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Article Resources "Mind Links "

How to become more patient...right now! - part 1
How to become more patient...right now! - part 2
How to become more patient...right now! - part 3
Commitment
Concentration
Playing Golf Around Your Body
Stay Out of Your Own Way
From Practice to Playing Golf
Become Your Own Golf Caddie
Create Your Own Menu for C.A.L.M. to play your best golf
Playing Your Own Golf Game
The 10 Things Your Pro Won't Tell You About Your Game
Learning From your Mistake Patterns Part 1
Learning From your Mistake Patterns Part 2

How to become more patient...right now! - Part 1 by Dr. Tom Kubistant, CSP

Patience is power    -- Chinese Proverb
 
 One of the few things I can still clearly remember from the turbulent 1960s was a popular poster depicting two vultures sitting in a tree.  As you know, vultures wait to feed on already dead carrion.  In that poster, one vulture said to the other, "Patience, hell, I want to kill something!"

Most of us want to "kill" something during a round of golf.  We become tired of waiting.  We feel we don't have any other options but to kill it.  And besides, it seems like more fun just to mindlessly bust a shot.  So we force things...usually with disappointing and disastrous results.

Both high level and consistent golf are grounded in patience.  Those who play "all-or-nothing" golf usually end up with nothing.  Beyond that, impatient people rarely improve--certainly not at the rate they expect.  Patience is not only a critical key for maximizing your rounds, but also in guiding your long term progress.

Most of us sabotage our rounds by impatience.  To fully understand this, please answer these questions:  how many shots per round do you fritter away by impatience?  How many shots are you not clear and committed in  its decision making?  How often do you not include in your planning where to miss the shot?  Do you rush your preshot routine when discouraged?  How often do you try to force a shot into a target?  How often do you become mentally dulled during the last six holes?  How often do you let your emotions (both greed and frustration) control you?  How many shots, holes, and even rounds do you give up on?  All of your answers to these questions can be summarized by a lack of patience.

In competitive golf, most tournaments at all levels--even the pros at majors--are lost, not outright won.  The player who endures makes the least number of mistakes at the critical times.  Said more positively, the winners tend to be the most patient.

Most players do not have the courage, self-discipline, and belief to be patient.  In evaluating Jack Nicklaus' game, Tom Weiskoph said, "To play the way Jack did required and enormous amount of patience.  Most players just couldn't do it--they'd get too antsy and feel as if they must force the issue.  Nicklaus had more patience than anyone I ever saw. Sure, it is much easier to be impatient under the guises of being natural or fluid.  However, one of the great challenges of golf--both recreational and competitive--is that it challenges golfers to be patient.  The Game rewards patience.  As the great Byron Nelson advised,
"If you don't have patience playing golf, the game will teach it to you."

Here is the encouraging thing:  patience can be improved.  Sure, patience is expanded with overall maturity as well as experience from various playing situations.  However, it can also be improved upon by consciously working on it.  Patience is an ability and, as such, it can be refined and deepened.  Here is how....continued

How to get patience - Part 2 by Dr. Tom Kubistant, CSP

PERSPECTIVES ON PATIENCE
     Now, please answer this question for yourself:  what does patience involve during a round?  As each player has a unique formula for performing, this includes unique perspectives on patience.  Go ahead, answer the question!  The more specific you can become in defining the components of your patience the better you will be able in tapping into them.

Understand that golfing patience has two dimensions to it:  big-picture PERSPECTIVES and specific playing TACTICS.  Let's first look at the perspectives. Wise golfers approach each round accepting there will be ebbs and flows to it.  No round is ever completely performed at a smooth high level.  Accept ahead of time the fact that you will hit some bad shots.  There will always be challenges, low points, and even crises.  The best performers prepare themselves to be patient.

One of the top teaching pros in my area, Jim Kepler, encapsulated one of the best playing approaches I ever heard.  Jim said, "In every round there is a twenty minute period when your game leaves you.  The key is to anticipate it so when it happens you can remain patient." Just as every round is unique, this low period usually emerges at different times.  Accept this fact so when it comes you can immediately retain your perspectives of being patient.  As Mark O'Meara advised, "Patience...and more patience."

Even though Michael Murphy's Golf In The Kingdom has been out since 1972, I think he summarized this perspective best when he wrote, "Wait 'em oot'  They will pass."  When you are in the midst of one of these natural ebbs, wait them out.  Believe they will pass, trust yourself, and focus on what you can control right here and right now.

Next, you should be eager to play each round, but keep your emotions in check.  No matter your personality, a part of your preparation is to remain calm.  No Tiger fist pumping!  Learn to employ your own form of relaxing, both before and during the round.  I have been studying the psychology of golf for almost thirty years and one thing is increasingly clear to me:  deep and consistent golf performances emanate from remaining calm.

You see, it is almost as if The Game tempts us to release emotions.  We catch glimpses of how utterly simple it can be so that we expect everything to be easy, pure, natural, and wonderful.  And then...whamo!  As soon as we open up our emotions of being giddy or greedy, The Game dumps on us.  These good feelings are quickly transformed into frustration, anger, or even despair.

The perspective of patience is the way to stay calm  No, you need not be an unemotional robot, just keep your emotions in check.  When you think about it, there is absolutely nothing to be gained for future shot performances by being emotional--either positively or negatively.  Staying calm is intrinsically linked to staying within yourself and staying focused.

Here is the payoff.  As you develop the power of patience in remaining calm you will immerse into the magical state of serenity.  Even in the midst of pressure and challenges, you can remain comfortable and in control.  Few remember that back in the early 1970s Johnny Miller experienced a streak of high level performances few have ever matched.  Reflecting on that period he stated, "Serenity is knowing that even your worst shot will turn out all right."

Here is an interesting perspective on patience.  Most of us need patience when things are not going well or to keep things in check.  What few golfers realize is that they also need patience when the round is going well.  When you are on top of the round you still need to maintain the reigns on your efforts.  Remind yourself to keep on doing the things that brought you to this point.  Don't play defensively, but don't become greedy.

Patience is especially needed when finishing off a round.  When we are scoring well there is a temptation to eagerly rush through the last couple of holes.  Take your time finishing off a round.  Learn to actually enjoy the sublime tension of playing well while concluding the round.

Developing these perspectives of patience away from the course will provide you with the structure of what to emphasize during actual rounds.....continued

How to get patience - Part 3 by Dr. Tom Kubistant, CSP

PRACTICING PATIENCE
     From this base of perspectives, you can improve your tactical patience during each round.  Especially during this time during the year when you may not be practicing diligently or peaking for performances, it is the perfect time to develop your playing patience.  Remember, you can learn how to become more patience on the course.  And this begins with practicing it in low-stress situations.  Here are some techniques to practice on the course.  Apply, at the most, two of these emphases in each of your upcoming rounds.

Approach each round like you are going to play 36 holes that day.  I want you to learn how to pace yourself so that you "leave something in the tank. "

Play an entire round NOT trying to make anything happen. For those regular readers of my articles, you know that my primary principle of golf performance is to allow your best performances to emerge from deep within you.
Become in tune with the flow of the round and see what happens.  Do not worry about your score or even the outcome of a shot.  You very well may be amazed at what happens.

As such, do not force any shots.  Sure, select a precise target, but then just throw yourself into your swing/stroke and release the shot (much like an archer releases an arrow).  You might become pleasantly surprised at how accurate you become when you step out of your own way.

Swing very easy.  One of the best patience drills is to play an entire round swinging at only three-quarters of your usual power.  Granted, you might have to play one or two clubs more into a green, but swing these relatively easy as well.  You will undoubtedly become frustrated or greedy, but see if you can have the discipline to play an entire round swinging fully at three-quarters power.

If you are the type of player who likes to work shots, hit them straight.  Just emphasize hitting each ball squarely.  Too often, we try to become too precise and cute.  There is a time of the year to come back to the basics of solid ballstriking.

As such, aim just for centers of fairways and greens.  You might become perplexed with how hard this is; not so much mechanically, but psychologically.  As you do this you will be actually making the mental transition from a target orientation to a process orientation.

If you have an established Risk-Reward Formula, play a couple of rounds not taking any risks.  Even if you can pull off a shot eight times out of ten, opt for the more conservative option  I know, this will be frustrating, but remember you are developing the patience to know how to "take your medicine."

On the greens, do not attempt to make any putt outside of six feet.  On such putts, merely emphasize making solid strokes with proper speed control.  You will probably be amused with how many of these putts fall in.  Stupid game!

With all of the above practices you will probably feel tempted to regress to your usual approaches.  Here is the final practice:  whenever you feel tempted to do anything, DO JUST THE OPPOSITE.  Even if you cannot analyze the temptation, immediately do just the opposite.  For example, if you feel tempted to bust a drive, immediately calibrate your swing to be "70% Full." Or if you feel tempted to fit an approach shot into a tight pin, immediately take out one more club and hit the ball to the back center.  Or if you feel tempted to jam in a nine-footer, immediately smoothly stroke it the proper distance.  With such playing situations, few of us are aware of how much temptation influences us nor what to do about it.  Temptation is the bane of patience.  And patience is the cure to temptation.

Finally, blame it all on me!  It is one thing to attempt these tactics when playing by yourself.  It is quite another thing to practice these patience techniques when you are playing with your regular partners.  So if they question your decisions say, "I am implementing Doc Kubistant's patience drills.  It's HIS fault!"

There are some core elements to good golf performances.  Concentration, positive attitude, decisiveness, relaxation, persistence, creativity, routines, commitment, and determination are all essential.  And patience solidifies them all.

Now, if you read this comprehensive article all the way through, you are well on your way to becoming more patient!  You may want to reread this article in the spring when you are gearing up for your more serious golf.

Patience is a broad perspective.  It is also a specific playing tactic.  Patience is natural.  It can also be refined and expanded.  Patience is the pathway to mastery in golf.

Commitment

One of my favorite stories I give during my speeches goes like this:

A chicken and a pig were walking down the road and they see a sign at a diner that says, "Ham & Eggs Special--$1 .99." Upon seeing that, the chicken said in a haughty manner, "Do they know what kind of sacrifice I make for my eggs?"

To which the pig responded, "For you it is a sacrifice.

For me it is total commitment!"

This silly story, dating back to Vaudeville days, highlights the point that there is

no such thing as semi-commitment or kind of committed. Commitment is total--pure and simple.

So many golfers have good intentions about improving their games, but they often don't follow through on these intentions. The road to

consistently disappointing rounds is filled with good intentions. Wishing and hoping does not make good golf swings. Commitment does.

The great speaker and writ, Tony Robbins says that there is something empowering about the process of making conscious decisions.

The same applies to commitments. If you take the time and energy to identify something you wish to improve and consciously commit yourself to achieving it, you have already set the mental wheels in motion down the path to realizing it.

What many people do not know is that making a commitment and implementing it are two separate and distinct processes. Just because you have committed yourself to, say, eliminating your slice, does not mean that it will immediately disappear. You have to live with your commitment and this means prioritizing it into the rest of your life.

Like many of you, I spend most of my week on the road. Typically, whenever I have the opportunity for golf I usually play instead of practice. The effects of these decisions eventually catches up with me. I know I need to practice, but it seems a better use of my limited time to play.

My major golfing goal for the last couple of years was to practice as much as I played. I committed myself to it, but living with this commitment was challenging. There always seemed to be present the temptation to play. It took me relatively long into my life to understand that saying "no" to an opportunity that was not in my priorities was really saying "yes" to living with my priorities.

Part of prioritizing is fitting them into one's plans. So I put practice into my calendar. Beyond that, I put practice into my thinking.

I learned to love practice and looked forward to those sessions. Since I made these priorities I have stuck with my commitment and have seen some very positive results.

Great golfers are not born, but self-made. This is a constant evolutionary process based on a spiraling series of commitments. So have your dreams and establish your goals, but remember they will only be realized when they are coupled with a commitment that is implemented.

As with our friend the pig, you should never say or think the word "commitment" without the word "total" preceding it. Total commitment is an active process that involves making the goals a priority in your life.

Remember, it is one thing to make a commitment; it is quite another thing to live with it. Just as your golf ball goes awry without a full follow through, so do your commitments. Make active decisions, prioritize your commitments, and follow through. These are the routines to stay on the fairways of life.

Cheers!

Tom

Concentration

Concentration is at the heart of your golf game. It brings all the elements of your physical and mental games into focus. With all the things you cannot control in links golf, having a deep and sustained concentration is the only way to play your best. Now, specifically what does "concentration" mean to you? Even when I ask the players with whom I am working, they have few clear conceptions of what concentration really means to them.

Concentration is not being intense, resistant to distractions nor is it trying hard. Neither is concentration trying to force, produce or manufacture a good performance.

Then what is it? A good way to get a handle on concentration is to break down the word itself. Literally, concentration (con-cen-tra-tion) means "a coming together to a mutual center." It is where mind and body come together to perform. You are both engaged and immersed into yourself, your swing and the situation. In this mental state the result is what the great English golfer Tony Jacklin refers to his "cocoon of concentration," where you are insulated from everything other than what you need to do.

There is no such thing as "turning on your concentration." Rather, the best way to access your concentration is through a lowering down deeply into yourself where you can integrate mind and body. I like to use the image of taking an elevator ride down into your center. Instead of a gearing up, deep concentration is really a gearing down. It is a matter of letting go rather than adding on. And it is a matter of lowering rather than heightening.

These views of concentration are not really mysterious nor mystical. Concentration is really quite natural. You concentrate everyday in activities ranging from reading a report, driving a car, and listening to your significant other. Golf concentration is just a more directed, focused, and sustained way of doing these everyday activities.

So, just how do you begin to concentrate in this manner? Purely and simply, relaxation. Following your personal and programmed style of relaxation is the conduit to concentration. In our analogy, relaxation is the elevator. As you lower down deeply into yourself you can think more clearly, feel more intuitively and commit more purposefully.

Once you are concentrating you then have to choose between two mental emphases: being aware and paying attention. These two emphases are like poles of a continuum. Each has its applications during a round of golf. There are times when you need to be aware of the big picture (the wind, your initial options and your overall comfort) and there are other times you want to pay attention to specific things (the ball, the stance, the line, etc.). Like a lens on a camera, effective concentration is a blend between zooming out (being aware) and zooming in (paying attention).

From this level you can then focus your concentration to the mental tasks at hand. Either when you have zoomed out or zoomed in, you need to focus your mental movie. This is where a clear and committed mind come into play. Now is when the true uses of "intensity" are applied. When you were a kid, did you ever try to light a fire with the sun and a magnifying glass? True intensity is using the existing energy to focus in a concentrated way. On the other hand,those who try too hard to force efforts try to find six more suns to light the fire!

All of this may seem complicated, but it is really not. Concentration is a skill and, as such, it can be learned and improved. Start by apply these skills in little steps. Concentrate on your pre-shot routine on just one shot on the range. Then deeply concentrate on just one hole during a round; then three holes.

Learn to concentrate during adversity. Then when you feel pressure. Each little success in concentrating empowers you to improve and expand upon it. If you follow this sequence you will be amazed at how intense and effective your concentration becomes.

When all of these elements are functioning your concentration is clicking on all cylinders. When everything is in place, all your efforts seem natural and even easy. As you come to this mutual center your mind and body can naturally work in concert with each other and good performances are allowed to emerge. Concentration is the conductor to lovely symphonies on the golf course.

Cheers! Tom

Playing Golf Around Your Body

I DO WHAT MY BODY ALLOWS me to do. None of us have perfect bodies. From basic structure, to genetics, to deficiencies, to illnesses and injuries, all the way to aging, each of us has to learn how to swing based on the bodies we have. Shotmaking and even scoring tactics should also take into account the body used to perform them.

Let me use myself as an example. I am a 54-year-old geezer who has chronically damaged knees, the webbing between my fingers is so tight it prohibits me from using overlapping or interlocking grips, my left leg is slightly longer than my right one, and I have relatively long limbs and a short torso. Add

There are many, many ways to hit the ball well 
		and play the game solidly.

to this that I am a bodybuilder who is perpetually stiff and sore. When the players with whom I work discover all of my "limitations," they are amazed I can hit the ball at all .much less take money off of them! Perhaps - precisely because of these physical liabilities is why I learned how to maximize my mental and scoring games.

I see many whiny golfers use their physical limitations as excuses. These become their crutches. "If only." is their standard phrase. "If only I didn't have this bum back," "If only I wasn't so stiff from yard work," "If only I didn't have these allergies," "If only I didn't have this gut," or even "If only I was taller,"... "then I could practice more and play better." Rubbish! The only person they are fooling is themselves. Golf is a pure and honest game which allows no excuses. Cowboy up.

Dennis Oliver is the head teaching pro at my home course. He is regionally renowned for having the best eyes arid communication skills in working with golfers of all abilities. Dennis is one of those teaching pros golfers go to when they experience roadblocks or slumps. He is magical how he helps players. Beyond his teaching prowess, Dennis has a special passion for helping golfers in The Special Olympics.

He reports that some of the most remarkable progress he has ever seen in any golfer are from players who should not have the minds and bodies to do it. These golfers courageously and passionately play with what they have. Dennis views himself as a kind of guide to put them on the right track. And, boy, do they respond.

Great teaching pros like Dennis Oliver work with the individual golfer's uniqueness. Sure, he teaches the fundamentals, but he then adapts to what the student's body will allow them to do. Whether it is more of a long arc swing or a compact rotation swing, Dennis helps golfers discover their own "natural" swings. There are many, many ways to hit the ball well and play the game solidly. You see, there is really no such thing as a classic swing. If you ask players who have always been recognized at possessing pure

"It is what it is" and
			"I'll do what I can do."

swings, they would report they had to do a lot of compensating for their bodies throughout their careers. Steve Elkington, Patty Sheehan, and Tom Purtzer all have made adjustments to their "classic" swings to accommodate their bodies.

You may not have the challenges of a Special Olympian or a person coping with chemotherapy to have to adapt with your body. Your body is your performance vehicle. All of us have to learn how to play around our bodies. The body never stays the same; it is always changing. So not only does the course change everyday, so do our bodies we use to play.

Seen in these lights, golf is a game of continuous adaptations. Here is the key: acceptance. Accept the body you have. Accept the reality that there will be some things you will not be able to do. And accept that there are some things you can learn to do. The mantras of the sell-accepting golfer are, "It is what it is" and "I'll do what I can do." Now, acceptance does not mean resignation. Nor is it a rationale for making excuses. Acceptance focuses on maximizing what one possesses instead of lamenting over what one no longer has. You see, until you accept your body you will not be able to fully change things nor maximize other things. Sure, you may not be able to swing the way you used to, but you can learn to swing in new ways. In fact, most dedicated golfers report to me that they have received deeper self-satisfaction with the game through learning how to play around their bodies.

From a base of honest acceptance, golfers can learn how to maximize what they have. For example, we have all learned about the benefits of developing a system of stretching, both daily and prior to a round. And some of us have reaped the benefits of weight training. Regular practice and intelligent playing can more than make up for some physical disabilities. And your heart, mind, and playing savvy can get around swing limitations.

There are things you can do if only you accept yourself and give yourself permission to strive for them. Establish more appropriate and attainable goals . . .and then go out and do it. You will never know how far you can go with your body until you find out for yourself. I have always used the metaphor that golf is a human performance laboratory. The game can be played and enjoyed at so many levels. In the face of aging, illness, or physical disabilities, golf can still be enjoyed and even mastered at new levels. Most importantly, the processes of striving can become as meaningful as the new outcomes.

You have some essential choices to make. No matter your age, illnesses, or injuries, only you can decide how to approach the game. Are you going to be a victim or are you going to become a warrior? Are you going to stay in the past lamenting how you used to play? Or are you going to accept your current body, accommodate it, and learn how to play in

Establish ... attainable goals
		and then go out and do it.

new ways? The choices are ultimately yours.

Some of you real students of the game are familiar with the writing of Bob Labbance. Based in New England, Bob has always had a passion about golf literature, classic course architecture, and the history of the American game. What few of you know is that while golfing in September he slipped on a slick bridge, fell head first into the creek bed, and suffered a severe spinal injury. He was immediately completely paralyzed. After three operations Bob is still partially paralyzed.

However, his friends say Bob is still talking about coming back to Ms beloved golf. He is striving daily to make progress with his new body. Sure, he a never swing the way he used to. But my money is on Bob coming back to the game and learning how to play it. and enjoy it .. in new ways. Bob, we're all waiting for you on the tee.

Cheers!

Tom

Stay Out of Your Own Way

Let your preparation take over your swing

Over the last couple of years, this title phrase has become a:clich?. Even golfers who haven't the foggiest idea of the components of good performance know enough to at least say that they have to stay out of their own way. And they're correct - staying out of your own way is one of the top preventive strategies for solid efforts.

But what exactly does this phrase mean?

Most of us want to perform so well that we try too hard, become too intense and complicate things too much. The importance of the occasion, plus our good intentions add up to too many thoughts at once.

We think about specific swing mechanics, remembering the latest swing cue, course management, the stance and the lie, the 17 steps of our preshot routines, visualizing the shot, coping with the pressure, targeting, and-oh yes- concentrating. With all of that going on, it's no wonder our brains become overloaded and shut down.

The path to discouraging golfing performances is paved with these good intentions. Reflecting on his stellar year of 1998, Mark O'Meara stated, "As soon as I got out of my own way, didn't put as much pressure on myself, I was able to perform better." One of the cornerstones of human performance is - as Lily Tomlin's character "Edith Ann" said - to "try softer."

There is a time to think and plan, but there is also time to let go and do. The first step to getting out of your own way is to analyze exactly what this concept means to you. The problem with such clich?s is that we mistakenly believe they mean the same thing to everybody. As you reflect on how specifically you get in your way, some answers become obvious in just doing the opposite. For example, if you discover that you are too deadly serious about the game, the answer is clear - have more fun. Or if you become aware that you are thinking about too many possibilities for a shot, the answer is easy - commit yourself to one choice and go with it.

This whole issue essentially is composed of two separate phases -how to prevent you from getting in your way and, if you do, how to recover from it. When I was preparing this article, I went through notes on my golfers over the last couple of years to see how we got past them staying out of their own way .I came up with no less than 37 techniques! I chuckled and said to myself, "Great, Tom, you're going to give golfers 37 suggestions to simplify their games!"

Actually, I'll boil them down to three strategies:

PERSPECTIVE.
No single shot you ever take will ever make or break a round, a tournament or even a career. It is just one shot. Even with the disasters of Doug Sanders at the 1970 British Open and Tony Jacklin 1972,it is still just one shot ... unless you make something more of it. Remember, there will always be other shots, other holes and other rounds. Sure, commit yourself to the shot in front of you, but it is just one shot. Failure with this shot is not the end of the world. If you have read my articles in these pages over the years, you know one of my cornerstones of golf performance is this a round of golf is a series of individual performances, separate unto themselves. This is a perspective to accept before a round. It is also a perspective to remember during a round, particularly coming down the stretch when you are starting to feel pressure.

CONTROL There are so many specific elements to the golf swing and game itself that it's hard to try to control all of them, much less be aware of them. Good golf (as well as mental health!) is grounded in being aware of -what we can controL Over a putt, the only thing we have control of is putting a good stroke on the ball. We do not have 100 percent direct control whether or not the ball goes into the hole -grain, wind, footprints, ball marks and worms sneezing can all influence the outcome.

A consistent preshot routine can be an aid to putting yourself in a good position to better control your swing. However, don't complicate your preshot routine by trying to micromanage everything. The greatest value of a preshot routine is that it allows you to make the transition from thinking to doing. Have, at the most, one swing cue. It almost seems mystical, but the more you give up trying to control everything, the more pure control you attain. Play, mentally rehearse and commit, but let all of this go when you are over the ball.

BE WITH THE SHOT: The best way to stay out of your own way is to throw yourself into the process of executing the shot, immersing yourself into the here-and-now where the ball, target and your performance all merge together. Don't worry about outcomes or consequences. Even in pressurized tournaments, the real fun resides in executing the shot. All your thoughts, plans and routines merely put you in a position to perform. The goal is to immerse yourself in the shot situation, let go of conscious control and let your best effort emerge.

Cheers!

Tom

From Practice to Playing Golf

How to get your golf practice game from the range to the course

How did I swing so fluidly on the range 10 minutes ago, but now, on the first hole, I chop at the ball like a lumberjack?

This is one of the greatest frustrations most golfers face. We've proved to ourselves that we can swing well on the practice range, but transferring these feelings, the rhythm and confidence onto the course is quite a different challenge.

The ability to transfer your golf game from the range onto the course is one of the essential mental skills to be mastered. This mental skill can be learned and improved. Just like any teaching professional worth his or her salt better be able to cure a slice, any golf psychologist better be able to help golfers take their games from the range to the course.

To effectively transfer your golf game over, there are essential mental perspectives to apply. First, the 7-iron you hit on the range is entirely different from the 7-iron you might hit on the first hole. They are two separate situations that involve quite different mental processes.

Most often, we feel good about our swings on the range after we have repeated the same shot. We feel our swings are "grooved."

But during a round you only get one chance at each shot. Second, When warming up prior to a round there are myriad swing factors to which you may be paying attention - posture, alignment, takeaway, hand positions, rotation, swing plane, tempo, plus any swing cue that has been working for you. Trying to do all of those things over a shot during the round will probably lead to a mental meltdown. Forget about all these isolated mechanical issues and perform integrated swings. This is where mind and body come together.

Third, on the range you're in a ball orientation, but during a round you need be in target and process orientations. During warm--up, you are focusing on striking the ball and maybe seeing how it flies through the air. There, the golf ball is the end.

But during a round the ball is a means to other ends. Once you step onto the golf course, you have to focus on a target, whether it be the hole or a spot in the fairway. These three mental perspectives are critical to performing at your best during a round.

During your warm-up on the range, you must gradually and consciously shift your thinking from a practice mentality to a playing mentality~ The best way to do this is to follow what Ed Grant advised back in 1981:

"If you want to play more like you practice, you must star to practice like you play."

From your practice sessions to you warm-up sessions, everything you do should be done in the way you would like to do them on the course. Pick out a precise target, follow your preshot routine and commit yourself to the shot. If you're hitting more than two balls per minute, you're going too fast.

Granted, there are times to do drills or work on specific mechanics, but the last half of every practice session should be used to replicate the kinds of on-course performances you seek.
Here are some techniques to employ during your golf warm-up:

1. GO THROUGH YOUR RELAXATION sequence and settle into
yourself as you stretch. Good players do this before theyhit balls and even just before theywalkto the first tee.

2. ALTERNATE YOUR SHOTS on the
range. Hit a 9-iron and then a 6-iron. -Yes, you might not feel cdmfoi~table doing this,but it is more akin to what you will be facing on the course.

3. PICK OUT VERY SPECIFIC
TARGETS. Aim for dead grass or a drain. Get used to focusing on a target.

4. HIT THREE-QUARTER SHOTS
and work the ball. Let's face it, perhaps only half of the shots you hit during a round will be your standard full swing on a flat stance with the ball sitting up. Get a feeling and confidence on the range for your creative shots.

5. REHEARSE KEY SHOTS you'll be
hitting in the first three holes. For example, I believe the first hole at Graeagle Meadows is the most demanding opening hole in Northern California. It's a 440-yard dogleg left around trees with water on the right. On the range, Iwill practice drawing a three-wood. I imagine myself on the first tee with each of these shots I take.

6. FEEL ThE RHYTHM. The last
3rd of the balls you hit should be rhythmical swings at 80 percent full power. Think and feel rhythm. You can carry this to the course.

7. MAKE TIME FOR SHORT-GAME
PRACTICE - putting, pitching and chipping. I believe that if you only have time for either full swings or chipping, you should choose chipping.

8. TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF
before you walk to the first tee. Complete your mental transitions, yawn, shrug your shoulders and say hello to the course.

If you're aware of these mental orientations, warm up properly and employ some of the above techniques, you'll become more effective in transferring your golf game onto the course. You'll truly be ready to play.

I hope I have been worth my salt.

Cheers!

Tom

Become Your Own Golf Caddie

WRITE YOUR PERSONAL FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Most of the Tour and mini-tour players with whom I work do not have their own regular caddies. They usually employ a local golf caddie at week's event These players are constantly forging new relationships with new caddies. Some weeks it works, some weeks it doesn't.

A golf caddie is a critical element in performing well at a professional tournament. In addition to giving yardages and taking care of the player, a caddie can also be a coach, confidant and counselor Beyond the classic adage, "Show up, keep up and shut up," a good caddie has to be continually in the head of the golfer. The caddie has to know when to say something, what to say, how to say it and, as importantly, when not to say anything at all.

One technique we have developed with touring players is to have a 4-by-6-inch index card that explains what the golfers want from their caddies during the tournament. Instead of explaining what the golfer wants at the beginning of each week, the player simply gives this index card to the caddie. On the card is what the player wants the caddie to do, what to say and how to say it.

The index card is really a compilation of how the player can perform well. Many of my players have reported that this index card was even more valuable than just a caddie briefing. Even though I never originally intended to be so (I am not that smart!), this index card represents the key elements in the player's formula for success.

Frequent1y, the players read their cards again and respond, "Oh yes, that is what I need to do to play well." Some of them regularly use this index card as a reminder for themselves as well. Let's take this concept of the caddie card one step further. Answer this question: If you were to become your own golf caddie, what would you tell yourself about how you perform best? What are the key elements to your personal formula for success -especially under pressure? What things do you need to emphasize, de-emphasize and ignore? What would you like to say to yourself and in what manner?

Pretend you are becoming your own caddie and educate yourself about you. Write out a caddie card for yourself. You'll quickly discover that it is not as easy as it first appears. Not only do you have to determine what to say to yourself but also how to say it. Any formula - such as this formula for golfing success - has to be precise for it to be of any consistent value.

Answer this question:
If you were to become your own golf caddie, what would you tell yourself about how you perform best? You may be surprised at what you write down

As an example, the following is the caddie card I wrote up when I last played The Old Course at St. Andrews. I usually do not like to use caddies, but sometimes they are a treat. Knowing for me that caddies can be as much of a hindrance as a help, here is what I wrote:

I am a quiet focused and creative player. Give me just enough information about a hole so I can figure it out by myself. I like making my own decisions and mentally rehearsing each shot.

Since I shape many of my shots and hit them at various speeds, please don't recommend or pull a club for me. Quietly support me. No pushing or exhorting me. Sincerely compliment me after a good shot and find something positive to say after a poor shot. In everything you say and do, be positive about it.

When I am becoming too (in)tense, lighten me up by pointing at the scenery or telling a funny story. When I am angry don't say anything. It will pass quickly. Just have me focus on the shot in front of me. When I am battling, support my fight. When I am playing well don't say much and just keep me calm.

Since I read my putts by imagining the hole as a clock, if I ask you for help tell me at what hour and minute; (such as 4:30) you see the putt going into the hole. Until you understand this concept, just confirm what I say. Let's go settle into ourselves and throw ourselves into this round!

You may want to write up your own caddie card. You will certainly have to revise it a couple of times. And you may very well be surprised at the final result. What you come up with is really your unique formula for success. Read it and become your own golf caddie.

Cheers!

Tom

Create Your Own Menu for C.A.L.M. to play your best golf

To be a bundle of quivering nerves under control is to be capable of greater things."
- Bernard Darwin, 1931

WHETHER IT IS ON THE FIRST tee at the U.S. Open, Q-School, your club championship, or just at your local muni with some strangers, you should be nervous! If not, you are not really ready to play good golf. This may not make sense to you, but read on.

Controlling your performance stress be-gins with understanding it. You see, the goal for managing your quivering bundle of nerves is not to get rid of them. You are just eliminating preciou8 energy you can use. Instead, the goal is to channel this energy to enhance your efforts. As the great actress Helen Hayes is originally credited with saying, "The goal is not to get rid of the butterflies in your stomach. The goal is to teach them to fly in forma-tion."

Granted, we all want to play well in important rounds, but many times these good intentions actually create more self-induced pressure. The net result is that we get in. our own ways inhibiting natural performances from coming out. Perform-ing well under pressure is a learned skill based on awareness and experience. I devoted a couple major chapters in my upcoming book, Golfing Your Roil: The Psychology of Playing Golf~ to the issues of channeling performance stress.

The core strategy revolves around centering. Cen-tering is much more than physical relax-ation. It is the process that connects relax- ation, concentration, self-statements, mental imagery, intuition, and even spiri-tual dimensions. Centering unifies and co-ordinates performances. In essence, cen-tering is that metaphorical valve which channels the flow of our efforts.

All of the golfers with whom I work de-velop personalized approaches of channel-ing their performance energies especially during pressurized rounds. From a state of centering, a common tactic most employ is how they can become and remain calm. "Calm" is such a nice word. It connotes feelings of both ease and assuredness.

"The goal is not to get rid of the butterflies in your stomach. The goal is to teach them to fly in formation."

Calm can serve also as an important reminder of playing from center. Most of my golfers have taken these concepts a couple of steps further in using the word CALM as an acronym of their key playing emphases. When they think the word "calm" they immediately know what they need to do and be. Some players even write out the word on their score cards, on their personalized reminder cards, even on their golf balls.

This is an interactive article. If you agree with the importance of remaining calm, you may want to further define just what it specifically means to you. There are so many components we can include in the acronym. Here are just some of the more common ones my golfers have used.

C: centered, cool, connected, concen-trated, committed, and creative. A: aware, allowing, accept, affirmative, absorbed, and attentive. L: loose, languid, laugh, love, and lower. M: mellow, motivated, mental, and me-ticulous.

Use a combination of the above empha-ses now as a menu to create your own personalized acronym of C.A.L.M.

C______________________________________________________________

A______________________________________________________________

L______________________________________________________________

M______________________________________________________________

Creating your own CALM is important, but it is useless unless you refer to it dur-ing a round. Develop ways to remind (lit- erally, "re-mind") yourself of how you can remain calm on the course. You might just become amazed at how well your little ac-ronym helps you stay in charge of your game. Deep down within you, you inherently know how to perform your best. Employ-ing a little reminder like C.A.L.M. keeps you in touch with what . . .and how . . .you need to do. So the next time you are feel-ing pressure, just remember your mother's advice and CALM DOWN!

Cheers!

Tom

Playing Your Own Golf Game

STAY IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY OF SUCCESS

My sister, who is a very fine golfer in Chicago, gave me a call the other day and said, "Guess who showed up on the course today? Me' This may seem like an odd thing to say, but ask yourself this How many times does your best and most natural self show up on the golf course?

Playing your own golf game and staying within yourself during a round are a couple of the classic maxims of properly playing the game, but relatively few of us honor these precepts. Only after making critical mistakes during a round do we reflect on what we should of done by saying such phrases as, "I tried way too hard out there:' "I pressed too much' "1 tried to force things to happen:' and "I wasn't myself out there.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but just how can we apply our best selves into a round? One of the fascinating aspects about golf is that it constantly tempts us away from ourselves. The pressurized situation, worrying about the score, fears about the consequences of the outcomes, competing with others, greed and even ego and pride all pull us away from being ourselves.

In order to play our own golf games, we first have to become aware and then prevent those personal tendencies that can take us away. For example, -whenever I feel the temptation to swing hard and force a shot, a little alarm bell rings in my head. I know when I have these feelings I need to do Just the opposite; that is, swing easy and release the club.

Being aware of and reversing my own greedy tendencies has saved me many strokes .and good sleep that night! In order to play your own game, you must start with what not to do. The next step is to become aware of just exactly what to do. A good way to accomplish this is to do this little exercise of mine. It's called "Play (your name here)'s Game? Especially when I want to _ play really well, I say to myself beforehand, "I m just going to play Tom's game

I have become aware of all those key qualities and elements necessary to play my own best game. I constantly remind myself and expand on them. Currently for me ,this list is more than 20 elements. So when I say "Play Tom's Game," this represents all of these elements. Spend some time now and list all of these elements, processes and qualifies essential for you "Playing (your name here)'s Game?

You might be surprised at all the ones you discover. I am a great believer that the best human performances are based on building on your strengths. Both consistency and improvement are grounded upon emphasizing what you do well. I have found that the more you emphasize your strengths, the more your weaknesses take care of themselves.

Or at least, you are then in a much better position to address your weaknesses. For example, the more my full swing rhythm is easy and fluid, the more all of my improper mechanical positions improve on their own.

This is the foundation for "Playing Tom's Game." I emphasize the strong elements of my game, not trying to do things I don't do well. So I will emphasize consistent ball striking, great putting and, most importantly, my deep concentration. I do not care if my playing partners bomb their drives past mine, hit three clubs less into a green or flop lob wedges. Good for them. I will continue to play Tom's Game. In the end, I will do just fine.

This is the secret of playing ... and staying within yourself.

Play your own game. It is then familiar territory to do the strong things you are used to doing. Playing your own game is particularly important when you are under pressure. This is precisely the time to stick to your guns and play to your strengths.

Multiple PGA Tour winner Jerry Kelly says, 'If you change your persona coming down the stretch, you change your game."

A big part of playing maturity is to be true to the good things that got you to this point Beyond any specific swing techniques, fancy shots or hot putting, consistently good golf is being true to your essential self "To thine own self be true" is as valid today as it was five centuries ago.

Avoid the temptations presented during a round and tap into your strengths. By playing your own game, you just might show up on the course.

Cheers!

Tom

The 10 Things Your Pro Won't Tell You About Your Game

No, it's not repeating Sam Snead's classic line to, "Take two weeks off...and then quit the game!" On the contrary, your golf teacher is a committed professional. She or he is dedicated in assisting you improve and better enjoy this great game. They make the confusing understandable and the elusive achievable. Still, there are some things your pro won't tell you about your game.

Over the decades, I have had the opportunity to know teaching pros unlike most students ever do. I survey them on various mental game research projects I conduct. I also train them on such issues as: learning and retention styles, pre-teaching assessments, content sequencing, human performance, guest servicve, marketing, and even help them with their own putting yips! I learn as much from them as they do from me.

Some of the most memorable conversations I have ever had with them are informal ones over beverages as we discussed the natures of learning and playing the game. Their clarity and passion about the game was inspiring. I wished we could have recorded these sessions for all golfers could have learned so much from them.

Trained and experienced LPGA and PGA teaching pros are the pinnacles of professionalism and ethics. As such, many restrain themselves from confronting students about certain issues. Some pros are reluctant to assert themselves about what their students need to do. They won't tell you...BUT I WILL!

The following are the ten issues which frustrate teaching pros the most about students' approaches to their games. As you read through these, reflect on which you commit...and what you can do differently. Here is what your teaching pro won't tell you about your game!

1. YOU ARE NOT TRULY COMMITTED. No matter how experienced the player, teachers frequently report to me that many golfers are not fully committed to improving their games in the long run. Teachers become frustrated when they are more committed to their student's games than the golfers themselves. Some golfers still expect the pro to fix them or the problem to magically resolve itself...in one lesson. And when it doesn't occur, they give up or blame the pro. Golf is THE toughest game and consistent improvement begins with a honest and full commitment.

2. YOU DON'T PRACTICE ENOUGH. Change does not occur during the lesson. Rather, change occurs from systematic practice of the lesson material. As I surveyed teaching pros over the last seven years, more reported they will not allow students to schedule another lesson until they have practiced the previous material at least three times. New skills need regular practice over a period of time for them to sink in. In fact, practice can become fun in its own right.

3. YOU DON'T PRACTICE CORRECTLY. Mindlessly banging out balls is not practice. In the first session of a lesson series, innovative teaching pros cover how to practice the material. For each practice session you should have a specific plan of what to emphasize and how to do it. This plan should be an extension of what you have recently done and fit into the overall direction of growth. Specifically, each practice session should begin with a full warmup, conscientious work on one or two isolated elements, and then reintegrate changes back into the entire swing. Rhythm is key in both warmup and integration.

4. YOU DON'T DEVELOP AND INCORPORATE PRESHOT ROUTINES INTO PRACTICES. Teaching pros just shake their heads when watching "machine gun practicers." You know the type: they quickly bang out buckets of balls believing somehow "muscle memory" is working. Intelligent practice sessions include complete preshot and postshot routines. Hence, you should only be able to hit, at the most, two balls per minute. Pretend certain range shots are like those specific ones you will encounter during a round. It is true, "If you want to play like you practice, then practice like you want to play." Spend time reflecting on this maxim.

5. YOU DON'T PRACTICE YOUR SHORT GAME NEARLY ENOUGH. When I asked top teaching pros about practice prioritizing, most reported that students should practice their full swings only 33-50% of the time. The rest should be short game practices: chips, pitches, sand play, and putting. Think about it, there are perhaps three times as many options on short game shots as there are with full swing ones. If there is one element of the short game teachers say students don't practice enough, it is the 20-50 yard half-pitches. I advise my players that after they have a pretty good handle on their full swing mechanics, 70% of all practice sessions should be entirely on short games.

6. YOU DON'T REQUEST PUTTING SESSIONS. Way back in 1992, I surveyed teaching pros about what percentage of their students EVER requested a putting lesson. The results may initially surprise you. I discovered that only 6% of students ever requested a putting session. Since the putt is the shortest shot in the game, most golfers feel they can master it on their own. Sure, anybody can putt, but few can putt consistently well. Beyond stroke mechanics, teaching pros can expand your awareness about reading greens, speed and distance control, preputt routines, various targeting systems, and handling pressure.

7. YOU DON'T ASK ABOUT TRANSFERENCE. Many golfers still mistakenly believe that if they take lessons and regularly practice, these newfound skills will automatically transfer onto the course. LEARNING HOW TO SWING AND LEARNING HOW TO PLAY ARE TWO SEPARATE PROCESSES. If there is a weakness I see in teaching pros' content sequencing, it is that they do not spend enough lesson time on the issue of transference from range to the course. Granted, this is a fairly sophisticated psychological concept, but the issue has to be covered about the strategies and tactics of bringing one's game onto the course. Good teachers address this issue at the end of each lesson. Such short conversations can be as valuable in the long run as another series of lessons. Really.

8. YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT CONCENTRATION. Just as there are specific skills involved with learning and retention, there are other specific skills involved with playing the game. Concentration is the core of human performance. It is much more than the ability of not being distracted or even visualizing the shot. Granted, hardly any teaching pros have comprehensive training in golf psychology, but they can teach the basics of how to best apply your mind during a round.

9. YOU DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PLAYING SESSIONS. After you understand the fundamentals of the swing, the best time you can spend is booking regular playing sessions with your pro. Teaching pros are very good players and such sessions provide unique opportunities to pick their brains over specific situations encountered during a round. Even if such playing sessions are only six or 9 holes, you can learn so much from them. Course management, targeting, shot selection, settling into the round, flow, short game options, coping with frustrations, and finishing off a round are just some of the topics which can be discussed, Contrary to what you may believe, most teaching pros love these sessions. I believe all players should book playing sessions at least once every other month. You will greatly reduce your learning curve about how to play the game.

10. YOU DON'T HAVE A LONG TERM PLAN FOR YOUR GAME. Teaching pros are tickled when students ask for input about long term progress--at least for the upcoming season. Such discussions not only include mechanics, equipment, and playing the game, but also ancillary areas as fitness, specialized training, and developmental phases. Such interest conveys students are really committed to improving their games. This brings us back full circle to #1.

Okay, to which of the above do you plead guilty? And what are you going to do about it? You see, I don't really care if you choose not to improve your game. If you enjoy knocking the ball around, grand. However, if you sincerely want to improve, you have to fully commit to a process. Not doing the right things and yet expecting improvement only sets yourself up for frustration and failure.

You have a grand resource in your local teaching pros. You don't have to travel across the country to work with a "name" teacher. Your local pros can do as good (if not better) of a job. They are much more than friendly faces behind the counter or the encouraging presences on the range. They genuinely want you to grow and succeed. Take advantage of them.

* If teaching pros see value in this article, they have my permission to make copies and distribute it to their students through 2007.

Learning From your Mistake Patterns Part 1

I GUARANTEE that if you reduce your playing mistakes by just twenty percent you can lower you typical scores by at least five shots per round. Skeptical? Good! Read on. Without changing a single thing with your swing, you can significantly improve your scoring. How? Simple...by becoming aware of, preventing, and recovering quicker from mistakes.

One cornerstone to good playing is minimizing mistakes. It has been said by many golf pundits that those who play well are those who make the least number of mistakes, least severity of them, at the least crucial times, and recover most quickly from them. Years ago, I created the "cake" metaphor for good scoring. Great shots and pure hits are merely the frosting on the cake. However, consistency is the cake itself. And one way to improve consistency is by controlling mistake patterns.

In any round of golf, there is a plethora of possible pitfalls. On any given shot, there are so many things that can go wrong--mechanically, physically, rhythmically, mentally, emotionally, and tactically. In fact, there seems to be a least ten times as many things that can go wrong than can go right. No wonder so many of us are basket cases!

When we become aware of what can possibly go wrong, we tend to become more tentative and even defensive in both thinking and executing. It is, indeed, a self-fulfilling prophecy that the more we attempt to prevent errors the more we actually ensure them occurring. (Remember your "Don't hit it right OB" admonition? And where did that shot go?!) However, we can't ignore their reality either. Inconsistent play, blowup holes, and even giving up are grounded in such ignorance. Clearly, in order to play smart golf we have to better understand and channel our personal error patterns.

Think about it, what is the first thing you remember about the most current round? Mistakes. You think about the number of "shots left out on the course," the big blunders, the missed opportunities, the dumb choices, and even the outright chokes. The more you reflect on your mistakes the more aware you become that you have made similar ones before. Just as there are patterns to your optimal play, there are also patterns to your mistakes.

Now, think about this: no mistake is ever made in isolation. Mistake patterns have components that are mental, emotional, and/or tactical. Even a blatant mishit is grounded in your mindset as you set up over the shot. From twenty-plus years of playing sessions with golfers, it has been my experience that in every double bogey there was at least one shot that was a dumb play.

Realize that there has NEVER been a perfectly played round. Even at the height of his powers, the great Ben Hogan admitted that in any given round he only hit about seven shots purely or, as he said, "as I intended." If the great Hogan said he only hit seven pure shots per round, how come you expect to hit every shot perfectly? Also, in the early days of the golf handicapping system, Walter Hagen equated players' numbers to about the amount of major swing errors they typically committed per round. There is a lot of wisdom in his concept.

In fact, I have expanded Hagen's theory to include mental, emotional, shotmaking, and course management mistakes as well. Here is my ratio: ALL GOLFERS MAKE MISTAKES AT LEAST TWO TIMES THEIR INDEX NUMBER. Hence if your current index is 12, you will make over two dozen little mistakes per round. Think about your playing patterns before you accept my ratio. It is nothing about which to become discouraged. You see, only after we fully accept something can we then do something about it. Golf is just a darned difficult game. And mistakes are an inherent part of the game. Accept the fact that you will make mistakes. Give yourself a break and be easier on yourself. This is the first mindset to establish in playing better and more enjoyable golf.

To be continued next week...

Learning From your Mistake Patterns Part 2

THE PLAYING MISTAKES ASSESSMENT

I have developed a self-assessment of golfing mistakes. No, it is not just for masochists! Here are the most common patterns of mental and playing mistakes. Which fit for you? Please take three minutes and answer the following questions. Write down a number after each question of how many times per round you typically commit this type of error. Now, they may not occur in every single round, but they are definite patterns. Go ahead...you very well may be surprised at what you discover.

HOW MANY TIMES PER ROUND DO YOU...
Expect things to be perfect or smooth? _____
Make dumb or poorly thought-out decisions? _____
Cut short or eliminate preshot and postshot routines? _____
Fall prey to temptations and greed? _____
Allow your concentration to slip and/or become distracted? _____
Try too hard? _____
Lose your patience? _____
Not feel really ready to hit a shot? _____
Attempt "wishes and hopes" shots? ____
Allow your emotions (both positive and negative) to bubble up? _____
Not feel totally committed to a shot? _____
Make errors due to looseness (that is; quick, mindless, and no-brainer mistakes)? _____
Make errors due to tightness (that is; too tense and/or the mind too jumbled up)? _____
Allow subtle fears to influence? _____
Have too aggressive of a mindset? _____
Have too timid and cautious of a mindset? _____
Attempt swings that are too fast or too hard? _____
Try to force or make things happen? _____
Make wrong club selections? _____
Make wrong shot selections? _____
Try things that are too complicated? _____
Attempt shots that are not targeted precisely enough? _____
Attempt shots that are too cute or have too fine a margin for error? _____
Attempt shots which haven't been practiced nor refined? _____
Stay stuck in the low ebb of a couple of bad holes? _____
Space out and go off on mental "walkabouts?" _____
Think outcome numbers and results (instead of here-and-now qualities and processes)? _____
Allow self-imposed pressures and stresses to choke you? _____
Get down on yourself, become negative, and/or give up? _____
Stop enjoying the process of playing the game? _____

ANALYZING YOUR MISTAKE PATTERNS

Okay, now please add up the grand total of how many typical mistakes you make. You will probably be surprised--or even shocked--at how many mistake patterns you have. In finalizing this article, I had seven women on a university golf team with whom I have been working answer the above questions. Their results may surprise you. Their totals ranged from a low of 26 to three of them admitting to well over 200! And these are all fine elite golfers.

As you become more aware of your mistake patterns you will realize that one pattern opens up others. This is why the above number can grow so high.

You may commit multiple mistakes on the same shot. I call these "situational mistake patterns." For example, when I have lost my patience, I may rush my preshot routine so I do not acquire a specific target nor am really ready to hit the shot. I then allow my frustrations to take hold and try to force a cute shot. I will typically swing too hard, become even more angry, and "mail in" the rest of the round. Whew...no wonder I go nuts with this game!

Upon reflection of these questions you might be left with the feeling of how you can possibly execute any good shots at all! Your specific answers to these questions can be quite revealing. You see, it has been my experience that if you can accurately define the problem, you are halfway there to resolving it.

Here is how to make sense from your responses. In each of the above 30 mistake patterns if you admitted to more than three per round, you have indirectly identified a factor you need to address. Look back at your answers and give a priority to the three most frequently reported categories.

Then with each of these, detail a specific plan of how to overcome them. So for example, if I discovered I committed too many errors due to looseness, I would plan to concentrate more on layup shots and better feel my rehearsal swings. Or if I admitted that I tended to swing too hard, I would better tune into key rhythm cues and keep using my centering techniques. Or if I became aware I had little fears inhibiting me, I would ask myself "What's the absolute worst thing that could happen?" and then throw myself into the shot. Awareness of mistake patterns is good, but implementing a game plan to overcome them is better.

Resolving, or just minimizing, your unique mistake patterns can be quite liberating. In order to allow good efforts emerge and flow, you first have to eliminate the mistake "dams and bottlenecks." Once controlled, you can then rechannel these patterns into more fluid performances.

RECOVERIES

Even though we plan to consistently hit fairways and greens, we are not robots. We have variations and we make mistakes. However, mistakes can actually be seen as methods to spice up the game. One of my mantras I continually verbalize to my golfers is that, "there are many ways to score." Recovering from mistakes--tactically, emotionally, mentally, and shotmaking--actually provide opportunities to expand your game. You see, making a mistake may not be the sin. Repeating it and not quickly recovering from it ARE the sins. When you have made a playing mistake, your first response is to remain calm. That shot is gone. There is nothing you can do about it. Then positively and purposefully devise a solution to your situation. Seen in these lights, recoveries can be one of the most satisfying elements of playing golf. Recovering is as much as an mental process as it is a mechanical one. Forgive yourself, accept your situation, and concentrate on creating the appropriate response.

Reflect now on some of your best performances. I would bet that somewhere in these rounds you recovered wonderfully from mistakes. These recoveries not only salvaged the round, they were springboards to heightened efforts. Recovery is redemption. And this has its own rewards.

So here is the bottom line. 1. Accept you will make mistakes. When you make one, be like Walter Hagen who passively chalked it up to one of his allotted ones. And then play on.

2. The best way to minimize errors is to miss shots in the right places. Granted, always be positive and committed in decision making, but also factor in that if you miss the shot, where that might be.

3. When in a tough situation, learn to "take your medicine." Pitch back to the fairway or chip beyond the tucked pin to the fat part of the green. In these ways you can cut your losses. The golf gods frequently reward such discipline...sometimes during the same hole.

4. Recovering is as much of a matter of attitude as it is shotmaking. After a mistake be positive and even eager with the prospects of the next shot.

5. Listen and honor your intuitions. A big part of minimizing mistake patterns is awareness. Resist your greedy temptations. Even if do no know why, immediately do the opposite of what is tempted.

Keep on learning about your playing patterns. Good play is smart play, not only with pure shots, but also with poor shots. Accept that mistakes are an integral part of The Game. These are not only tests of your game, they are also tests of your character.