O yeah, I get it…
I think I realized today how to learn. Or, check that, I realized that there is no magic bus waiting around the corner to take us all to quick-fix learning land. The truth is, there are no shortcuts (not the first time I’ve said that, but I keep realizing how true that statement is) and when I started on this project I was setting out to prove that hard work can make someone great in a specific field and I’ve always believed that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve whatever you want, but I think it honestly and fully dawned on me that there is nothing but me in the way of becoming great. It’s time to become a great golfer. there is nothing down the road that will jumpstart my golfing skills magically and if I’m going to be the best golfer I can be I’ve got to do it today.
Where this comes from: I’ve been thinking since the beginning that eventually I could spark the interest of some type of intensive golfing school/clinic that would want me to come join in their training and I’ve always thought that when that happened I would quickly improve upon my game, taking it to the next level. But, I already have everything I need at my disposal: golf clubs, golf balls, training aids, a golf course, a gym and enough brain cells to attempt to remember my mistakes (or at least be able to write them down for future reference) in order to improve upon them. What else would you need?
I know there are some wonderful resources out there and with enough money you could spend every hour of every day surrounded by golfing geniuses, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that you would improve any faster than without all that jazz. When you boil the pot down, the only way to get better is to want to get better, to need to get better and to be open to getting better. There is no magic bus.
A few weeks ago I was beginning to feel burnt out with the project because I felt like I wasn’t improving (and it’s a bit daunting to be one year into a 6 year project, but that’s just looking at things the wrong way) fast enough. I felt like I would never be a good putter and that I had spent so much time on putting. So, I took a few days off and gave life a good old fashioned sit-down-style think. What I realized is that you have to have a certain level of fun in your learning to keep the drive going and I had been beating myself up so much when I hit bad shots that it made the sweet shots unsatisfying, essentially ripping the head off of potential fun. And why? who said that learning can’t be fun, I am trying to master a game, after-all. Frustration closes us off to learning.
Lighten up, Dan. It’s my mantra of the month. Stop with the self butt-kicking and amp up the openness, it’s learnin’ time!
On to today’s practice.
I raked up the good shots today. Here’s where my first drive landed:
sorry about that, bad pun…
It was a mix of a day, hit a handful of worthy shots and then plunked a bunch in the sand. Made all of my sand saves, though, so can’t complain about that. All in all, I played 27 holes, 9 from 50 yards, 9 from 75 and 9 from 100 yards, it’s my new way of practicing. I play these 27 holes and then hit the putting and chipping greens to work on whatever needs tweaking. Today it was mostly my putting that kept the scores up. I shot 4 over from 50, 3 over from 75 and 8 over from 100. Lots of that was from two putting from within 10 feet and three putting from beyond, which is as close to a crime as you can get on the course. I feel like my putting stroke is solid, just need to lock in my lags. Could definitely improve my pitching distance control too, nearly all of them seemed to land past the hole..
What a day it was too! this is the kind of March day I live for:
This, added to a 100 yard “drive” to within three feet of the hole, is why I keep coming back.