After posting an entry recently about a recent breakthrough and sharing some thoughts on how I picked up the game rather quickly, I discovered a better explanation for my improvement, and found out I have plenty more to learn. This morning, I found my way back over to the The Shivas Irons Society website and ran across a new article by Luke Brosterhaus about ability, effort, and luck. While reading Luke's insights, I realized what an important role a deep belief in my ability and dedicated effort to improve that ability continues to play in my learning experience.


Golf by dskciado at flickr

According to Luke, "you'll really struggle to improve if you do not believe in your ability."

I've always thought that anyone who plays golf can develop the ability to play well, and that our ability to play well has more to do with belief than natural talent. We all know we have the ability to hit a straight drive, hit a green from 150 yards out, pitch or chip close to the pin, or make a short or long putt. We've all done it before, so we know we have the ability. We just have to believe we can do it again, especially over the very next shot we're about to take.

It seems that all my bad shots are a direct result of either a lack of belief in my ability to make the shot (often from a bunker) or a decision to make a shot that I truly don't have the strength or skill to make (perhaps a shot over one branch and under another). All my extraordinary shots were born from a deep belief in my ability to create the shot beforehand.

My steady improvement has been a result of first identifying when a lack of ability exists (golf makes that easy), and then making the required effort to practice those shots until the ability is developed sufficiently. Once I've gained the ability, my success depends on believing in that ability on every shot. That doesn't mean I succeed every time, but the simple fact that I believe I can make a shot increases the odds I will. Letting go and trusting in our ability is surely a better alternative than letting doubt and fear creep in, which are certain to interfere with that ability.

As my abilities and game have developed, I've continued to expose myself to new shots and new situations in order to identify new weaknesses and inability. This has required that I get out of my comfort zone and play new types of courses, play with strangers, play competitively, play from different tee boxes, and take some risk and try new shots.

So, after experiencing a string of great rounds over the past few weeks at familiar courses, I got the opportunity to play out of my comfort zone last weekend in two unique rounds, and discovered I have several new inabilities that need my effort.

Last Saturday, I had the enjoyable experience of attending my first event hosted by The Shivas Irons Society. I signed up to play in a golf and wine tasting event at The Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang, CA. In addition to meeting some very interesting new people, I was introduced to an "old style" golf course - the tee boxes were even right next to the prior greens. I'm used to playing a course with very fast greens, ample fairways, and modest number of bunkers. The Ranch Course quickly taught me that I need to develop my ability to get up and down from bunkers, lag putt on slow greens, and tighten up my drives to avoid shots from behind trees. This new experience quickly ended my streak of rounds in the mid-70's, but succeeded in helping me find new opportunities for growth.

Even though I shot a round in the low 80's, I did make several impressive shots. I had one of my best rounds with my lob wedge. On several occasions, I had the opportunity to open the face way up and take a full swing from short yardage to get to a pin protected by bunkers and mounds. These shots required my full trust, which I mustered on each occasion. Unfortunately, I rarely made the following putt to save par. Two other shots I enjoyed included a sand wedge from a downhill lie next to the back lip in a bunker (followed my a missed putt), and a 3-wood that landed a green from 250 yards out in the fairway (followed by a 3-putt). After what seemed like a very long string of bogies, I finally came up with one birdie during the round.

The following day, I played in a tournament with my Men's Club from the back tees (72.9/134). Having only played from the back tees a few times and never in the past nine months, this was practically a new experience too. The back tees really add difficulty to the par 3's and many par 4's, requiring short-iron-like accuracy from your long irons. I quickly learned from this round that I need to practice my distance control and accuracy with my long irons. I did however beat my prior best round from the back tees by 1 stroke, shooting an 80 with one OB and 1 missed 2 foot putt. The round turned out to be the third best score for the day and I took second place net.

In both rounds, I faced new shots that I rarely experience in my normal rounds. In each of these cases, I lacked belief in my ability to make them. Poor results followed. What I learned was that I need to play a variety of courses on a more frequent basis instead of getting too comfortable at my home course(s).

Believe in your ability to play extraordinary golf.

Labels: Ability, Alisal Ranch, Rounds, Shivas Irons Society