It is Saturday morning and so it is Competition day at our golf Club.
Everyone is just that little bit more uptight and focussed on playing their best.
The banter of social rounds disappears and the ernest expectation of an amazing score hangs heavy on the shoulders of these men without a home life.
A bit like life really. It is so easy to be jovial and happy when everything is casual and of little consequence.
But when it is time to step up and play your best game – it is amazing how uptight and tense we become.
Some things that have helped me a little in life.
1. Practice your swing before the game if you want to play well under pressure.
Practice your responses to life before the challenge comes and you will be amazed at your learned instinctive responses.
2. Remember it is only a game. Life will go on and there will be other opportunities to improve and do better.
Never give up after one bad round.
3. Recognize a slump in form.
If your life is not improving and your form is getting worse – then admit you need help and see someone who can help you adjust your basics to life.
4. Play with better players
One of the best things you can do in life is to hang with people who are ahead of you in life. You get better by being with better people.
Don’t be threatened by successful people but learn from them and grow with them.
5. Practice your putting
Fifty percent of golf is played in the putting green.
You do your big drives for show – but you do your little puts for the money.
Make sure you do the little things in life well. The big drives are important but it is always the little things that set winners apart from the rest.
Must go and practice my putting before I win the comp again. Boy what pressure.
