Golf is Not a Game of Perfect

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Exceptional people are resilient. Resilient people react to failure by finding something they can cling to, some hope for the future.” He has fulfilled those dreams. Now he has new ones. Two days after he won the U.S. Open for the first time, he called me up. He knew what would happen when he returned to the Tour. Everyone he met would want to congratulate him. Reporters would want to interview him about the Open. Fans would mob him. Faced with those distractions, a lot of new Open champions have suffered letdowns. Tom was determined not to be one of them He wanted to test his self-discipline. He wanted to be a player who used the Open as a springboard to even better performance. And he did. Shrug off the bad shots. Concentrate on the next. Golf is not a game of perfect. Acceptance is the last part and closes your routine. People have often asked me where my mind was the year I won eleven tournaments in a row," he said. "I've never had a good answer, until now, when I listened to what you and Tom were saying about going after your dreams. Take your time to practice your short game. 70% to 80% of your time on the range should be wedges and chips. Get the ball to 120 yards and then let your short game do the rest. Dr. Rotella boasts,

Robert J Rotella (Dr. Bob Rotella) is a renowned psychologist and best-selling author who teaches students around the world how to use their minds to reach their potential. He is consistently recognised as one of world’s finest sports psychologists, and works predominantly with professional golfers from around the world. By helping these golfers to harness the potential of their mind and to control their emotions, he has helped coach and train many top golfers to win in excess of 75 major trophies. You have talent, but your school recruits basketball players with both talent and attitude," I said. "Your basketball coach dreams of winning national championships. He recruits only players who are totally committed to winning national championships. If you're not, he doesn't want you. Because if you're not, you're not going to work on free throws every day until you become an excellent free-throw shooter. If you're not, you're not going to play defense every night." I stopped him and told him, "I don't want to break your heart, but you must realize that if your school's golf program was as good as its basketball program, you couldn't play." Since golf doesn’t have continuous action, it is difficult to get yourself into a state of focus and flow. Therefore you need to induce it through having a sound pre shot routine. Simply look at the target, look at the ball, take a breath and swing. Every golfer will have their own unique routine, but the principle is that you need to develop one if you are get out of your own head. You cannot think and golf at the same time. Decide before the round starts how you are going to think and think this way on every shot. Choose to think well.

Introduction

A champion understands that it’s fine to savor an experience when it’s positive, to remember it, to celebrate it.” to develop a reliable routine, it must be followed and practiced time after time until it is fully ingrained and will show up under any pressure or situation. His school indeed had a successful basketball program. The team had been to the Final Four several times.

We worked for two days on how she could learn to see herself as a winner, to think effectively, to play one shot at a time, to believe in her putting and herself. We talked periodically thereafter, and still do. As ball-striking skills improve, it becomes a greater challenge to love putting and the short game and to maintain a positive attitude toward them. For me it was helpful in developing a routine: focus on what you are aiming at, trust your swing, and hit the ball. Really work on your short play and putting. Don't try to play spectacular shots all the time and don't dwell on the ones you mess up, they happen to everyone. if making a swing change, stop playing golf for 1-2 weeks and just work on this on the practice tee in the training mentality. Ch 22 recommends balance to golf in one’s life; obsession, over-commitment, and anger or frustration over inevitable disappointing rounds are not healthy. Golf challenges you and tests you. You’ll be happy to take the ability you have and do the best you can with it. You can improve with practice, and with the good thinking taught in this book. Along the way you’ll find wonderful people who also love the game.In contrast, the disabled kids we worked with focused on what was in their control—their chance to learn to play. And they learned, despite their limitations. It started to hit me that attitude, self-perception and motivation heavily influenced success in life. I realized that happiness had more to do with what you did with what you had than with what you had.” Now she's searching for a new dream. And she hasn't won since 1991. I know that when she seizes on a new dream, she will win again. Her dreams propel her. My favorite person in this book is Arnold Palmer. Not only is he my favorite person in this book but he's my favorite golf of all time. He was known for for being an amazing golfer, and person off the golf course. In the book he talks about when he was a junior he made more putts because he had less on his mind and was decisive. When he became pro there was more on his mind and he became more tentative. Ch 5: occasionally even high handicappers have a hot streak, where for one or two golden hours, pars are abundant. Professionals can go low for several rounds. The hot streak teaches what players are capable of...the floor score. What's common is mechanics are not in mind. Trust is, and getting out of one's own way. Another quote I really liked was “A golfer can and must decide how he will think.”- Dr. Bob Rotella pg 36. The reason I read this book was to try to get valuable information out of it on how to control my emotions on the golf course. This quote helps me realize that my emotions and the way I act is a choice made by me. It also made me think about how golf isn't that big of a dead, it's not a life or death situation. For me to get so upset about me not playing to my expectations isn't right because at the end of the day, it's just a game.