Developing the right attitude will not only improve your score but will greatly improve your enjoyment of the game of golf.
I love the game of golf. I love the thrill of sinking that imposable 30 foot putt, hitting a drive straight down the fairway, chipping up onto the green and landing near the hole or watching the ball leave the bunker and come to rest near the hole. I love being able to drive over the water hazard to land on the green, making my longest drive ever and hitting between the trees on my shot out of the rough and landing on the green. I especially love making par or below par on a difficult hole.
Regardless of your level of play, golf is a game where you can also expect that there will be times when your game doesn't go as planned.
The wonderful part about the game of golf it is that professionals, amateurs, experienced and inexperienced all will have good days and bad days, great holes and not so great holes, good shots and bad shots. When you finally come to understand that as your game improves and your scores keep getting lower and lower, you will still experience ups and down, better rounds and worse rounds, good holes and bad holes, great shots and not so great shots, you will have a chance to learn how to enjoy the game and improve your score.
Before I understood this I used to think that if I could just improve my game, the experience on the golf course would change. I thought that there would be a piece of heaven waiting for me out there if I could just play better. Now that I have finally realized that the piece of heaven will probable only come when you actually get there (to heaven that is), I opened the door to being able to really enjoy the game of golf.
Really enjoying the game requires a change in attitude. It requires that you learn to love playing a game that will always include good and bad, better and worse, fighting to improve and only occasionally being completely satisfied with your shot, hole or round. It requires that you learn to actually love the whole experience.
You will soon see that loving the game with all of its ups and downs will do wonders for your score as well as your enjoyment. The secret is that you normally lose several strokes from being upset over your last bad shot (or the bad shot several holes earlier). As you learn to take the bad with the good and love it you will be well on your way to concentrating on just your current shot and letting the rest go.
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned golfer your game will improve when you improve your attitude. The consistent winners on the professional tour are the ones who are not only great golfers but also have the right attitude.
Of course, its wonderful to take special delight in the great shot, hole or round. Its great to finally beat that golf partner who usually beats you but never forget that you can love the whole experience and truly be able to say “great!!” when asked “how was you day on the golf course” regardless of whether it was your best or worst score.
