An Artful Champion

Here’s a great golf story. It’s from the Artful Golfer and one of the few golf blogs I read. I like this post because he goes into great detail – what he was feeling, what he was trying to do and his thought process. A useful learning experience for us all. Here’s some further thoughts from me:

• Club Championships are like our Olympic Games. It’s probably the most important tournament of the year and an event we all like to do well in. My point? The pressure is on from the start. Without a strategy for dealing with the pressure you have little chance of performing well.
• No matter what the situation you need to keep playing golf. You can’t think too much about the score, your playing partners or your speech.
• I don’t like the word grinding. It gives the impression that you need to try hard and expend lots of energy. I have found that golf becomes less taxing (and easier) when you grind less. It’s easier said than done but by relaxing your body and mind when the pressure is on is advantageous.

I know this sounds counter intuitive but by trying less you maximise your chances of playing better and making the correct decisions. Better still you should save more energy and find the journey more enjoyable.

• When the pressure is on those that can make good decisions and play free from fear will do best. This is a scary step but one that will allow you to break free and leap frog your competition.
• Winning and doing well in big events is rarely about playing your best golf. It’s about playing ‘less bad’ than your competition. Pressure will always make us do silly things and feel uncomfortable. When you can make these bigger events as normal as possible you’ll see an improvement.

I hope you enjoyed his article. This is a blog I highly recommend you read. Artful Golfer is a true pin up boy for the think less, play more approach. He has reached a 2 handicap and broken 70 without much formal instruction – a genuine golfing Champion. Read his full story on his website.

Keep your eyes peeled because in the coming posts I’ll give you an in depth look at my recent Club Championships. I’m going to talk about the pressure, over coming self-doubt, dealing with an injury, starting poorly, expectations plus lots more. It should be a bit of fun.