How I Improved My Golf Game
Most anyone who takes up the game of golf likes to receive tips from experienced golfers. This makes good sense, and can shave some time off your learning curve. I personally can listen to them for hours at a time. I like hearing about and trying out new techniques to see if it improves my own personal game. I tried out and added many things to my game, and after years of staying average, I realized that there was one main ingredient that was necessary for success.
I realized this only after years of trying this, and trying that, and trial and error learning. Gaining experience along the way, I took advice from many more experienced players. I even paid for some personal training from a professional I befriended. But I still was lacking something that would get me where I felt right about my game.
The feeling of lacking something began to take me over. I tried to put my finger on it, but my mind could not come up with what it was. I entered a lot of different tournaments, and in some showed well, and in others tanked out. My game seemed to be stuck where it was. An understanding friend loaned his best golf instruction book to me, and I eagerly read it through and added some of the strategies to my game. I still had that lacking feeling.
Deep inside, it was like I knew if I ever found what it was, I would be in full swing and on top of my game. I just knew that I would have a newfound confidence that seemed to allude me at this time. If only I could put my finger on the missing ingredient. I purposely played really tough courses, hoping to stumble onto something that would suddenly make my game over. But it was no use.
It finally got to the point where my game leveled out. Some days were a little better, some days a little worse, but basically I stayed around the same skill level and ability. It made me stale, and was a bit discouraging. I remember lying awake nights wondering what this thing that haunted me could be. But nothing ever came. So I thought I was probably as good as I could ever be, and had to come to grips with it.
Days passed, and tournaments passed, and still my game was average. I made up my mind I would stop trying to figure it out, and let my mind rest and stop being troubled. I wanted to let go. I went out on my porch one day, and I watched as some children were playing in yard next door. A light came on in my head, and I knew I had found the missing piece to the puzzle. Simple, yet powerful.
The kids were making wishes on a little blue marble they had found in the dirt. And it made me realize, that even from our childhood, we all believed in good luck charms, and I had left that out of my game. At the next tournament, before I teed off, I kissed my rhodium plated wedding ring, and golfed my best score in all my years of golfing. So simple, so powerful – Belief.