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What is the worst "Lie" in golf?
Wade Pearse
Let us begin with a few myth busters, shall we.
Myths -
1) If you have a perfect golf swing you'll have a perfect
game.
2) You can buy a better game
3) Technology has lowered golfers scores
Most every golfer subscribes to these beliefs in one way or
another. The entire golf instruction, training aid, and golf
club making market bear this out. Golf magazines, tv shows,
and article after article offer tips, fixes, cures and virtually
every imaginable training aid conceivable to craft the
perfect swing. All with the pretense of helping you play
better golf.
Well has it worked? Let's take a look...
In 1978 75% of all golfers never broke 90 - so barely
25% ever shot in the 80's.
In 2004, a full 26 years later, after the advent of 460CC
drivers with 45" multi-kick point shafts, cavity back irons,
balls that prevent hooks and slices, and world class instruction
from the smartest minds in the buz, that number has been increased
by a whopping 3%!
Now a full 28% of all golfers have broken 90! But hey, let's
cut the industry some slack, there's only been 90+ billion
spent on golf equipment over that time! That doesn't include
lessons or training aids! All that technology and collective
wisdom and this is how far we've come...impressive, huh.
Seriously, any other business that produced numbers like these
for their customers would be out of business! But the golfing
public has an insatiable appetite that an ever growing horde
of manufacturers and marketers are more than willing to feed.
Ok, do you want to pay me now or later for the moral booster?
What? This doesn't get you pumped about your prospects of
dropping your handicap by 10 strokes by buying the next training
aid?
You mean to tell me you're not going to do that $2,500 re-shafting,
ball changing, loft angle adjusting, launch angle increasing,
club-fitting session you had booked for next Saturday? Hmmm,
was it something I said?
As golfers we are bombarded with instruction tips, training
options, and product offerings that'll have your head spinning
faster than Paris Hilton after swizzeling a half dozen Crantini's.
So where's the moral of this myth busting story? Do we all
just give up trying to improve? Absolutely not. We all need
to fulfill that important human craving of getting better
at what we love. Yet where we place our attention to achieve
this goal is what has to change. Our core beliefs about
what causes improvement should be based on reality not myths.
They should empower us, not encourage wishful thinking and
needlessly empty our wallets.
"So if it isn't gear that makes us better maybe it's lessons,"
did I hear you say? Certainly lessons are an asset and obviously
accelerate your skill development yet they're not absolutely
essential. Ask Lee Trevino, Jim Furyk, Chris Dimarco and countless
others who are self taught. And I think we can all agree that
there isn't much "pretty" about any of their swings.
Do you think any of them were intent on crafting the perfect
swing? Yet if we look at things from a different perspective
maybe they do have perfect swings. Why? Because they work!
Golf ain't a beauty contest.
In the final analysis there is only one area that promotes
the quickest and most lasting change in any golfers game.
And what's interesting about it is this is the only area that
doesn't cost a penny to use yet almost no-one uses it!
That area is the often quoted 6 inches between your ears!
Your mind. The mental game. Using your mind in a strategic,
methodical and focused way is the surest method of lowering
your scores. Period.
If you want to run out and spend $500 on a new driver and
another $1000 or more on irons to make you play better, feel
free. You might be that one in a million that changes the
statistics. I realize we'll all buy nice gear once in a while
but we can't buy it with a belief that this will seriously
lower our scores.
Needless to say, my articles won't be sponsored by Taylor
Made or Nike any time soon! I don't help sell much golf equipment!
No, my approach to lowering your handicap, improving your
swing, and increasing your satisfaction leans towards inner
change before outer gains.
True improvement only arrives when we first assess where we
are in relation to our goal. Then we must take an inventory
of all the things that have actually produced measurable results.
Which means no denial! We can't hope to move our game to the
next level by hanging on to a lie, now can we? If you do then
that's what I call a real "hanging lie". Ok, that was a cheap
pun but it was there for the taking...
Each and every one of us has the innate ability to tap our
own potential and transform any part of our lives, including
golf. We just require the right road map and a good compass
to keep us on target.
It's time to wake up and smell the napalm or the myths that
cloud our brains will keep us believing we can buy a better
game.
Wade Pearse is a Peak Performance Coach who practices
what he preaches. He only teaches what he himself uses in
his own golf game. Using these strategies he has helped clients
lower their handicaps dramatically. He has taken his own handicap
from a 26 down to a 3 without lessons or training aids.
Wade Pearse
Keeping you on target
www.golf-mental-game-coach.com
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com
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