One Under Par

A Newsletter from KeyGolf.....April 2002

Let's take a different slant on the way we look at our golf games for a moment.

Has learning about golf gone over the line? In the interest of diminishing the notion of paralysis by analysis, has the golf world begun to reach for an even more subtle negative? Now we're into analyzing the analysis, followed by analyzing the analysis of the analysis. That's one side of the coin. On the other, there is ever growing attention in the greatest possible detail aimed at the need to prevent too much analyzing. That crusade is reaching a point at which we even analyze that to death. The lists grow longer. The drive toward "success" seems to carry a lot of excess baggage in the form of unclear signals from many different sources.

Let's try a lighter approach to looking into all that baggage. We keep reading articles suggesting things for "success" like "having confidence in your skills, focusing completely on the task, putting it on autopilot, staying in control," and the like. (Those were among the "rules" listed by one writer). All of those came in one list of "things you must master to play the game well."

For just a moment, pretend that we are talking about almost any ordinary task we might think of that is performed on a regular basis. Walking, driving, eating, writing, something like that. Now consider that those are important things to do and deserving of at least a proportion of our skill and ability. Now, assuming you do them reasonably well, how many of the previously mentioned steps do you apply regularly to those tasks for successful execution?

Do you pointedly acknowledge or work on your confidence before you drive your car?

Do you focus completely on the task as you drive? Or worry about your driving ability if you get stuck in traffic?

Before you pull out of your driveway, do you make sure you can drive on autopilot? Or play a tape on that subject while driving to your destination? Or check to make sure you are staying within the highway lines?

Do you focus on staying in vehicular control? Or review how important practice is for maintaining control?

Try the same approach with others of your daily rounds. Eating. Do you rehearse your fork grip before you eat?

Do you concentrate diligently on your manual dexterity before you sign your name? Do you visit your hypnotist for help with avoiding stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk when you walk (so as not to break your mother's back)?

If you really think about the question a little more seriously, you will find that you, in fact, take care of all those daily tasks and involve all the confidence, focus of attention, automatic action and control you need, without ever so much as a conscious thought. That is, of course, unless you are accustomed to doing things like wrecking your car once or twice a day or jamming your toothbrush down your throat. But you don't have to stop to thrash upon your consideration of those concerns. They are so much a part of what you have built (skill and habit) into your performance, that you don't have to do that any more. Why is it not the same for golf? That is unless you only play twice a year.

If you are following our meaning here, then, why is it that we seem compelled to treat learning and playing golf as though it were some monstrously different sort of function in life that has no take with anything else? What is there about it that seems to eliminate any chance that we will reach what we consider to be mastery of our individual games? Is it that "mastery" is a notion that has itself achieved a revered spot in the language of the game that has been translated into an imitation of the Holy Grail?

Certainly, golf is a special game. And for those who play it regularly, it is more likely a passion than a game. But our point is that we may need to free ourselves from the obsession with trying to make it perfect in order to get on with it. Perfect is a fantasy. Or, at least, nearly so, and if you think obsession is too strong a word, why would someone feel the need to write a whole book suggesting that golf is not a game of perfect?

It should be considered worthwhile to spend some time meditating about our relationship to our own games and to make our own comparisons. As far as we can see, there is absolutely no defensible reason for golf to keep on being as difficult and frustrating as we seem to make it. Even tour players continue to fiddle with their games from AJGA into and through their senior tour experiences. Of course, if you are a clumsy oaf with two left feet and ten thumbs who could not keep your balance in a two mile an hour breeze, let alone a 25 mile an hour gale, you may need assistance. Even that should at some point give way to a finished product sufficient to sustain your playing years. (Not perfect, just real good). A little dusting and rust removal once in awhile may be in order, but all that other stuff…is it really necessary? Why are we (golfers) so willing to continue to be jaundiced about learning and retaining? And why do virtually all golfers think or act as though "there has to be a way for me to get better." We waste so much time trying to find the future that we flat miss the present. We think we keep learning but we don't show any signs that we have acceptable recall. You've already heard us use the illustration about rushing to the practice tee to see if our swings survived last night's sleep.

Most players fear that they can't remember how to swing the club long enough to walk from behind the ball into address position. They have to check their swing after they line up. They have to check their alignment after they check their swing, not to mention the grip and the waggle. Did you know that all of those are easily amenable to habit development? But you will never get there unless you know how habits are built. Put some clarity to it.

The fact that so much energy is expended in "checking," means that whatever habits we may have aren't making the grade to trustworthiness. At best, it's a sign of "no confidence." That's where another useful edge to Clear Keys gets in the act. They are indispensable in the development of habits for our games. We know we continue to struggle with our confidence. But we aren't sure what to do about it, which only reinforces our fear. And it will keep on being that way so as long as there are those who keep presenting us with the missing point rather than a solution.

We won't put all that here - the "missing the point" part. But we will give you a URL that you can visit and see 16 articles, all in one place, each one of which illustrates the "missing" ingredient in part or whole. One of those articles came close to making the full trip to solution. Can't give it a cigar, however, since it is evident that the author missed the true significance of what he was saying, betraying the fact that he didn't really understand what he said.

The URL -- http://golf.about.com/cs/mentalgame/

That's all for now folks. Enjoy the game, and especially the articles on the net.

===============================

Let us know if you have questions, comments, or if you would prefer not to receive our newsletter.