It’s easy to get distracted. To tell stories and make excuses why your game isn’t as good as you’d hope it to be.
A young guy I played with yesterday spent the first few holes making excuses. He’d hit some bad drives and the stories were coming thick and fast.
– I need some coaching for my swing.
– It’s my own fault for not trying to fix my swing earlier.
– My driver is too heavy. It has a D5 swing weight and that’s way too heavy for me.
He wasn’t getting a lot of attention from me. Maybe he was after some sympathy but I wasn’t giving it.
Then something funny happened. He nailed a great drive down the middle. But he was still complaining.
That was crap! The ball started too far right and came back. Also hit it off the toe – it’s not want I wanted.
This was too much for me. I wasn’t happy with his attitude and high expectations. I pointed out to him his drive was perfect, that some of the best players in the world curve their tee shots. A dead straight ball flight is almost impossible to do anyway. And if you expect to hit each shot flush you’ll always be disappointed. Basically, I told him to get on with it and stop complaining.
I think the rev up helped him. He stopped the diatribe and got on with playing golf. His driving improved and so did his confidence. His last 12 holes were miles better than his first hand full.
I’m really hoping that he can go on from here and start to trust his game. If he can learn to ignore the distractions he’ll build a level of self-belief that will allow him to become the best golfer possible.