Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 35pts (Joint 2nd)
Handicap mark: 3.6
Themes in reply: The effect of language; the myth of “form”; the point of hitting golf balls
Hi Colin,
Sorry I didn’t get to ring you regarding the above. Firstly, it’s going to be better if I ring you from home before a round. Is that too early before I play?
Dear John,
Ringing me from home will be fine as long as you don’t get “road rage” on the way to the course!
I want to try it because it simply gets stuff out of the way so that you can be who you want to be during the task ahead. We could also give it a go before you have an important meeting or a difficult conversation. My view on it as part of playing golf goes like this:
- to hit a golf ball to a precise location you need to give your sub-conscious a vivid picture of what is required in terms of visualisation and feel.
- to do this your conscious needs to be as clear as possible of all other concerns so that it can concentrate on the task
- when the game is over then your concerns can resume their place in your consciousness and you can choose to act on them or not
To be the person being “cleared” you simply have to authentically identify those things that are cropping up for you as concerns about your life. From the evidence of our scraps of conversation on Saturday it seems to me that you are going to be good at it because you quickly identified the obviously irrational and completely bone-headed actions of the lady driver you encountered as being something that needed clearing!
However, your reaction to her crazy take on the Highway Code may have been a cover for a deeper concern that you also had that morning. On the other hand, 35 points in the wind suggests that perhaps it wasn’t! The concerns that require voicing are usually related to the task ahead.
So, for instance, if you have had to negotiate with your wife; or you have had to leave work early; or you are having to go back to work. They can sometimes be completely unrelated to the task ahead but they are dominating your thoughts: an ill relative, a problem at work, a health issue. They can often be integral to the task ahead: which pairings?, unhappiness with a team mate, concerns about the course.
The “clearing” process works by forcing you to state the things that are concerning you in language. This has the effect of identifying them clearly to your conscious and you are then able to file them away until they need acting on.
Saturday – I played quite well on Sat. It was very windy as is now usual. I didn’t start particularly well and didn’t score on the Par 3 4th – left it in a bunker giving me 5 points after 4 holes which isn’t very good! After that I hit the ball better and started to hole some putts. Par, Par, Par and then I eagled the 8th (the par 5), which was straight into the wind. Hit a great drive and then knocked a 3 wood onto the green and holed a very good putt for a 3. I then went bogey, bogey, par, birdie, bogey par, par bogey par, par. The only putt I missed was a 5 footer on the 16th for a par. So I ended up with 35 points and came joint 2nd. To illustrate the strength of the wind, 24 people played and there was only one par on the 18th. I hit a good drive followed by a 3 wood (slightly right) but managed to chip and hole a good putt for a 4 – the only par! I didn’t feel I was striking the ball as well as I can but I was very confident on the greens – I had 28 putts in total which is very good for me. I wasn’t going over on Sunday but managed to do some painting on Sat pm and evening so I was allowed out!! Sunday morning was windy again and we had a ‘nasty’ fourball – lots of banter and stick flying around. After taking a couple of holes to warm up I hit the ball really well particularly my drives which were straight and long. I also putted well again and was very happy because it was the best I have played for a while. On Wednesday this week we have a team match at the Vale on their lakes course and on Thursday I am in the 5 playing against the Glamorganshire in the Welsh Team Champs at the same venue – that’s singles off scratch. I hope I can take my form into this week! If you want me to ring you before these I can do as I will be in the car on my own Regards, John Saturday – I am going to re-write your passage to illustrate how humans undersell themselves through language. “I played well on Saturday. I scored 35 points in difficult conditions and came joint second out of 24 contestants. I was particularly pleased with an eagle on the par 5 eighth, a par on the par 4 eighteenth (the only one of the day!) and my putting in general (28 for the round!). I didn’t score on the par 3 fourth which was disappointing. Compare the two and notice how the words are saying the same thing but having a different effect. I particularly like your very modest: “. . . then knocked a 3-wood on to the green . . .”! At some stage you are going to have to acknowledge that you are good at playing golf. Sunday – It’s highly promising that you played well inside the context of “boys banter”. This shows a level of self-confidence and an ability to step into and out of the zone as and when required. This week – This time I am going to re-state a sentence from your e-mail so that you can consider the effect of the words on your psyche: ” . . .and on Thursday I am in the 5 playing against the Glamorganshire in the Welsh Team Champs at the same venue – that’s singles off scratch. I hope I can take my form into this week!”
The last time you played in that competition you admitted to me that you felt that you weren’t worth your place. I think there is a hint of that bo****ks in your writing. There is no place for “hope” in sport and there is no such thing as “form”. “Form” is something invented by players to deflect responsibility: it’s not them, it’s their “form”.
You have been picked for the team because you are playing well and you are a good player. Your task is to hit every shot using the prescribed method and then to accept the outcome. The objective is to win but that is not the task because the objective also includes your opponent’s task, which is to win also! So, you simply do everything in your conscious power to give your sub-conscious unfettered access to vivid instructions: there is nothing more you can do.
If you accomplish your task you increase your chances of accomplishing the objective, but you may not. You also have a duty to your opponent to play the best golf you are capable of because this might mean that you will draw something extra out of him, and when you are both involved in a trivial pursuit this is an important responsibility that you have to each other. “Hope” is for weak-minded losers who are always looking for a back-door. Sorry.
Colin
