Miracles and Meltdowns
Pressure- who out there has not had a “meltdown” on the golf course, in their job, or in a relationship due to the pressure of a given situation? An article the local rural paper talked about how stress, like a glass of water, only starts to get heavy after several hours of holding the glass without putting it down for a break. The longer we hang on to the pressure in our lives, the more detrimental it becomes. But can pressure be a good thing?
The stress of being on the first tee in a college golf tournament may not compare to being on the first tee during a practice round, and having a small case of the jitters. Sometimes the only difference between the two rounds is how long the player stays in this heightened state. Depending on the degree of pressure that a person experiences, this state can cause meltdown or, in some cases, be the catalyst for a miracle on the links.
Take the player who walks on to the golf course with absolutely no anticipation of possible problems, nor does she ever practice dealing with any. Totally unprepared and indifferent to pressure, she gets up to the first tee with only one sleeve of balls in her bag. She thinks to herself” this conference match is going to be a cake-walk”. She proceeds to hit the first two tee shots out of bounds (which leaves her with one golf ball for the next 18 holes), and realizes that she is out of the round if she loses one more golf ball. As she wishes for a miracle, apathy sets in when the next shot yanks into the next fairway. So goes the rest of the round, while she waits for the last ball to mercifully get lost, so she can quit. This good-time-charley can only play good golf under the best conditions or it is meltdown. Pressure and preparation to perform under any circumstances is what makes good-time-charley should be practicing, rather than assuming her one sleeve of balls, or her game, would never leave her “in left field and over the fence (not a good thing in golf- only in baseball).
As opposed to Good-Time-Charley, we have Crash and Burn. Before she ever gets to the second hole, she has a panic attack going on. This gal may shuffle onto the first tee with 20 water balls in her bag, sweaty palms, and the “rosary” in her pocket. Besides lugging 10 lbs. of golf balls around , she defeats herself by becoming so tensed up, crowds her swing, shanks it dead right, and hates the game for how it makes her feel. This person cracks under the pressure of the one bad shot, and lets that stress lead to another duff, then another, and so on.
How can we avoid Chernobyl on the course, and keep the radiation of embarrassing penalties, whiffs, and duffs, from burning us out?
Stress, as the article implied that we discussed earlier, can be like dragging around those 20 golf balls. The weight and the expectation of needing those 20 balls can only leave us tired. Likewise, only carrying a sleeve of balls for the round is being unrealistic and unprepared.
So the next time you swagger up to the first tee, feeling abit nervous, yet prepared to play, remember to smile, breath, and swing. Most great players and people that I know take the pressure of a possible meltdown and use that pressure to excel. Miracles on the golf course and in life usually arise from the rubble during the aftermath of a difficult time. So set that burden, or golf bag down awhile, and then carry-on! You just never know what the next 17 holes, job or date will bring!
P.S.
Formula for Happy Golfing: keep the flow and let the swing go!
Janie C. Farina
LPGA Teaching & Club Pro
LPGA -USGA Girls Golf Club of Pinehurst
