that flow game
phase and ultimately move to where we
want to be which is flow peak flow peak
is our optimal state of performance
that's when we are in flow so if we want
to create that space we need to know
that actually both struggle and recovery
both struggle and the kind of taking a
step back the relaxation are a key
component of that and then of course
after the flow peak we never stay there
forever as much as we'd like to we don't
we move into this flow transition phase
and in that flow transition phase again
we need to ensure that we're
rejuvenating
energy that we've used up we need to
ensure that we're again going into a
recovery mode before we move back to
that struggle phase and we start the
cycle again so we speak a lot about this
in flow code rick but i'd love to hear
your thoughts because i think one of the
things that a lot of people struggle
with is understanding
how and when to use recovery and how and
when to use this kind of struggle or
this work ethic this motivation that is
required for success because both are
really important
definitely so i'm going to go on some
some different paths here but if we look
at golfers on a shot-to-shot basis right
and and you and i teach a pre-shot
routine um i i did a paper on this a
couple years ago um where i was looking
at how do we create this this these flow
stages within a pre-shot routine now
appreciate routine maybe 30 to 60
seconds long um and what i found was
interesting about the research was
you think about when you first get to
your ball
in the fairway it's the second shot
believe it or not there is a little
struggle phase of what is this right how
far is it away we have to think about it
we have to make a decision we might get
stressed because oh my you know and and
so that's a good thing right let's
embrace that this is a a problem to be
solved and for us to embrace that not
like oh crap i don't think i can do this
right
and but that
when we start to build up now to where
we finally are going to execute a golf
shot in a full present moment absorbed
into it
which we're going to call more of the
peak
within those 15 20 30 seconds you have
to mobilize resources to be able to do
that and when i say resources is there's
cognitive resources of focus there's
going to be actual energy that's needed
right
now for some of us that may have 72
shots per round some may have 90 90 100
whatever
there's a that cycle is occurring a lot
okay now that's a mini mini mini cycle
right but you and i have talked a lot
about post-shot routine is that let's
somebody hits a poor shot now
they get mad they get frustrated they
get angry they get now their whole
system has adrenaline and cortisol and
all these things that are
not going to be too good as we get to
the next shot
and if there is no outlet for that we
going to get into a burned out stage
pretty quickly on a golf course even
though golf doesn't require on a shot to
shop basis a ton of energy because you
know we're not like jumping around and
stuff like that but you start to compile
it throughout a round of golf and if you
don't do little post shot routines to
reset for recovery you are going to tap
sap away your mental cognitive energy
for the next shot and the next shot and
the next shot so on a mini version
we on each pre-shot routine there has a
slight struggle phase
there's a release phase there's a focus
hey i'm ready to go and then we've got
to now recover
not many people have good post shot
routines not many people utilize the
time in between shots to maybe just look
at nature and take some breaths and do
to be able to reset a system so in the
short term okay on the golf course you
are ebbing and flowing a lot with this
flow
now
when we look at big picture like i'm
gonna go practice for an hour okay
um and again me being a swing coach also
i want you to struggle i i want you to
have a clear intention hey rick i'm
going to work on my dispersion with my
driver my driver's going to the left too
much i'm going to work on club face
right now i'm going to do these drills
and you have a clear goal
and it doesn't mean the first few are
going to go dead straight
there is going to be some struggle but
for you to utilize that to want to keep
working through it and working through
it is a skill
and then like on the uh and then like on
the 20th one maybe you hit this awesome
one and go oh i got it i got it right
but some of the research i've seen is
that once we get to a struggle struggle
struggle struggle
there has to be some kind of an outlet
where you can like let it go
okay
and it might be your struggle on the
range struggle on the range and then you
finally just say hey
i'm gonna do a breath i'm gonna look out
in the distance i'm gonna take a three
minute uh just break okay
and then what happens is that when you
look at when you re-engage with this
next driver swing that you make you're
refreshed a little bit more and then you
hit a great shot and go oh that's where
it was at right
so struggle
okay
has to have some form of a release at a
point and then we can help get you into
a flow state more often so that's a mini
version with that but let's embrace
struggle let's embrace that that's going
to help us have a feedback loop the
feedback loop is going to get us closer
to our goal and we keep pushing forward
yet there's that balancing act of work
ethic and try harder and all that stuff
and then how much energy does that take
from you and do you have a system to be
able to reset or we call it recovery not
everybody does for that
thank you for listening to this episode
of the flow golf podcast whether you're
a coach or a golfer we have something
for everyone at flowcode golf academy
i'm so excited to announce that rick
setting house has launched two new
master classes that you can access for
free
one for a coach on how to grow your
coaching business
and another for golfers on how to master
your mental game
to gain free access you just need to
head to
www dot flowco dot golf forward slash
master classes we look forward to
welcoming you to the flow code family
absolutely no i completely agree and i
think that's so important to understand
that these waves or these flows are
happening constantly
in both micro situations but also macro
situations across a season for example
so you need to be aware of this and you
need to be conscious of right how long
have i been in this struggle phase am i
now ready to release am i ready to do
more parasympathetic activities like you
say taking a breath going for a walk
clearing your mind the same when it
comes to the more macro situations of
your tournaments when you're mapping out
your schedule how many tournaments am i
going to play am i going to give myself
that opportunity to release because
tournaments can be a struggle back to
back traveling going from location to
location the mental energy that's
required so you need to be able to
implement and kind of match this
framework into all different situations
both micro and macro i think that's key
exactly so let's say on a weekly basis a
pga tour player a professional golfer
they're on site for a long time even
before they hit their first tee shot on
a thursday um i have witnessed
some players where they're utilizing uh
massage and certain therapeutic
techniques and cold therapy and saunas
and meditation and stuff
that is a form of recovery day-to-day
day-to-day so they're not depleting
energy they're either recovering back to
a standard line or they're actually
increasing their energy output as the
week goes on so that's a on a week to
week and then you mentioned you have a
lot of players um you know you and i
work with a lot of players who are
playing in any event they can get in and
and for and then they like play seven
weeks in a row and they wonder why weeks
six and seven weren't very good
well i mean you never recovered and
that's your just struggle struggle sort
of struggle and that gets us in the way
but but on the other side of this which
i wanted to talk a little bit about was
i think we have now tools uh that are
measuring recovery they're measuring
output they're measuring sleep patterns
right we have loop we have i wear
something called an aura ring and i now
know every single morning how my sleep
pattern was and how ready i am for that
day and it will give me some you know
helpful every now and then hey maybe you
should uh take a break here maybe you
should take a walk maybe you should you
know great okay
but what i've seen when people now are
utilizing the technology um is there i
think they're saying oh this is saying
that i should recover which means maybe
i won't play golf for
five six seven days i'm gonna recover
i'm gonna it's like
and then they come back and they're
rusty and then they don't play well then
they get mad it's like
you just putting the clubs in in the
corner is not recovery okay you could
take a break every now and then and you
want to reboot your motivational system
because hey you miss it great but i've
seen a lot of competitive players who
are getting into a what i call over
recovery phase for the wrong reason well
i'm gonna take a break from golf and
then it's a week long or two weeks i'm
like you didn't touch a club for that
whole time well no i want to take a
break i'm going
good luck okay because now everybody
else has been competing and practicing
take a couple days off or hey i'm just
going to hit wedges today and i'm going
to do some massage i'm going to do some
stretching i'm going to think of it as
again the big picture of performance
but i think people think of recovery as
an on off switch too much i'm just going
to be completely off it's like no
a lot of recovery is actually active
recovery it's actually doing a light
walk it's like doing some things to
change your system around a little bit
so i think people are misunderstanding
sometimes of the recovery ideas a little
too much definitely one one word rick
i've put in front of so many things and
i think it's so important is the word
intentional um and i speak to so many
people about this you can go lists and
lists of different places that it's
valuable but intentional relationships
you can talk about intentional practice
you can talk about intentional recovery
and i think so many people again they
fall into this this dangerous place of
recovery not being intentional it's just
like i'm gonna put the clubs away okay
well why what was the intention there
why are you putting the clubs why are
you even recovering what are you
rejuvenating are you getting trying to
get back to this place where you can
then put yourself back through struggle
back into this release back into flow
peak is there an intention behind what
you're doing and we do we can talk about
every morning is there an intention
behind the shot that you're hitting we
can talk about in so many different
situations so i think that's really
vital for people to ask the question
am i recovering intentionally because if
the answer's no then there's definitely
something that can be improved there
no question and i love what you said
that because when we look at flow
we we do know their stages and we do
know there's intention with each stage
and if i have people say hey i want you
to go to the practice area knowing
you're going to struggle there's an
intention of hey let's bring it on and
if i hit some bad shots hey i'm going to
learn from it i'm going to work through
this there's an intention of just
struggle right
i think people want to avoid struggle
and then now too often they want to just
get into recovery mode because that's
safe and that's there's like no no no no
all of these things are important
sitting on the beach sipping a pina
colada that would do
so and that's something you and i are
going to talk about in future um
episodes is that flow cycle and the
importance of a struggle the importance
of a release phase the importance of
that that peak max flow state um and
then yes there is recovery um but it's
not like we said we joke about being on
the beach it's the little things that
can recharge your system or you and i
have talked about where you know i can
have my cell phone and throughout the
day it will deplete the battery
i hope you plug it in at night i hope
you plug it in maybe throughout the day
to recharge it we're just asking people
to recharge the battery uh it doesn't
mean you have to turn off the whole
phone
okay
cool so so let's recharge a little bit
better with that i think just to add to
that a lot of people they misunderstand
what actually can help you recover and
what can help that battery level go back
to the top
i've i've talked about this in the past
but i i throw myself into things that
give me energy rather than drain me of
energy so some people would say that
actually doing i don't know two three
hours of of client sessions while helen
you're supposed to be recovering you've
been quite tired lately so you shouldn't
do those sessions well you know what
actually they bring me more energy than
what they drain me off so i actually
feel more energized when i do those
sessions than when i don't do them so by
me saying i'm going to recover and sit
on the couch and watch tv the chances
are i'm going to feel more drained from
doing that than i am engaging with my
client sessions and working on things
that i'm passionate about so again
that's something for people to become
aware of it's a self-awareness thing we
bang on about this all the time and
people might get bored of it but
understand yourself understand what
brings you energy and what drains you of
energy and it's not always recovery is
not always sat on the couch watching
your favorite netflix show it can
sometimes be things that people would
consider
quite energy sapping quiet
but actually they're bringing me more
energy than what they're draining me off
going in
exercising perfect example again it
happens to me so many times i do this
class at the gym almost
three times a week and there's many
times before i get to the class i've had
a busy day and i'm thinking
i'm drained i'm tired but i know because
i've done it so many times i come out
that class with a completely new lease
of life completely my energy levels are
back through the roof
but actually i've just done 45 minutes
of pretty high intensity exercise but i
have more energy after than when i
started how does that work
again to understand what brings us
energy and what drains us of energy and
it can be so did you
love it i love it yeah so i think and
and the last thing that we can talk
about is you know talk about struggle
and we can look at work ethic and i've
seen a lot of people
in golf they they have what looks upon
as a strong work ethic but i think it's
spotty i think it's just too much up and
down like we're talking about and you
know the last thing i want to just dive
into a little bit is
is motivation
people tell me hey i want to be great at
this i want to i go oh wonderful that's
awesome you say that
motivation to me in the simplest form is
what is your motive to take action
and um if if i'm taking action like we
just mentioned like you and i love
giving coaching um because it's
something that brings us energy it
brings us and we do it because we want
to help people right there's an
intrinsic motivator part of that i don't
need a ton of recovery from that um uh i
do a little bit but but if there's
something that saps my energy okay uh
most likely that is gonna require me to
have even more recovery but part of this
the motivation is like do i like it or
not if i want to be in this position or
not and i think golfers still have to
look at themselves of even though their
struggle i want us to embrace the
struggle i want us to say hey this is
what i signed up for i can't wait to get
better and because i want to get better
for my own reasons and not for extrinsic
reasons and and so what i've seen is
that a lot of players are getting
extrinsically motivated for
i do this to get something from the
outside and to me their work ethic is
like a yo-yo going back up and down and
they tend to fall into more of well i
just need more recovery it's like
no you're just trying to avoid the
struggle you're trying to avoid the work
ethic that's needed to get to that goal
absolutely no i think that's absolutely
vital to ensure that you actually find
some joy in that struggle it's not
always going to be joyful it's not
always going to be something you're
excited to do there are definitely times
when things become challenging and you
find huge joy in it because of your
intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic so
i always say that i think there's 100
there's value in extrinsic motivation
there's value there setting those goals
i want to lift that trophy i want that
thing i want this there's value there
but in my opinion the one that creates
long-term success repeatable success is
the one that's intrinsic it's the one
internal to you and i think that helps
you get through those struggle phases it
helps you get through the tough times to
ensure that you can win again and again
and again and again if we're talking
from a golf standpoint
exactly exactly
love it
rick another great episode um i know it
would have been valuable for the
listeners so super excited to cover more
things in the future we've got so much
more to come and i know we'll be
bringing more guests on in the future as
well so i'm really excited to do that
bring some more interesting minds on to
share with the listeners so super
excited for everything to come in the
future and we'll catch everyone soon
that's good
thank you so much for listening to
today's episode of the flow golf podcast
if you liked what you heard please
subscribe
and as always please reach out if you
have any feedback or suggestions that we
can implement to bring more value to our
community
community plays a huge role in what we
do at floco golf academy and we're
passionate about creating a group of
like-minded coaches and golfers who want
to improve their mental game and help
others do the same i'm also excited to
announce that dr excessing house has
launched two new master classes that you
can gain free access to
he's created one for coaches on how to
grow your coaching business
and another for golfers on how to master
your mental game
you can gain free access now by heading
to www dot flow code dot gold forward
slash master classes and we look forward
to welcoming you to the flow code family
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