Failure to breathe will not succeed, but if you fail then breathe, you will always succeed!
-GolfWright
-GolfWright
I can’t tell you how many times the situation above has been told to me ver batum. There are so many things that we are going to break down from this story to help you evolve.
First things first,
clearly the player wasn’t being specific enough with their warm up routine on the range. It should be merely impossible to lose the feel from the range to the first tee if you are focused on the proper things.
If the player was more focused on how to get the ball where he wanted it to go instead of how each shot felt, he wouldn’t have been on such an island when he arrived at the first tee.
Secondly,
the player was frustrated/angry one golf shot into the round. Please tell me how you are supposed to be able to play well the rest of the day when the first shot of the day already sets you off? I’ll wait…….
If we are talking about an average golfer, then that means you are going to be shooting roughly 95, with that being said, you just made it a point that you are going to be angry for the next 94 shots……...sounds like fun to me…...
Third,
on the list is when you finally managed to get to the second tee box and have a conversation with yourself. The internal dialogue cannot be a wish. We have already been over that. On top of that, you also told yourself what NOT to do. You have to be able to tell yourself exactly the spot you want to hit the ball and you also have to have the belief in yourself that you can do it. Any pre-swing thought that does not have 100% intent is bound to work out opposite of how you want.
Fourth,
is the first time that we see our player do something correct. He finally uses a few choice words to alleviate all of his expectations for the current round. With most golfers it isn’t until they have zero chance of reaching their expectations that they fully give up. When in hindsight it should be the other way. You can have a goal that is not associated with any measurable expectations. (score, FIR, GIR, Putts, up/downs). Measurable expectations only create negative emotions for the average golfer. *misses fairway, pouts, makes bogey* opposed to *misses fairways, laughs, makes birdie* The only difference between the two are in the first one I miss the fairway with the expectation to not miss very many fairways so now I’m upset and that makes it so I am unable to hit the second shot to my fullest potential. In the second one, my expectation was to simply give each golf shot the respect that it deserves and so when I missed the fairway I wasn’t upset, gave the next shot the respect that it deserved and made a birdie. It is all about perception and what you are truly trying to get out of the game.
Applying GW
This last point is where the title of this section comes from. You have to be able to fail and breathe consistently in order to succeed. What I mean by that is that you have to step up to each individual golf shot, give it everything that you have, and then live with the results. If you don’t hit it well, take a deep breath and stick to the game plan for the next shot. Knowing you are going to fail and not forgetting to breathe, is a recipe to succeed.
Overall the player did exactly what every amatuer and average golfer does. That is why this scenario is so important. NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU SHOT, NOBODY CARES HOW WELL YOU HIT IT, so with that being said, manage your own expectations and put yourself in a position to succeed.
clearly the player wasn’t being specific enough with their warm up routine on the range. It should be merely impossible to lose the feel from the range to the first tee if you are focused on the proper things.
If the player was more focused on how to get the ball where he wanted it to go instead of how each shot felt, he wouldn’t have been on such an island when he arrived at the first tee.
Secondly,
the player was frustrated/angry one golf shot into the round. Please tell me how you are supposed to be able to play well the rest of the day when the first shot of the day already sets you off? I’ll wait…….
If we are talking about an average golfer, then that means you are going to be shooting roughly 95, with that being said, you just made it a point that you are going to be angry for the next 94 shots……...sounds like fun to me…...
Third,
on the list is when you finally managed to get to the second tee box and have a conversation with yourself. The internal dialogue cannot be a wish. We have already been over that. On top of that, you also told yourself what NOT to do. You have to be able to tell yourself exactly the spot you want to hit the ball and you also have to have the belief in yourself that you can do it. Any pre-swing thought that does not have 100% intent is bound to work out opposite of how you want.
Fourth,
is the first time that we see our player do something correct. He finally uses a few choice words to alleviate all of his expectations for the current round. With most golfers it isn’t until they have zero chance of reaching their expectations that they fully give up. When in hindsight it should be the other way. You can have a goal that is not associated with any measurable expectations. (score, FIR, GIR, Putts, up/downs). Measurable expectations only create negative emotions for the average golfer. *misses fairway, pouts, makes bogey* opposed to *misses fairways, laughs, makes birdie* The only difference between the two are in the first one I miss the fairway with the expectation to not miss very many fairways so now I’m upset and that makes it so I am unable to hit the second shot to my fullest potential. In the second one, my expectation was to simply give each golf shot the respect that it deserves and so when I missed the fairway I wasn’t upset, gave the next shot the respect that it deserved and made a birdie. It is all about perception and what you are truly trying to get out of the game.
Applying GW
This last point is where the title of this section comes from. You have to be able to fail and breathe consistently in order to succeed. What I mean by that is that you have to step up to each individual golf shot, give it everything that you have, and then live with the results. If you don’t hit it well, take a deep breath and stick to the game plan for the next shot. Knowing you are going to fail and not forgetting to breathe, is a recipe to succeed.
Overall the player did exactly what every amatuer and average golfer does. That is why this scenario is so important. NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU SHOT, NOBODY CARES HOW WELL YOU HIT IT, so with that being said, manage your own expectations and put yourself in a position to succeed.