A major golfing breakthrough

I used to panic, get nervous and generally stuff things up. No matter how hard I tried, how much I practised or how much I wanted to succeed, I could never get my body to do what I wanted.

It’s bloody frustrating and I’m sure your golf game has delivered similar results.

This is the 7th year I’ve been writing about the golf learning process and the thing I’m absolutely certain of is a golfing breakthrough is certainly possible. But for the most part, we’re all looking in the wrong place. So much of the golf instruction world is focused on a part of your swing or some sort of quick fix. These things offer only short-term relief at best. Most are nothing more than hot air.

Yesterday’s post touched on expanding your comfort zone – to alter your attitude and not be afraid of following your gut and playing the game in a way that suits you. This takes a level of courage that many won’t be comfortable with and as a result won’t go to the edge.

24 hours later I think this is a huge and vitally important lesson. When you start going to the edge of your comfort zone you slowly expand it. And it’s here that you will have a breakthrough worth talking about.

Getting a major breakthrough with your golf game

Getting a major breakthrough with your golf game

It’s worth mentioning again that this is not some sort of quick fix or miracle cure. Learning to expand your comfort zone won’t happen overnight – you’ll probably struggle, make mistakes and feel like quitting. This is normal and a sign you’re on the right track.

In my case I’d get so nervous before any sort of competition I’d feel like vomiting. My scores were horrendous and I never played close to my scoring potential. I’d be envious of other golfers and would wonder what magical gift they had. How come they could play well and I couldn’t?

But bit by bit I started getting somewhere,

– I could swing freely without worrying about making mistakes
– I could calm my mind and focus on what I wanted to achieve
– The game seemed much simpler. I was just hitting a small ball to a target
– My swing felt like it belonged to me and not someone else
– I started playing better when the pressure was on and not worse
– I started to truly enjoy hitting the ball and playing the game
– Confidence made an appearance

And all this NOT because I improved my swing, but because I stood up to the fear and realised that it’s just a silly game and there’s nothing to worry about. What used to scare the pants off me started to feel normal and I could play the game how I wanted.

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9 Comments

  • Lukey

    Reply Reply January 10, 2013

    Always with me prior to embracing AG was the fear of hitting the bad shot now I am able to accept the bad shot and just get on with it.Doesn’t always work but some days you just plain have a bad day.
    Cheers Lukey

  • Jeffry

    Reply Reply January 10, 2013

    Thank you, I have just been looking for information about this subject for a while and yours is the greatest I have discovered so far. However, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you sure in regards to the source?

  • Mike Divot

    Reply Reply January 10, 2013

    One thing that helped me …

    Nicklaus said in every round he expects to hit 6 bad shots. So when you hit a bad shot: “it’s okay, it’s one of the 6.”

    He then went on to say (and this is the bit that freed up my mind) that he also expects to only hit 6 shots that come off exactly what he intended!

    Even Nicklaus could only pull it off 6 times a round!

  • James Smith

    Reply Reply January 11, 2013

    Amen, Cameron!

  • Troy Vayanos

    Reply Reply January 12, 2013

    Good work Cameron,

    I used to find watching other players play certain shots or hitting certain clubs would influence me on the golf course. I kind of felt out of place if I didn’t pull out driver on a hole or play a certain type of shot that their were playing.

    Nowadays I just play my game and don’t care what my playing partners think. They’re so worried about their own games i’m sure they don’t even notice what i’m doing.

    Cheers

    • Cameron

      Reply Reply January 15, 2013

      Troy – “most people don’t give a stuff”. Not sure who told me that but I think it’s true. We can think and worry about what others are thinking about us but it’s mostly wasted effort. Cheers, Cam

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