A leap of faith

I've had a funny week. I went out on Sunday in the Murray Cup, the championship between the 3 clubs that play on the course but hit a miserable 116 in the rain. I'd got distracted, was again rushing onto the tee. The rain just never let up, and I was pretty under prepared. The rain doesn't usually last that long here, but I'd also forgotten there's a difference between playing a competitive round and a bounce round I'd never have completed the latter in that weather. No umbrella, no umbrella holder, no wet weather gloves, and I hadn't tied my waterproof trousers tightly enough so they slid down (think 15 year old skater boy style) so I got drenched. Actually that last point is probably academic as the rain was heavy and unrelenting, so saturation was unavoidable. I've been drier SCUBA diving.

On the positive side- I stuck it out, I finished on a day when many didn't. I didn't attribute my score to the rain; I know it's the same weather and course for everyone and as an outdoor sport the weather is an unavoidable factor. I had a discussion on Twitter with a coach who had inferred I was attributing my score to the weather; he had asked if there were players who were better in the rain. My assertion is that that's not true; I don't think anyone looks forward to it, but there are players who are less affected than others, those that look at something that is unavoidable and think "I'm good in the rain and others aren't" This must be the best way to deal with a situation like this, and I'm going to be one of these players. I'm going to upgrade my wet weather gear, buy a good umbrella holder, gloves and never be caught without my umbrella again.

The main problem was that I didn't have any process, really almost none. Didn't pick a target, didn't make clear decisions, just hit horrible shots. I always had a count of my shots going in my head, focus was on result over process all the way.

A couple of formulae from the late Jack Burke, on this topic.

R/P = 0

P/R = $
( if P=process & R=result)
Emphasise process over result to be "in the money"

So why am I not able to be in the process more? It's not that I haven't mentioned it. I know what I need to do, so why am I not doing it? There's two principle reasons, one theoretical, the other practical, and they relate to each other.

I'd read a lot, and accepted what I'd read, but hadn't fully believed. I was able to regurgitate the theory, but more than that is needed. It's not enough to know, you must believe. I needed to take a leap of faith, to learn how to be totally absorbed in the process. I'm lucky to have got my experience from the Instinctive Golf short game day to draw on.

But that's not the whole reason; after all, I've been out with the intention to be more process focused often and yet not managed to sustain it. So why? Fortunately I don't have to look too far. My practice sessions frequently descend into "scrape & hit", deviate from my original intention and can end up with me just repeating the same mistake repeatedly.

In short, absolutely no focus. And then I wonder why I can't focus on the course?

So I made a plan, and I think it's a good one. I'm going to have two focused practice sessions a week; mostly putting and short game, with the range as a wet weather back up. (I would plan more, but work is pretty busy, Mrs Geek's already taking up an awful lot of slack at home and I'm guilty of making grandiose plans that I stick to for a short time and then when I can't keep up the whole plan goes, so this one is more modest and achievable). I've got a lot of practice plans from both Instinctive Golf and VISION54 that I'll use as well as using Dr Joe Parent's mind training sessions twice a week to improve focus. I'm also going to see a phsysiotherapist with vast experience in golf to look at what physical restrictions I have and for a personalised stretching program. I'm going for an Instinctive Golf long game clinic on the 30th too. I may also try and catch up with Scott Dixon (@scottdixongolf on Twitter) for a more personalised session around that time, perhaps an on course lesson to look at strategy and firm up a practice plan.

Will it work? I don't know but I think it might. I've had a practice session, and went out for a round on the nearby 6-hole par 21 course with a colleague (& hopefully new golf buddy) and hit 26- my best ever score on the course. Didn't even hit my best shots, but had a chip in (for a double as I'd been 3 off the tee ;-) No 3 putts, didn't have to hit 2 short game shots on any hole, but kept in the process very well, and I'm really proud of how I dealt with it when the thought came into my head on the 4ht green and the 6th tee that this could be my best round. In the past I'd either have got excited about it, or thought "oh no I mustn't think about that it'll ruin everything"- a self fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one. Instead, I used Dr Parent's "Labelling and Returning"- I just thought very matter of factly "That's the future. Come back to the present" (no "...or else" addition) and it worked very well.

A leap of faith. It might just work.