That Attitude is so important, not only in golf but in life too. (Don`t worry I`m not going to get all Tony Robbins on you!) But even U.S. Open Champ, Gary Woodland summed it up with this Quote:

"There are going to be bad things in your life, a lot of ups and downs, but the only thing you can control is your attitude. And if you do that, in the end good things will happen."

I want to share a great example of that very thing with you that happened over the weekend here during our very own Club Championship Qualifying. It involved Shop Stuart (Knox). Following a very disappointing 1st Round he was understandably down, frustrated (perhaps even a bit angry) to the point that, despite just scrapping into the Top 32 Scores that would progress to the 2nd round on Sunday, he was going to withdraw and not play Rd2. We convinced him to reconsider and he opted to play. Later that evening I received a Text which read:

“Advice for tomorrow please...worst golf I`ve played in about 2 years. Today everything went wrong!”

“Without seeing or knowing your technique I’ll leave that to one side for now.

Instead, remember that you’ve been playing well so you don’t turn bad overnight. Tomorrow you’ll have a fresh course and a clear run at it to get into your Rhythm.

Try and avoid getting too bogged down in whether your technique should be doing this or that, and instead focus and feel a swing/tempo that allows the body, arms and Club to flow together - even if that means hitting softer shots with more club......and stay patient. You’re only 3 behind the halfway point and there are 18 people ahead of you who are all 5 H’cap or more, so it’s feasible they will all score the same or worse than today!

These days aren’t about finishing 1st, they’re about not finishing 33rd or 17th!

Put the Score to the side in the early Holes, and just try and string a run of solid, playable shots together.....the momentum and scores will come from that.

You’ll be fine.”

Fast forward 16 Hours and Stuart had improved his score by 10 Shots and Qualified with ease inside the Top 10!

We play such a psychological game that your mind can be just as destructive as any fault in your technique. And just like your swing you`ve got to practice good habits in order for it to perform well and for you to have confidence in it. My job as an instructor expands way beyond ‘just tinkering with your swing’ as many people would have you believe!

If we move quickly into swing technique for a second, what I can do for you also has a profound effect on your golfing psyche, and I`d like to share a couple of recent examples of this.

In the last few weeks, I have given Lessons to 2 different members, in which we made very simple adjustments. The adjustments were simple because I was able to clearly illustrate what the fault was using the Data I am able to capture & measure using the Technology available in the SW:ING Studio. What this did was ‘clear the mind’ of these individuals of not only what they thought they were doing wrong but also got them to the point that they could focus on what ‘TO DO’ rather than the many things they were focussing on trying ‘NOT TO DO!’

Since then they have both gone on to post scores in their respective buffer Zones. This might not seem a great success, but when you consider they hadn`t done that for a significant number of months and events it ranked as a notable turning point. Which also created a turning point in their belief and enjoyment. Now their attitude is more positive, they are looking forward to playing.