Saturday, February 3, 2007

Maintaining Artful Motives

In my last round, I discovered the root cause of my recent problems on the course. My motives have changed.


Green Thoughts by eltigre at flickr.com

I credit most of my success over the past 2 years in improving my game to an emphasis on learning and having fun. My performance just naturally improved. It appears that my motivation has now changed and has become more centered on performance. I think it's safe to assume that I let my guard down and allowed my ego to change my motives for playing.

Ron Mann, Ph.D., a certified GolfPsych instructor and Peak Performance coach, writes in an article on motivation that, "when you are highly and positively motivated, and use golf as a learning experience, you will stay even-minded, even when you are not scoring well. On the other hand, when you are highly motivated, but for the wrong reasons, you can work very hard at trying to accomplish something, but continually fail. When desire to impress others or prove yourself drive your motivation, it ultimately creates negative self-talk, increased tension and loss of concentration."

I'm looking forward in my coming rounds to rediscovering my desire for learning and self-improvement and playing for the simple love of the game. I'm especially looking forward to my round tomorrow with my son who is taking time from his busy schedule to play his fifth round of golf.

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Visit: San Luis Obispo Golf Guide

Posted at 8:54 PM :

2 Comments:

Blogger The Artful Golfer said...

Rediscovering my original "artful" motives worked. I played yesterday with my son and shot a 75, tying my best round at Monarch Dunes. Although I still managed to miss a couple more 2 foot putts, I eagled 16 by holing my SW from 102 yards out! My son shot an even 100 in his 5th round ever using only his 5, 7, 9, W, and putter. Fun day.

February 5, 2007 6:58 AM 

Blogger Patricia said...

And the great thing about it was you had fun. Your son probably did too.

February 6, 2007 10:21 AM 

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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

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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)
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  • 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)
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