Trust almost never comes your way with the good shots. It certainly doesn’t turn up with those easy shots and courses you play. Trust is built when the going gets tough and you’re prepared to battle your way through.
When you embrace the fear, self-doubt and nerves you’ll be better off. When you don’t panic and keep playing (no matter what the game throws at you) you’ll be stronger and learn something meaningful.
The final step is to take a leap. To realise that every game is your chance to enter the arena, play golf your way and keep trusting in your learning system.
There is no short cut and you never stop learning.
12 Comments
James Smith
June 26, 2012Well put, Cam. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes…
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Cameron
June 26, 2012@James. Thanks for posting a great quote. There certainly are plenty of critics out there and the only way to deal with them is keep entering the arena. And I agree, many are too scared to fail, so they never ever experience the joy of success.
Gregor
June 26, 2012When you don’t panic and keep playing.
I was lucky enough to watch the final of the British Amateur at my course on Saturday and what I saw was just like the quote. The guy that won was not the guy playing the best. He was the one that scored the best. I was quite surprised actually. Probably the 2 best amateurs in the world last week and they missed fairways and greens regularly and even lost balls. But they just kept going. After a bad shot they seemed to always hit a good one. Some incredible shots, but also some incredibly bad ones. What an experience.
Cameron
June 27, 2012Gregor: This is a great point. Golf is a hard game and even the best players in the world struggle with it from time to time. They certainly don’t hit “perfect” shots all the time.
When you realise that you’ll hit the odd shocker there’s less pressure – you can keep playing without the stress of, “oh my God I’ve lost my swing!”.
Scott Barrow
June 26, 2012A couple of years ago I asked my mate (who works with Adam Scott, Nick Watney and previously KJ Choi and Nick O’Hern) what was the biggest thing that stood out among the players at the USPGA level. Was it power, length, ball striking, accuracy?
He said no, the biggest thing was their ability to leave a bad shot behind. He said he so often noticed them play a “good” shot following a “bad” one.
Lot of words come to my mind for this including: resilience, focus, presence, acceptance, intention, choice & responsibility. All can again be summed up by that same old phrase you’ve heard here a million times. Playing the game of golf.
Cameron
June 27, 2012Good stuff Scotland.
Yep, and it takes a level of trust to achieve them.
Steady
June 27, 2012Great post Strachs. Short and succinct.
The trust your talking about seperates the men from the boys so to speak.
Pesky, old habits and not playing auto is the easy path to take.
It take guts and determination to hold fast to trust your swing under pressure.
I can’t tell you how many times it has happened to me in the sporting arena.
Whether it be your plan or swing the challange is backing yourself to make the
shot or to stick to that plan.
Seeing that State of Origin league is on next wednesday, just watch how the
Queens landers stick to their plan even though they may have a few major players out.
All 17 of them trust each other and carry out the plan the coach has for them.
Ta Steady
Cameron
June 27, 2012Steady: Almost all great athletes have an inner confidence (trust) in what they’re doing. They also don’t let a loss, poor performance or some bad luck ruin their thinking.
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