A friend sent me an email the other day, concerned about the state of technology, how we can keep up with it and how we can protect our children from it. I responded to the email in my other blog in a post called "Good Shift".
It occurred to me that there were some valuable lessons for Golfers in that post:
How do we Protect and Support ourselves and our children:
- Don't Panic!
- Stay abreast
- Communicate
Don't Panic
"Panic kills." -- a Navy Pilot friend.
There are no life or death situations on the Golf course. (Even if your whole paycheck for the month is riding on the next shot!) Take the time to evaluate every shot in the context of the game. Ask yourself: is anybody going to die if you don't make this next shot? If the answer is no, then check your anxiety level, because nothing else is worth hyperventilating about.
Take the time to breathe, relax, evaluate all the options.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no situation in Golf that can be helped by a panic response. Adrenalin is a great motivator, but it has to be controlled!
Cool, Calm, Collected, Controlled thinking in the face of even the most daunting challenges can only have positive results.
Stay Abreast
Situational awareness is about knowing where you are in relationship to your environment. (There's another whole blog post here, maybe later...)
There are two levels to staying abreast.
Generally staying abreast of your Golf game means being aware of your strengths and your opportunities for improvement (OFIs) (you have no weaknesses in your game!) Work on your OFIs every chance you get, then work on your confidence about overcoming them. Once you get to the course, know your tools.
Staying abreast on the course is all about course management. There have been volumes written on the topic, I'm not going to add anything new here. But making it a priority to be situationally aware on the course is key to a) decent scores and b) (more importantly) your sanity.
Communicate
Here I'm going to cheat a little. In the other blog (and traditionally) communication is about dialogue with others for the purpose of sharing or acquiring new information. My cheat is that I'm asking you to communicate with yourself.
Be aware of your self-talk, be aware of the messages you are giving yourself. For instance "I need to make this next shot." doesn't help. "I want to make this next shot." is a bit better but leaves room for interpretation. "I am going to make this next shot." is correct. Start thinking analytically about how you talk to yourself during the round and you may find other opportunities for improvement.
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