AUGUST, 2001
Golf is a
Game to be Played
Bagger
Vance's philosophy was that golf is not a game to
be won. He told Junah, "Golf is a game to be
played". There is a huge difference between
playing to win and playing to play.
When
you play to win, you create tension and pressure
that adversely affects your brain's chemistry and
your ability to perform. If you play to play, you
are relaxed and give yourself a chance to perform
at a much higher level so you can win. However,
as true as this is, most golfers continue to get
caught up in the outcome and winning, which
causes their game to suffer.
I was
at the recent PGA six-round qualifier at PGA West
in La Quinta. The conditions were perfect, except
for the slow greens due to reseeding. Some
golfers who were use to fast greens had a hard
time adjusting to the slow greens. Others who
figured out the slow greens were shooting very
low scores documented by a 59-course record.
For
the first four rounds, the cut off for the 35 PGA
cards was 69 each day or 12 under after the first
four days. Guess what happened to the scores
during the fifth and final rounds, as many of the
players' mindsets became super focused on winning
a tour card.
You
guessed right. After round five, 70 or 14 under
was the magic number. After the final round, it
moved up to 71 for the final cut off of 15 under
to qualify for your PGA card. The same perfect
playing conditions existed during those final two
rounds, but performances dropped significantly
just because finality was fast approaching and
players started playing to win.
Golf
is a catch 22. If you play to win, you make it
very hard on yourself to play well. If you just
play to play, you dramatically increase your
ability to win the prize. Junah finally wised up
and asked Bagger for help.
Ironically,
after the first round I checked my email and
found a question from a golfer, which clearly
helps illustrates Bagger's philosophy. Hopefully,
the following correspondence will help you
improve your golf and shoot lower scores.
"Dear
Michael,
"It's
been a while since I have written you and I
wanted to give you an update. My golf game has
improved tremendously since I last wrote you.
While working on my physical game, I have also
worked to incorporate your lessons in my mental
game and have seen great results!
"On
Sunday, I went out to the driving range and hit a
bucket of balls, (I do this on a daily basis),
and was very pleased with my practice session.
However, on Monday, I went to the driving range
and couldn't hit a golf ball to save my life. I
started shanking the ball, hitting off the toe,
hitting it off the hosel and striking the ground.
I thought it just might be one of those days and
decided to try it again last night. Same results.
"Suddenly,
it feels like I have forgotten how to play the
game. Since I have seen a steady and dramatic
improvement over the last 5 months, it would seem
logical that I have developed a mental block that
is preventing me from executing a good golf
swing.
"Any
ideas on what I can do to return to my
"A" game. I know this is temporary, but
being human, it is easy to get caught up in my
current problem."
I
told him the same thing that I would tell you if
you asked the same question.
Stay
focused on the process and the results will be
there according to your mechanical ability. My
guess is that you made a couple of bad shots and
when you didn't get the outcome you wanted or
expected you let negative emotions enter and
started pressing or panicking.
Reread
The Mental Keys. Then, the next time you hit a
bucket of balls don't give a darn about where
they go. Just relax, hit the ball and see what
happens. If you don't care, you won't get
emotionally involved with the outcome. Once you
get mentally relaxed, look for the mechanical
adjustments that will get you back on track. If
you do this for several buckets of balls, you
will eventually find the correct adjustments and
you should be back on track.
Try
this out and let me know how it goes. Don't force
it. Patience is a virtue, especially in golf
because old man golf does his best to get into
your mind and destroy your game.
Believe
it or not, after the final round of the
qualifier, I checked my email and look what was
waiting for me.
"Mike,
"Thank
you for the kind words of encouragement. I did as
you asked and my game not only returned, but my
little problem allowed me to reexamine my game
and have actually moved to the next level!!
"Many,
many thanks for your help and guidance."
If
you haven't seen the movie "The Legend of
Bagger Vance", I highly recommend seeing it
and paying attention to Bagger when he says,
"Golf is a game to be played".
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