Attitude & Confidence on Every Shot

I was talking to a colleague a couple of weeks ago and noticed a scorecard taped to the wall in his office. He told me it was his first round below par. I was stunned! He didn’t look like an athlete. Even more remarkable was his story. He got a cheap set of starter clubs and a how-to-golf DVD on a whim, and never played as a kid.

He practiced a lot, upgraded to blade-style clubs, and played in some amateur qualifying tournaments. He got so good that he thought he might be embarrassing his friends. He’d take an old set or his wife’s set of clubs to make it more challenging.

I’m still stunned that he readily shot around par, when 79 feels to me like such a difficult milestone! Thinking about it for a while now, it should not be surprising. I know how to hit every shot, so why don’t I? There’s the key, letting yourself play the shot you are capable of. Walking up to each shot, I have the ability to hit a beautiful shot or hole any shot around the green, so why don’t I?

I did some searching about golf being easy. I found a book on Amazon, Good Golf is Easy by John Norsworthy. The sub-title was promising “- the fastest, easiest way to consistent, enjoyable golf and to lower scores for amateur golfers”

In the forward he mentions his friend and student golfer that went from beginner to single-digit handicap in 3 years. I couldn’t wait to read it, and the first few pages were exactly what I was looking for:

“Easy is an attitude or state of mind…. applies particularly well to the pursuit of learning and playing golf.”
“Up until 1900, teaching was basically limited to swinging the club back slowly, keeping the eyes on the ball, and following through in balance.”
“.. using your arms and hands, using them naturally and without thought.”
“When on the golf course, you simply play. … thinking will get in the way…. with disastrous results.”
These looked familiar, they were similar thoughts I loaded as reminders into the 80breakr app for one of my recent rounds!

Unfortunately, very little of the book was spent exploring how to cultivate this feeling of “easy golf” and making it a part of your golf game. I was hoping for some in-depth discussion about this one area: Good Golf is Easy. Most of it was similar to a lot of other “how to books” on golf.

My first attempt employing “easy golf” went pretty well. I approached each shot not with hope nor with fear, but with confidence bordering on casual indifference. I tried to relax, and only focus on a slow backswing and watching the ball. It actually did feel like golf was easier. I was getting out of my own way!

 

Not a personal-best round, but something unique and new for me. Nothing worse than bogey, and those were easy! Pars were both tap-in range. I wasn’t able to keep that feeling for every shot for this round, but now I know what to do and what it feels like. I believe this may be the final piece to the puzzle!