Thursday, January 4, 2007

Let Go of Expecations

A lesson golf continues to teach me is to let go of expectations. I struggle with this more often than I like to admit. It seems each time I shoot a good round, I expect to follow it up with another good one. If I hit a par 5 in 2 one day, I expect to do it again every time afterwards. The list goes on. As anyone who plays golf knows, it doesn't work that way.

Bob Rotella shares in his book, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, that "the first thing to do is to throw away your expectations as soon as you step onto the golf course, and just play."

Rotella goes on to say that, "expectations are great if you confine them to long-range considerations. It's fine, for example to expect that if you work at your game intelligently for an extended period of time, you will improve. But expectations can hurt you if they are narrowly focused on the results of a particular stroke, hole, or round."

This doesn't mean you can't believe you'll play well or hole a putt, just that you can't expect it. You need to replace expectation on desired results with goals of having fun and staying focused on every shot. Then the desired results just happen.

A round that stands out for me in bringing this lesson home occurred very recently. The prior day, I had played the first 6 holes with a young scratch golfer who works at the course. Amazingly, I found myself keeping right up with him, parring each hole. When we reached the 7th tee, we saw that the course was very backed up ahead of us with foursomes and that we were in for a long round as a twosome. Since he plays for free, he decided to quit. I decided to join him.

I came back out the next day, expecting to follow up where I left off - hitting fairways and greens, making 2 putts for pars. Instead, over the same 6 holes I parred the day before, I scored a quadruple bogie, triple bogie, double bogie and bogie. I was 10-over after 6 holes!

Fortunately, I realized what I had done - starting the round off expecting good results. On the 7th tee, I decided right then and there to let go of those expectations and just play. I played the final 12 holes 2-over!

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Golf as Art

When you disappear, Golf as Art shows up. The resulting void is where all the important discoveries, personal development, satisfaction, joy and fulfillment take place.
–Fred Shoemaker, Extraordinary Golf

Swing motion at its highest level is the uninterrupted flow of natural rhythm from within.
–Tom Woods, True Golf

A great golf shot is a thing of beauty. Repeating it is an art.
–Mark Guadagnoli, Practice to Win

Artful Milestones

  • Mar 05 - Started playing (1 rd/week)
  • Jun 05 - Broke 80 (21st round)
  • Nov 05 - Increased play (2 rds/week)
  • Jan 06 - Under 10 Index (54th round)
  • Jan 06 - 10 GIR (62nd round)
  • Mar 06 - Less than 30 Putts (75th round)
  • Aug 06 - First Eagle (124th round)
  • Aug 06 - 5 Birdies (138th round)
  • Sep 06 - Broke 76 (146th round)
  • Oct 06 - First ACE (161st round)
  • Oct 06 - Under 5 Index (166th round)
  • Oct 06 - 13 Fairways (169th round)
  • Dec 06 - Broke 72 (184th round)
  • Dec 06 - 70's Streak (9/10 rounds)
  • Feb 07 - Under 4 Index (219th round)
  • Feb 07 - 15 GIR (219th round)
  • Oct 07 - 24 Putts (298th round)
  • Jan 08 - 70's Streak (12 rounds)
  • Jan 08 - Second ACE (332nd round)
  • Apr 08 - Par from Tips (370th round)
  • May 08 - Under 3 Index (382nd round)
  • Aug 08 - 50th Course (420th round)
  • Nov 08 - Broke 70 (460th round)
  • Dec 08 - 16 GIR (472nd round)
  • May 09 - 60th Course (510th round)
  • May 09 - 7 Birdies (511th round)
  • May 09 - Broke 70 (511th round)
  • May 09 - Under Par Streak (2 rounds)
  • May 09 - Under 80 Streak (13 rounds)
  • May 09 - Broke 70 (520th round)
  • May 09 - Under 2 Index (520th round)
  • Jun 09 - 70th Course (538th round)
  • Aug 09 - Third ACE (556th round)
  • Aug 09 - Broke 70 (559th round)