At it’s heart, automatic golf is really simple. You turn up, clear your mind, choose a club and then go hit the ball.
Any golfer can do this.
But it can be hard. Your Pesky mind likes to jump in and ensure you don’t get carried away. Plus there’s the plentiful noise and distractions. You need to embrace this and realise it’s all part of the show.
And for best results you need to go further. You need to get in tune with your feelings and emotions – you might even have to ask yourself some tough questions;
– how do I feel?
– what’s my mind doing?
– what have I learned?
– am I awake?
Breakthroughs only come to those who are prepared to go deeper. And for most, you need to stop seeing automatic golf as a quick fix, it’s has to be a new way of approaching the game. It takes commitment, reflection and self-assessment. But most of all it takes courage to turn up and play free from fear. You have to be brave enough to enter the arena and play like you mean business. And you can’t do it once – you’ve got to keep hitting the repeat button no matter what the outcome. Then, and only then, will you experience something remarkable.
11 Comments
Grayden Provis
December 6, 2012“But most of all it takes courage to turn up and play free from fear”
You know I’m starting to wonder if thats even possible. In 35 years of playing I’ve never seen anyone manage it. Seriously. Not one. Maybe its time to abandon it as an ideal and just focus on how to play WITH fear (?) Lets see: “But most of all it takes courage to turn up and play with fear”. Yep. Sounds more like what I’ll ever achieve 🙂
Cameron
December 6, 2012GP: Congratulations! You’re almost there. When you can embrace the fear you’ve probably taken the biggest step to learning there is.
The fear is always going to be there – acknowledging it and not letting it get in the way is way more important than anything else. When you’re standing on the tee you can say,
This is playing golf and much more exhilarating and meaningful than any quick tip or swing instruction. This mindset opens up the possibility for remarkable golf and your real game to step out. So in a funny way, by accepting the fear you’re minimising it’s effects on you. It’s still there, but you’re in control, you’re not fighting it. And this is how you play without fear.
This stuff is so important but it’s not talked about often. Some might cringe at even reading it. Unless you can embrace the fear you’ll never do your best work – you’ll be chasing your tail, always looking for the quick fix or tip that will give you a better shot. As you know this is never permanent and leads down a frustrating path.
Thanks for sharing.
Cam280
December 6, 2012I once reversed into a tree, I recently scraped the side of my car on an underground car park pylon. I get more fearful of mistakes when I have passengers, double and even triple checking my mirrors, the stress is written on my face. Sometimes I see myself driving into trucks on highways, has not happened yet, thankfully!.
How we drive our car….., some times we are aggressive, some times we just cruise enjoying the sunshine, other times we are shit scared of crashing. The point is, those nerves are the same nerves we use in golf. I believe the best golf shots happen when your in tune with your driving nerves! Next time you go out and play, designate the holes you play like the way you drive, e.g 1st hole on my course is an easy Tee shot but the approach is hit or miss. If I was driving I would compare the Tee shot to getting my kid to school in the morning (slightly rushed) and my approach would be like reversing back into my garage, (slow and controlled). I might have to work on both those shots next time I go out….i.e, when I pull the trigger, being the same time i’m changing the radio station?. P.s Jason Norris to win Astralian Open
Cameron
December 6, 2012Cam280: Get in contact with Scott at http://www.whatspossible.com.au He is looking forward to chatting to you….
Steady
December 6, 2012Hi Cam,
I thought golf courses were set up to induce a small amount of fear factor/failure. eg par 3 over water or a fairway bunker.
As Grayden and yourself suggested once you RECOGNISE the fear your thinking and routine for me alay any fears and i get so wrapped up in my routine that I’m more concerened in not perfroming my routine properly than listening to pesky or the thought of trees, bunkers or water.
The minute i get distracted I go back and start again.
When I played that one under at Howlong I got the 17th hole par 3 195m. I knew in the back of my mind what kind of score I had. I got dry in mouth, hands started to tremble (literally) and had a real bad case of the butterfly which felt like bats in my guts. I took stock, selected the club went through my routine and swung. I ended up finishing behind a big gum tree with no shot to the hole or green. Chipped close to the fringe chipped and walked off with a one put bogey.
Worse yet I had a 10 footer for par on the 18th for a 69. Went through the same thing again knowing it was me letting the real golfer play not the suedo pesky tell you what to do golfer play.
Moral of the story is results will hppen but don’t let any result be a negative self prophecying one.
eg If I shoot par for the next 3 holes I’ll have 42 points etc.
The past, future and present is the now.
Ta Steady
Cameron
December 6, 2012Steady: The hazards are there to test us but we don’t need to be scared of them. Good strategy will hopefully avoid the trouble most of the time and the right attitude gives you the power to swing freely, no matter what trouble presents itself.
You have proven to yourself that you can play with some nerves – so you should be able to play without fear more often – this is what the golf commentators are referring to when they say, “he has a lot of experience”.
Go for it. You have nothing to lose.
Lukey
December 6, 2012I’m a little like Steady here and I commit fully to my routine and let the swing take care of it’s self.It is quite amazing how good the the subconscious mind is if you allow it to take of the swing (or putt).Taken a while but I think I’m starting to get the gist of this auto golf thing.
Cheers Lukey
Cameron
December 7, 2012Lukey: I reckon you’re on the right track but just maybe you’ll get some good results if you back off the routine thing a little. Steady will admit he took things a little far and got away from really playing the game. If we focus too hard and try too hard, we tend to fall off the wagon. Does this make sense?
It’s sorta like you’ve got to try without trying. I know that sounds like rubbish, but it’s hard to explain. If you watch a cat play with a ball of string, you will get the idea. The cat isn’t trying to play, he just is….
Thanks for sharing and you’re definitely getting closer…
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