I was just writing an email to an avid reader when I realised the content of the email was similar to many others. So with a flash of inspiration I’ve decided to put the contents into a blog post. That way the info can be seen by everyone and I can forward future emails to this post. Pretty clever eh?
One of the big problems with Automatic Golf implementation is getting off to a good start and then losing the plot. This happens so often that this post is certainly overdue.
Standard email I receive:
“Cameron, I played last weekend and shot a fantastic score. I went out today and didn’t play so well. What did I do wrong?”
Answer – you didn’t do anything wrong. AG is not a miracle cure and you can’t just read the book once, take a lesson and then expect to play great golf all the time. It’s a process. It’s a mindset. And you’re going to need some discipline to stick with it.
Almost every golfer gets a moment of inspiration when they first implement. Removing the straitjacket and playing free from analysis is liberating. Your system gets a break and is able to do what it does best – hit the bloody ball. But the biggest problem from this point is you. In particular, Pesky is gunna get in your ear and start telling all sorts of stuff,
“Your swing was so much slower than normal”
“You kept your head down and watched the ball”
“You completed your backswing and didn’t rush from the top”
“That Cameron dude is a genius! This works a treat! You’re going to win everything from now on”
These are stories. They’re not real and a way Pesky can still feel good about himself. Entertaining any of these kind of things is going to break you. You’ll disrupt the flow and ruin everything. While you can’t stop Pesky totally, you can ignore him. This is the hard part. So you need to be strong and show a level of discipline that has potentially been lacking with your game. You’ve got to keep playing and following the automatic routine each time you play.
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- Do all of your thinking/planning behind the ball. I call this Einsteining.
- Walk to the ball without fuss/concern/worry about the upcoming shot.
- Hit the ball without conscious thought about HOW. Just hit the ball in a way that feels good to you
- Repeat. Like forever.
Some golfers can’t get to first base. They struggle right from the start and tend to give up way too soon.The problem is the same but in this case the golfer is too scared to let go of his old way.
Typical email:
“Cameron, this isn’t working for me. I can’t stop thinking so much and my game feels terrible. Can you help me please?”
If this sounds like you then you need to stop taking golf so seriously. You’re too focused on your score/handicap and worried about what others think about your game. Two points,
1. People don’t care about your game. They are too worried about themselves to be worried about you. So stop panicking about what others think.
2. It really is only a game. When you can learn to chill out, even just a little, you’ll get what you want. The stress and strain is not worth it. I know it’s “only a game” is very cliched but it sorta fits in with Automatic Golf.
[order_box_3 width=”60%” + border=”4px”]Sidebar: This doesn’t mean you don’t care and take pride in what you do. You need to learn to let go and stop burning through brain cells while executing each shot. Another point: You may need to back off a little. Take a good look at your course strategy and don’t be scared to play more conservatively. Learning to play Automatic Golf can be a bit like driving a car. At first you need to take it easy and then learn to speed up. If you hit top speed too soon on the roads it could get ugly.[/order_box_3]
The solution is the same as the four points above. They’re not a difficult steps but different enough to cause a stumble or two. You need to stay focused on your job and this little hump will not cause too many issues. You’ll start playing better and you’ll wonder why you made golf so difficult.
When you can stick with this, Automatic Golf becomes automatic. This is the mastery level of performance and truly makes golf no harder than most other skills we perform day to day. I’m going to cover this in future lessons.
Share your thoughts below.
9 Comments
Grayden Provis
August 21, 2012“People don’t care about your game. They are too worried about themselves to be worried about you. So stop panicking about what others think”
Ain’t that the truth! We worry about what people will think of us if we play bad. But the only time they’re really noticing you (despite what they might be saying to you) is when you’re playing GOOD! And then you don’t care that they’re noticing you 🙂
Cameron
August 21, 2012Exactly!
Lukey
August 21, 2012This reminds of some years ago when I read a book called”the secret”and it basically said to be ultra positive and not negative.I was able to sit back and realise that us humans find it so much easier to be negative than we do to be positive.So the same can relate to AG be positive and it will work.
Cheers Lukey
Cameron
August 21, 2012Lukey: Please don’t compare my stuff to The Secret 🙂 I haven’t read the book but have heard enough about it to know it’s not my thing. Positive thinking is a bunch of BS – if all things took were a positive attitude then we’d all be successful – but it’s not the truth.
Masters of anything don’t sit around all day saying things like, “I’m going to be successful, I’m going to be successful”. No way. They enter the arena and actually do the work. There is no other way.
Automatic Golf requires a level of discipline that the perpetrators of positive thinking don’t want you to know about. It’s not the thinking – it’s the doing that makes the difference.
Timbo
August 21, 2012“It’s not the thinking- it’s the doing that makes the difference”
Love this Strachs!! Too many of us think things are just going to happen but the only way to learn and improve is through doing. Driving a car is so easy (despite being a difficult task if broken down) for two reasons. We do it everyday and we do not think about it. The only way to get really good at this game is to continuously put oneself in the “arena”. This has become more important to me recently as I realize that for me to perform better in tournaments, I simply need to play more of them. Repeition of certain situations (eg; tourny golf) breeds confidence and a sense of calmness that can only come from doing!
Cameron
August 21, 2012Timbo: It’s ok to think and plan. Actually pretty normal really. But at some point we have to choose to take a leap of faith and just do it. The more you play the better you’ll do – it’s very rare for people to succeed first time out. If you look at all the great champions (of anything) you’ll see a common trend.
– they have spent a lot of time playing/practicing/performing/working etc
– they weren’t that good when they started. They may have been awful
– they persevered, they keep turning up
– they work it out and everyone says they’re an overnight success.
Keep going dude, you’re on the right track.
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