NATO Golf
Those of you that have played golf for a long time will be aware of the phrase ‘to play war time golf’ which is when a player goes out in 39 shots and back in 45 shots.
I now want to introduce you to a new military related term ‘to play NATO golf’.
Basically this means Not Attached to The Outcome.
Mentally you can’t play any shot with confidence if the potential result of the shot plays heavily on your mind.
Will I win? Will I lose? What if? etc are all examples of focusing on the outcome.
This problem is faced by professionals as well as amateurs.
During the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill, Nick Faldo was faced with a 4ft putt to win his match against Curtis Strange and to give Europe any chance of winning the cup, which they subsequently did when Philip Walton won his match on the 18th hole.
Faldo stood over the ball and stroked putt into the back of the hole with apparent confidence.
However when interviewed later he stated that his concern was not to miss the putt and go too far past because he could ‘cost’ Europe the Ryder Cup.
Despite these thoughts in his head, he put them to the back of his mind and got on with the job.
How did he do this?
It is vital in golf to remain in the present and to play golf one shot at a time.
Do not let your thoughts venture into the future and most definitely do not brood about previous bad shots in the round.
If you can master this approach to golf it will reduce your levels of stress during the round and you will get more enjoyment from your game and will look forward to pressure situations rather than try to avoid them.