Focus On Golf

AuthorHouse

Contents

Prelude: New Beginnings...........................................................1Chapter One – The Awakening.................................................12Chapter Two – A Nurturing Attitude..........................................21Chapter Three – Being Genuine...............................................26Chapter Four – Being Open Minded............................................37Chapter Five – Readiness: The Goal of Preparation...........................46Chapter Six – Performance: The Goal of Action...............................57Chapter Seven – Recommitting: Staying The Course............................69Chapter Eight – Composure: Being Purposeful In Golf.........................76Chapter Nine – Mindfulness: Monitoring the Patterns.........................86Chapter Ten – Imagery: The Perspective of Performance.......................102Chapter Eleven – Focusing: Better Performance Exercises.....................109Chapter Twelve – The Edge: The Gift of Wholeness............................132

Chapter One

If you want to change your game, it's time to awaken your mind and senses to a new way of approaching your golf. This awakening is about creating a new vision of how to play golf. It's about committing to a productive approach to golf. It's about considering how your beliefs, attitudes, and behavior habits influence your conduct on the golf course. It's about having a whole new outlook.

This outlook will consider the perspective of what's possible for your game instead of what's wrong with it. The average golfer is usually stifled by thoughts of what's wrong with their golf. I suggest you consider how to achieve what's possible? Every golfer knows their potential is much more than their present performance level. So, how about committing to work toward your potential?

Every time you step on the golf course, there exists the possibility that you will learn more about how to play your best golf. However, the only way you'll realize that is by being awake to the possibility when it happens.

If you fail to look for it, it will pass you by as it occurs. So, it helps to be looking for such possibilities. It helps to be looking in the right direction by having the perspective that it may occur.

Trying to fix what is wrong is a restrictive approach to golf. It's restrictive because it only considers what's out of place with regard to the skills you've already experienced. It neglects to consider the maximum potential of your game. If you were truly an awakened golfer, what skills would you possess?

Having that perspective will guide you down the path to your best golf. So, consider there's much more for your game than simply fixing your old incomplete game. Consider an ever growing and expanding game, one that will always offer you new levels of experience, enjoyment, and learning. And consider that such an approach to golf is right there in front of you. You simply need to see it that way.

The trouble is, your old beliefs and understandings create a smoke screen that covers your present perspective. The smoke screen hides the trailhead to your potential. If the trailhead is hidden, you will never find the path you desire. You might say your present beliefs camouflage the vision of what's possible. So, even when you are looking for it, it is hidden. Therefore, the awakening involves creating clarity with your vision. It's about awakening a crystal clear image of what's possible. As soon as you clear away the smoke screen, a new outlook will appear, an outlook expressing awakened views of life's potential.

The Vision

The new outlook will contain a clear perspective. Having such a perspective is the foundation for growth and productivity. This is because, the type of perspective you create is the type of diet you feed your game. It is also because, your physical actions and behaviors follow the guidelines set down by your internal dialogues. All your inner workings, your beliefs, habitual thoughts, and ideologies create your present disposition. Your disposition is the underlying approach you have toward life. It defines your inclinations to act the way you do in each and every situation you face. Thus, it is a way of being created by and accepted by your inner self.

Your disposition, your attitude, your thought patterns, and your responses are all nurtured by your perspective. Therefore, you would be wise to create a perspective that is always concerned with providing the best nutrients to your mind, body, and spirit. In this way, perspective is the diet of being healthy and whole.

Such perspective is usually anchored in a code of understanding between willing participants. This code is more than a set of rules to be attached to. It is also different than a formula for success. It is more a vision, or an ideal, as to how awakened people conduct themselves. For example, soldiers abide by rules, regulations, and a chain of command; however, they live by a code of honor. The code of honor is simply a vision of how the ideal soldier conducts himself.

In ancient times, warriorship was the standard of conduct. The vision of warriorship was one of authenticity. A warrior was to strive to be genuine in every moment of life. A warrior would face every moment with the intent of being awake. She would approach each endeavor with unwavering commitment. A warrior never quits. Neither does a true golfer. Golfers have their own code of honor, their own ethics. We call it etiquette, and its founding principle is integrity.

Integrity is the ability to honor one's commitments. As my coach once put it, "The basis for his integrity is, you could say, his destinal resolve,..... a resolve that steers the course of his life. His goals, values and purpose in life have a foundation which I have rarely seen in my years of teaching. I can truly say that he is his own person and not simply the creation of various forces impacting on him in society. He has commitments in the various areas of his life, his relationships, his work and his golf, and not only are those commitments in alignment, but he honors them. That is what true integrity is."

The person who has integrity conducts herself with dignity. The warrior expresses dignity while honoring the code, and the golfer expresses dignity while honoring the game's etiquette. Honoring golf's code of etiquette means that you conduct yourself with dignity in all situations. Thus, to honor the code, you conduct yourself with dignity in all situations. Etiquette, integrity, and honor are always present to in the genuine golfer's disposition. This means dignity is the disposition of the honorable golfer.

The warrior's vision also included the principle that you always conduct yourself as if you were the role model for all those who will follow in your footsteps. You embody the principle so that those who look up to you for advice, guidance, and support will also understand the vision to follow. Thus, the vision expresses the time-tested ideal of leading by example. You can think about it this way, if everyone you ever touched wrote a note about how they remembered you, what type of conduct would you like them to associate with you – conduct yourself in that manner.

The last part of the vision is the idea that all warriors have a mutual respect for each other. Honoring the code with true integrity, and expressing their commitments with dignity, creates a type of bond between warriors. All warriors share a deep bond of mutual respect. The bond is so deep, it borders on friendship, even in the heat of battle. There are competitors in all sports that express that same virtue. However, it can be argued that the golfer that truly honors the etiquette of the game expresses it more than any other athlete.

Thus, golf truly is a game of honor. Real golfers honor the code and embody the vision while staying grounded in the game's self-policing rules and etiquette. Golfers are deeply rooted in the process of the game, a process that begins with their beliefs about how the game is meant to be played. The process is grounded by their understandings, nourished by their awareness, supported by their response systems, and sheltered by their commitments.

All warriors understand the process, they stay committed to the way, and find the source of their commitments within themselves, unconditionally as a universal truth. Furthermore, all warriors honor their commitments by their own volition. It is a choice to act in such a manner. It is a choice to conduct yourself with the vision in mind. It is a choice to honor your commitments. It is a choice to have fortitude. And so, for every golfer that wants to stay true to the path they too must make the choice.

The Process

The warrior notices how her belief system and response mechanisms constantly influence the way she acts, learns, and perceives each moment of her life. Once again, all warriors understand the process, they stay committed to the code, and they find the source of their commitments unconditionally within themselves. So does the accomplished golfer. Understanding the way of the warrior is understanding the way of the competitor. Whether you compete in tournaments, or simply play recreational golf, you'll always be in competition with the course and yourself.

So, do your best to understand the way of the warrior- competitor. In the end, it will be the way of the golfer.

The way of the competitor begins with the code of honor. Next the competitor strives to understand what mode of play works best for himself. The competitor then creates a fluid game plan. A game plan which considers the chosen mode of play while allowing for adaptation and improvisation along the way. The ability to be fluid and adaptive is important, because the competitor knows that interferences can pop up at any point in the process.

The competitor knows that such interferences are just experiences as compared to something she owns. They are simply hiccups within her experiences. The competitor knows he has the skills to overcome and evade future interferences. The competitor knows that when you encounter interferences, you've simply ran into some bumps in the road. Your commitment ties you to the way and keeps you on track. If you honor your commitments then you honor the way, even if your journey is detoured from time to time.

Warriors and competitors respond well to the bumps and detours along the way. The way you respond is a sign of your true commitment. Do you respond with perspective? Do you react well to the mishaps on the golf course? Do you have a productive approach to assessing your play? The key is keeping perspective. And keeping perspective requires being awake and clear in your post-shot assessment process. Are you awake during your post-shot routine, or do you get stuck in self- absorbed analysis? Are you able to openly assess what just happened, or do you complain about your mishaps and bad fortune? Are you able to let go of your mishaps, or do you ruminate on your bad luck?

Whatever the case, if you are going to improve, you need to find a way to be more productive with the process. You might go as far as to say, you need to master the process.

Mastering The Process

Mastering the way means being prepared to live life's challenges. It means having unconditional confidence in your ability to handle life's difficult moments. It means appreciating life's pleasurable times. It means having compassion for others when they struggle in life. It means being brave as you travel your own path. It means being genuine in your actions, which means being true to yourself and believing in your own validity.

Staying true to the course is difficult if emotions get in the way. Social conditioning often creates a belief system which has an emotionally sensitive foundation. That being the case, we may respond emotionally when the results of our actions are undesirable. Does that mean we are hot-headed or emotionally weak? Or does it simply means we have a tendency to react emotionally instead of with clarity?

Even with a strong disposition, emotions are a natural part of our response mechanism. Emotions are bound to kick- in at some point. The question is, what will you do next? How will you carry-on? Will you let go of the issue and get back into the game? Or will you dwell on the impetus for your emotional reaction?

When emotions habitually kick-in, strive to understand their nature. Dive into the habitual thoughts and beliefs that spark the emotional response. Clarify the fact that the emotions are interfering with your actions. Recommit to your potential and act genuinely by getting back into the game. So, be prepared to handle the struggles and be committed to getting back on track when you find yourself detoured. I always remind myself – Get Back Into The Game.

By this point you may have noticed reoccurring themes. These themes include the ability to prepare yourself properly, the ability to act genuinely, and the ability to react to your play with clarity and commitment to the vision. Keeping these themes in perspective, and laying a foundation that will continually support their presence is critical to the process of mastering your play.

Life is a continual journey, and the journey progresses in a cyclical manner. The game of golf also journeys in a cyclical manner, and your preparations, actions, and reactions define the basic cycle of your life and play. That being the case, mastering your play means being fluid with the transitions from preparation, to action, to reaction, to assessment, and to getting back into the game.

That may seem less exciting than learning how to drive the ball 300 yards. However, mastery is unconcerned with what's exciting. In fact, it is often more concerned with what's ordinary. My coach always told me, "Being extraordinary means performing ordinary tasks extra well, or extraordinarily well." And such is the path of mastery. Additionally, masters never tire of taking care of the fundamentals. Masters never tire of repetition. Masters never tire of their daily routines. Thus the accomplished golfer never tires of revisiting the fundamentals, of executing their routines, and of taking care of the game's cyclical process.

Chapter Two

Chapter One may have seemed like an unlikely introduction on how to focus on golf. However, I believe the best place to begin any stage of learning is at the beginning. Growth in life always begins with the fundamental needs. These fundamental needs are nurtured by the conditions and nutrients presented by the current environment. Growth simply happens, and so does learning.

Now that you've created the fundamental vision by awakening your mind to a more productive way of being a golfer, you have given your game some life, you have given your game the basic life force needed for growth. It is now time to provide the proper conditions and nutrients so that improvement will simply happen. Simply put, you've planted new seeds by awakening a new vision of being a golfer. Let's make sure you keep those seeds planted in fertile soil, while at the same time feeding them the proper nutrients.

The process you engage in provides the conditions for growth. Your thoughts, beliefs, and reflections provide the nutrients. Therefore, maintaining a productive process will keep the conditions for growth fertile.

Additionally, understanding your thought patterns will help you understand the type of food you're feeding your game. Similarly, observing your beliefs and reflections will help you understand how well rounded your golf diet has become.

You can think of the process as the framework for conditioning. The process establishes the foundation for growth, and defines the parameters for action and observation. You might say the process guides you into action and helps you stay committed to the way throughout your responses. The process, therefore, is the soil you plant the seeds in. The nutrients on the other hand influence how you perceive life's happenings and that perception has a profound influence on the quality of your focus. More specifically, the thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes that create your underlying disposition are the nutrients that mold the way you perceive what's going on in your life.

Your perceptions affect your decision making process, your behavior patterns, and your performance levels. You would be wise to understand how your perceptions do that, and you would be wise to understand why your perceptions tend to reoccur in habitual patterns. We can find some of the answers by studying the nature of the mind and its conditioned thought patterns. So, once again it will help to consider what type of soil (the perspective and process) you've been planting the seeds in, and it will help to understand the type of nutrients (the thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) you've been feeding your game. Understanding your nature as well as your social conditioning will further clarify the reasons for your present conduct. This is because your nature will always influence your conduct authentically, while your social conditioning may impact your conduct in a biased manner. Your nature is founded in divine principles, and it always expresses itself genuinely. So, if your nature shines through and expresses itself in your actions, your actions will be natural and genuine.

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Excerpted from Focus On Golfby Edward A. Tischler Copyright © 2011 by Edward A Tischler. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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