Interdisciplines (Golf and Drums): The Toski Touch System (rewritten)

I believe that things happen for a reason and that everything is connected. My two-year foray into golf was a great way to get out of the house before we could legally drive, Besides a Pasquale's Pizza joint on the back nine that used to serve draught beer to 15-year-olds, I'd have looked back on it as nothing more than a bit of fun and exercise, were it not for a book written by Bob Toski called "The Touch System."
 I didn't actually read the book, although I've always wanted to, but I read excerpts in a golf magazine. This was a time when EST was happening, and primal-scream therapy was still holding on and the famous Sylvan Learning Academy was actually known as "Sylvan Mind Control." Yep. They dropped that term because it came to sound manipulative, and since it was being done wholesale on the public via TV and entertainment and such anyway by then they didn't need to call it that any more. It became redundant so they changed it to "learning." Same difference.
 Even with all that early New Age stuff the book was ahead of its time, as least for a sports instruction manual. Most books and articles focused strictly on technique and form and repetition and such  The closest they usually ever got to the mental aspect of it, which, like almost everything in life, is more important than the physical, was to say to imagine you were swinging a golf club as if there were a bucket of water hanging from it. That was a very good tip BTW. The Toski Touch System concentrated on how making a good shot made you feel.
Just like in drumming or whatever this was an "intermediate" book rather than one for beginners. It assumed at least a moderate amount of practice and muscle-memory time and such beforehand. It focused on the good shots, and how the brain rewarded you with a dopamine hit or whatever, and training the brain to seek that again in future shots, and automatically do whatever is necessary to make your best shot. It was positive thinking taken to another level.
 When it's time for the shot, don't think about technique so much but more on hitting another shot like the best one you'd hit in a similar situation, and how it made you feel to hit that shot. And by damn it worked. I didn't play long enough to even crack 100 usually, although I did have a few really good rounds here or there, but if by chance I'd kept it up I'd definitely have gone in that direction with golf. It's a little bit of a self-mindfuck maybe, but it's the good kind, and free. Sylvan charged a good bit for "mind control" back in the day.
 I got my first really nice drum kit at 15. I was already driving with my learner's permit, which let you drive as long as there was a legal driver sitting shotgun, and that even included guys who were 16, and would let me drive any way I wanted. I started playing music more and got busier with school. Golf faded into the past, but I took the Toski System with me. I figured it could apply to lots of things, and certainly drumming.
 The problem is in all the years I played drums up until fairly recently, I could never truly relax and let it flow like I wanted to. I tried to keep the Toski System in mind and I was able to use it here and there but it didn't really have as much of an effect as I'd hoped. It wasn't until I got an electronic kit and was able to put in long hours practicing, and have enough time to get into the "Zone" as they say, that the Toski System really came into play. I'm glad I remembered it all those years.
 After a certain amount of time in a row, a drummer or a runner or someone working out or whatever will get into the 'Zone." It's also known as "hitting the wall" or the "runner's high." It's what happens after a certain amount of repetitive physical exertion. After a time the brain assumes that the body is on a quest or mission if you will, and it releases large amounts of adrenaline and endorphins (and possible serotonin and dopamine as well) all at once to help the body on its journey. It hits all at once and it literally feels like crashing through a wall. It's a real  buzz; a high-quality buzz, and it's natural. I can see why some people run not primarily to get in shape, but literally for the buzz. I know of no drug that can induce such a feeling of being energized but seriously relaxed at the same time, with things coming into sharp focus yet demanding less attention, and making a routine that normally takes a lot of effort suddenly become semi-automatic, and your brain and body are each and together working as efficiently as possible and that's what you want. Plus there's a powerful feeling of well-being to boot. Who could ask for anything more?
 It really took me by surprise the first couple of times it happened. Once I got the kit set up and I was practicing a few nights a week for several hours at a time it started to happen. Once when it hit me when I had my eyes closed it was a bit too much and I had to stop playing and turn on the lights in order to get my bearings and "come down" a bit before continuing. It was a lot like being a little too high after eating a magic brownie. Think your own brain can't get you off? Think again. More importantly, and most people don't get this, but the brain can also heal the body just as powerfully.
 All I had to do was play long enough to get into the Zone, and the Toski System came finally into play. Hitting the wall is a trip. I've said before that the only thing I can compare it to is something most people have never experienced, but can probably follow. Back in the day when things were a bit looser, you could get behind a big rig and if the driver didn't care, you could draft him. You'd get within about two feet of his bumper and the trailer would both block wind resistance and pull your car along due to the "vacuum" effect of the vortices created. You could back way off the gas and basically get towed along. It may not have been for the faint of heart but it was no big deal if you knew what you were doing, and you depended on the truck driver to be your eyes and signal you to back off if something was ahead. You might be able to catch a draft driving to Atlanta or Florida or wherever and draft a truck for 100 miles or more and save a quarter-tank of fuel. The sensation of being pulled along was fun too.
 When I hit the wall it's much the same. I can throttle-down about 40% or more, and it almost becomes like I'm just along for the ride. Effort, energy output and even concentration go down, but power, smoothness and accuracy go way up. It's counterintuitive but it's amazing. It's almost like alls I have to do is inject just enough energy to set my hands in motion and they'll do the rest of the work. That comes from muscle memory (where each muscle has its own teeny-tiny brain) mostly, but there's something else at work too.
 Sometimes when I'm really locked in I have a very real sensation of a string running through my body from out the top of my head all the way through my core, arms and legs and then out through my hands and feet and into the sticks and pedals. It's crazy how real it feels, and again at first it was a little unsettling, and what's crazier is that I happened to catch a post by a guy who teaches Martial Arts and is a Chiropractor. He said that after a certain period of repetitive training, it starts to feel as if a string is running through the body. How 'bout them apples? I love it when my weird shit is confirmed. I got in touch with him and talked a bit more about it. The string thing definitely translates between the two disciplines. That's fascinating.
 So when I get into the Zone or Hit the Wall or get Drummer's High or the String Theory or whatever it is, that's when the real practice kicks in, and also the Toski thing. I think: "Okay. I'm there. I can throttle way back and totally relax and let it flow. So, how does this make me feel? Sad? No. Happy? Hell yeah. Locked-in? Check. Fuckengruven? Oh yes. Right then...lock this in. 'Can you dig it, brain?' File this away under 'Zone' for next time. Got it." Then I just shut my stupid brain down as much as I can and get the hell out of the way of my hands and just let them do their thing. It fuels the loop- the more into the Zone I get the more fun it is to play and the more fun it is to play the more I want to play and the more I play the better I get and the better I get the easier I get into the Zone, and the easier, blah-blah...etc., etc.
 It really works, mindfuck or not. Sometimes it takes me an hour or two to get into the Zone, and to really get the full effects it still takes that much or more, but I can get into that frame of mind much quicker as I work on it and sometimes I'm there right off the bat. Once the brain gets into whatever state that is, the rest of the body tends to fall in line and do what it needs to do semi-automatically. Like George Clinton famously said, "Free your mind and your ass will follow." Bingo. George knows. I bet George would like the Toski System, but he's already there to begin with. I never thought that a couple of years farting around with golf and reading an article in a golf magazine of all things would affect me for the rest of my life but as always, you just never know. Thanks a million Bob. FORE, lol.