Trust me.  This isn’t a riddle of any sort.  In fact, it is discussed regularly in the golf world.  The distance between your ears has a heck of a lot to do with the score you post in a given round.  I’ve seen this dozens of times with my students.  Once they step on that first tee, or see water for the first time, or miss one shot……it’s a slippery slope downhill.  Check the comparison between the descriptive words below:

Section A: Relaxed, Calm, Confident, Smooth, Positive,  Self-reliant, Fearless, Determined, Motivated            

Section B: Tight, Flustered, Scared, Rushed, Negative, Unsure, Cautious, Unwilling, Drained

Now, tell me what section B describes?………………..

um…ah…..um……..I’ll take Players who are on the golf course for $800, Alex.

Let’s jump in the time machine again….Take a step back…..Do you remember the first date you ever went on?   Were you Scared, Tight, Unsure, Cautious?…..Guilty!  I know I surely was.  Why though?  Think deeper.  It wasn’t because she was a pretty girl, it wasn’t because we felt out of place or not meant to be there.  Far from it.  We were scared of the unknown.

What happens if I say something wrong?  Or fall? Or spill something?  or whatever……

Now step onto the 1st tee.  How’s it feel?  You’ve been working hard on your swing.  You feel confident because on the range you’ve hit 500 7-irons in a row solid.  However, now you have to pull out the driver.  Oh no, different.

And that’s where the tension begins.  For some players it comes and goes and for others it lasts the whole round.  I can speak easily on the subject because I’ve been there.  Right in the middle of it.  Heck, All Square in a match with 3 holes to go and sitting nice in the middle of the fairway.  I tensed up, I got flustered, I let the emotion creep in.  And I lost the match.

What’s different is how you learn from it.  Just go out and play the GAME.  Win, Lose, or Draw.  Trust the “swing”  you’ve been working on and let yourself go for once.  Don’t try to guide the club, let the club guide you.  Let the club work with your body.  Take it all in and if you hit a bad shot then you hit a bad shot.  Sorry.  There are greater tragedies in the world.

The main theme of the presentation is simple.  Trust in yourself for once.  Your a human being.  Even the great Tiger Woods misses golf shots.  The key now is learning how to handle it.  Will you let the temperature rise and the volcano erupt?  Will you kick yourself?  Will clubs be broken?

Or…..Will you step back up to the next shot with confidence and trust and be determined to succeed….and pelt that ball down the center as pure as can be.

It’s your choice?  Are you willing to accept the challenge to change?  I can tell you there are great rounds of golf ahead if you do accept.  It will be one of the more rewarding things you have ever done.

Take care friends.