Cary's Corner

August 17 - Awareness

I was reading a book by the great Fred Shoemaker, Extraordinary Golf. Part of the book talks about our Culture as Golfers as being all wrong in respect to how well learn and improve, I must admit, he is very right. Although, we could go into more depth, we will just give one example to illustrate. The basic premise is, “There is something wrong with my swing, I must fix it”. Now comes the funny part, fix what? Here is an imaginary conversation that might take place:
“Fix what?”
“My golf swing.”
“What part of your golf swing?”
“What was I doing wrong?”
“What were you doing wrong?”
“I don’t know.”
“How will you know when it’s fixed?”
“I’ll hit the ball right.”
“What if the ball goes wrong again?”
“I’ll have to fix it.”
“Fix what?”
“My golf swing.”
Etc

Clearly the point being made is, how can you fix something when you don't know what it is. How can you make corrections when you have no idea what you are doing in the swing. In this old Culture of Golfers, it is a virtual continual treadmill, no way to get off. The only way to fix your golf swing is through AWARENESS, it is the only thing that allows for improvement. The new culture states, "There is something wrong with my golf swing and I must be aware of it." Becoming aware of your swing is not that hard to do, it just takes a different approach, a different mindset. Becoming aware in it's simplest form, is knowing what is happening at any given point at any time. Simple, but elusive to most of us in our old Culture of Golf. As we travel into the new Culture of Golf …… AWARENESS, we have the advantage of video visualization, North Augusta Golf Academy Coaches, and a changed perception of how we learn will undoubtedly lead to magic. Time and time again, no matter what level you have achieved, as you become more AWARE of key areas, your improvement will be more are dramatic and long lasting. The body's natural instincts are revved up, they make the swing powerful and efficient..... simply put..... AWARENESS leads to improvement.

August 10 - Winning

How do we judge what winning is, do we look at somebody else’s goals and try to match what they do to succeed? Unfortunately, a lot of people do just that, they judge themselves based on somebody else’s parameters. This is a totally false way to judge yourself, what you have accomplished or where you will be in the future. We all have different starting points in our quest to become the best golfer that we can become. Our individual success is totally unrelated to what anybody else is doing. The first thing to do is to define a game plan and develop a road map to take you there. This article is not about that plan, but a mindset in how you approach being the winner that you are. Let me say right here that it does not matter what your game is at this point in time, it just doesn’t matter, you are a winner and the more you tell yourself this fact, the sooner you will become that winner.

The way to accomplish this is to keep affirming the conscious mind saying I am a winner; I love the feeling of coming down the stretch in the lead, tied for the lead or near the lead. I am cool and calm, this is why I practice and compete. I love knowing I will have a clear mind and follow my routine on every shot. I am focused on my target and commit to the shot.

Total acceptance is my motto, I will not be bothered or upset, I can accept whatever happens because I l know I have controlled what I can control, my MIND. I know I have played my game and won the battle within.

The present is where I live, if I should begin to think about losing or winning, I discard the thought and concentrate on the next shot. I am at peace on the course because I assume I will do well, scoreboards or competitors never enter my thoughts, I love and trust my own game. At North Augusta Golf Academy we give you the tools, a game plan and new swing mechanics, to help you become your own winner. When you control your mind, you control your body.

August 3 - Patience on the Golf Course

Golf is a game of leisure, a game of waiting, a game of patience, it can't be forced. You can not dictate when success occurs and a good golfer is prepared to take pride in his patience. We all need to expect good things to happen but we do not need to expect them to happen right now. Success comes to the person who does the right things repeatedly and patiently.