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Wait Well to Play Well
Jarvis Coaching • Feb 17, 2019
WAIT WELL TO PLAY WELL
Photo from The Golf Channel
My friend
tweets out a powerful mantra every week: “Patience and Persistence.” At the heart of both, is the learned skill of waiting well. Waiting is an inherent part of the game of golf. It takes approximately 1.5 seconds to hit a golf shot. The rest of the time—you must wait. It’s interesting to consider what this can look like in the life of a professional golfer. One player I work with recently put it like this: “I feel like I’m really good at waiting well coming off a good stretch of tournaments. At the same time, it’s excruciating to wait between tournaments when I’m playing poorly. When I’m playing well, I’m good at taking days off and making my practice count. When I struggle, I search too much on the range.” The world of professional golf gives you one waiting situation after another and each is unique.
There’s………
—waiting between tournaments
—waiting between rounds
—waiting from tee to green
—waiting from arrival on tee to shot
—waiting with certainty
—waiting with uncertainty
—waiting after a good result
—waiting after a bad result
—waiting with money
—waiting without money
—waiting with full status
—waiting with partial status
—waiting with no status
—waiting for the next major
—waiting for the next Monday qualifier
—waiting with the lead
—waiting trying to make the cut
The list could go on and on, but one thing is certain. If you’re going to achieve consistent success at the highest levels of the game, you must learn to understand the waiting game and how to navigate it.
So what can you do the next time you find yourself frustrated and confused with the waiting game? Start with reminding yourself of your fundamental beliefs about what it takes to execute elite golf shots. Remember what’s relevant and even more importantly what’s not. Think through your own game. Figure out why it’s difficult to wait well in one situation and easy to wait well in another. Anticipate and prepare for the scenarios that matter to you. The sooner you accept the uncertain nature of the game, the sooner you can start building the “patience and persistence” needed to wait well and succeed in this game.
People of all ages and abilities are learning the game of golf though an approach focused almost entirely on the golf swing. Despite an uptick in golf lessons, players still struggle to go from the range to the golf course. The two are obviously not the same. In one space, you’re training your swing--caring mostly about getting your club and body in the right positions. In the other, you’re playing golf and focused on more than just the golf swing. You’re managing your mind and emotions under time constraints, picking the right targets, seeing shots, and connecting with an athletic response called the golf swing.
Seventeen months ago, Brendon Todd found his way back after Monday qualifying for the RSM Classic with a 61 and made his first cut in over a year. He aimed to keep improving his game, enter as many PGA TOUR events as he could, and qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. “That was as far as my mind could dream at the time,” says Todd.
Start mastering the moments that matter to you.
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