Think golf is【C1】______game? Think again. Researchers including Debbie Crews of Arizona State University and John Milton of the

Think golf is a thinking man’s game? Think again. Researchers including Debbie Crews of Arizona State University and John Milton of the University of Chicago have been studying patterns of brain activation in golfers. Their conclusion: the better the golfer, the less brain activity he shows in the seconds before he makes his shot.
   Crews, a sports psychologist who studies putting, has found that a key difference between amateurs and professionals lies in the left hemisphere, the seat of logic, analysis, verbal reasoning and the kinds of thoughts. Professionals, once they’ve determined how to make a shot, follow an invariable routine that renders conscious thought unnecessary.
   When Milton asked some LPGA golfers what they thought about just before taking a shot, they answered: nothing. He rounded up a hail-dozen pros and an equal number of amateurs and had them imagine making a specific shot while monitoring their brains in a functional MRI machine. The amateurs showed far more total brain activation, involving more areas of the brain. In particular, amateurs activated the basal ganglia—involved in learning motor functions—and the basal forebrain and amygdale, responsible for, among other functions, emotions. Some of his subjects worried about hitting the bail into the water, which was curious, because he hadn’t even mentioned a water hazard in describing the imaginary shot to them.
   Milton is trying to apply these lessons to stroke and other rehabilitation patients who have to relearn skills like walking; he recommends putting more emphasis on visualization and improving mental focus. In many aspects of life, it seems, half the game really is 90 percent mental.