Don’t hook the ball into the pond.
Damn it feels like I’m gonna hook this.
I should back away and reset. Do it.
Nah, I can re-grip. That’s better.
Back swing…. Gonna HOOK IT!!!
Splash.
The thing about golf is that nobody is swinging a club at you while you're trying to do your thing. You are basically trying to be
be the best you can while your inner doubter throws all kinds of crap at you right in the middle of your backswing.
Shutting down the voices is the hardest thing and the even the best players in the world all hear them now and again. Justin Thomas
shanked one on his great final round to take the PGA championship last week. The Golfers 200 years ago playing with hickory shafts and
feather-stuffed balls heard them the exact same way we do today.
About 10 years ago I bombed a drive on the par 5 18th at my local course. Killed it. It stopped just short of a lateral hazard choked with reeds and I knew I
could get on the green with a solid 4 iron. Perfect lie, perfect wind. So, then the banshees started whispering in my ear that I was kidding myself and I better
load up on the shot, so I put a death grip on and topped it barely 30 feet and right into the frogwater. My Eagle fantasy disappeared along with the ball. I was
now hitting my 4th.
I then snapped and went completely apeshit and broke my golf bag and my 4, 5 and 7 irons with one tomahawk swing. I was so pissed that I was seeing
stars and my head was spinning. I decided that shit had to stop then and there or I was going to stroke out from pure frustration.
Since then, I've tried to practice
the zen of not giving a shit and it seems to be working better for me. I now look forward to the most uncomfortable situations
possible because that's a chance for me to prove that I won't cave in mentally like I once did like clockwork. Act like a tempermental ass.
I think I get a lot out of this stupid game.