Read Online Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game by Dr. Gio Valiante - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dr. Gio Valiante
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doing, whether practicing chip shots or putting in competition. Their motivation for playing golf is not prize money, not trophies, not awards, and not accolades or approval from others. For mastery-oriented golfers, the shot matters much more than its consequences. Awards, trophies, and public recognition are seen as natural consequences to excellence, not the primary motive for achieving that excellence.
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david duval: mastery orientation
David Duval is one of the most remarkable athletes I’ve ever met, both for the abundance of his talent and the strength of his character. He eloquently spoke about the competing orientations that arise from being a private individual on a public stage. Here is a portion of one of our talks.
DR. VALIANTE: When you’re playing competitive golf, against whom are you competing? The course, other players, a score, yourself?
DAVID DUVAL: Typically you’re fighting yourself. You can say you’re playing the field or the golf course, or the situation. But truth is you’re playing yourself, and that’s really how it goes. You’re just competing against yourself.
DR. VALIANTE: What part of yourself?
DAVID DUVAL: I think what you’re competing against is the part of you that wants to see how you’re doing compared to others, wants to see how you’re doing in relation to par, wants to analyze whether you’re hitting fairways and greens and making birdies. It goes to scoreboard watching sometimes. When all is right, when your head is right, it is easy to remember that golf is a series of eighteen scores that you add up when you’re done. That it is an accumulation of shots. There’s really no excuse not to do that, but that’s not always the easiest thing to do. So you’re competing against yourself. You should be executing what you’re trying to do relative to the golf course and your game.
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Mastery golfers enjoy everything that golf throws at them. The greater the challenge, the more fun they have. For them, the golf swing becomes an automatic process. Because they focus on improvement relative to their own current capabilities, their standards and goals are self-set rather than set by others. Mastery golfers do not care who their competitors are, because they don’t view golf as a competition between players. Rather, they see golf as the process of playing a golf course as well as they can with the skills that they possess. They know that golf is at times unpredictable, and, although they cannot control the unpredictable, they react the same way each time: with increased effort, determination, and passion for playing. Mastery golfers are neither swayed by praise nor bothered by criticism. They know full well that approval is fleeting and people are fickle. Those who raved about you on Saturday may come to possess such high expectations that they will be disapproving on Sunday. And so, mastery golfers are not influenced by how often others tell them they are good or they are bad because, quite frankly, they do not play for others. They play to achieve goals they have set for themselves, and they use only those self-set standards to measure their improvement. Mastery golfers care about their games, and not about what others have to say about their games. They are their own fan club and their own best critic, and they play golf with a quiet mind, focusing only on the things within their control. For mastery golfers, playing golf—whether in a tournament, competition, weekend outing, company event, or family get-together—is not a means to an end. Playing golf is an end in itself.
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mastery drill: the default answer
As we’ve said, mastery golfers are complex thinkers with a simple focus. One key to developing a simple focus is to stubbornly refuse to let yourself think about anything circumstantial. Ultimately, there is no benefit to scoreboard watching because scoreboard watching often serves no purpose other than to distract us from the singular,
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david duval: mastery orientation
David Duval is one of the most remarkable athletes I’ve ever met, both for the abundance of his talent and the strength of his character. He eloquently spoke about the competing orientations that arise from being a private individual on a public stage. Here is a portion of one of our talks.
DR. VALIANTE: When you’re playing competitive golf, against whom are you competing? The course, other players, a score, yourself?
DAVID DUVAL: Typically you’re fighting yourself. You can say you’re playing the field or the golf course, or the situation. But truth is you’re playing yourself, and that’s really how it goes. You’re just competing against yourself.
DR. VALIANTE: What part of yourself?
DAVID DUVAL: I think what you’re competing against is the part of you that wants to see how you’re doing compared to others, wants to see how you’re doing in relation to par, wants to analyze whether you’re hitting fairways and greens and making birdies. It goes to scoreboard watching sometimes. When all is right, when your head is right, it is easy to remember that golf is a series of eighteen scores that you add up when you’re done. That it is an accumulation of shots. There’s really no excuse not to do that, but that’s not always the easiest thing to do. So you’re competing against yourself. You should be executing what you’re trying to do relative to the golf course and your game.
----
Mastery golfers enjoy everything that golf throws at them. The greater the challenge, the more fun they have. For them, the golf swing becomes an automatic process. Because they focus on improvement relative to their own current capabilities, their standards and goals are self-set rather than set by others. Mastery golfers do not care who their competitors are, because they don’t view golf as a competition between players. Rather, they see golf as the process of playing a golf course as well as they can with the skills that they possess. They know that golf is at times unpredictable, and, although they cannot control the unpredictable, they react the same way each time: with increased effort, determination, and passion for playing. Mastery golfers are neither swayed by praise nor bothered by criticism. They know full well that approval is fleeting and people are fickle. Those who raved about you on Saturday may come to possess such high expectations that they will be disapproving on Sunday. And so, mastery golfers are not influenced by how often others tell them they are good or they are bad because, quite frankly, they do not play for others. They play to achieve goals they have set for themselves, and they use only those self-set standards to measure their improvement. Mastery golfers care about their games, and not about what others have to say about their games. They are their own fan club and their own best critic, and they play golf with a quiet mind, focusing only on the things within their control. For mastery golfers, playing golf—whether in a tournament, competition, weekend outing, company event, or family get-together—is not a means to an end. Playing golf is an end in itself.
----
mastery drill: the default answer
As we’ve said, mastery golfers are complex thinkers with a simple focus. One key to developing a simple focus is to stubbornly refuse to let yourself think about anything circumstantial. Ultimately, there is no benefit to scoreboard watching because scoreboard watching often serves no purpose other than to distract us from the singular,
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