Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1254473
Arnold Palmer gave sage advice for recovering after mistakes in a golf game. "Sometimes we lose strokes, and then we get excited, and it costs us more strokes…I'd sure not lose more strokes to aggressive play." times, the environment can stress you out: hitting over a bunker, or lake, a bunker shot, out of bounds left and right…the list goes on. And what do golfers do when they're under duress? They tend to tense up in their upper body and grip the club a little tighter during their swing, which pre- vents the clubface from squaring up and leads to the dreaded left-to-right ball. Tension can lead to other types of mistakes, but more often than not, it's a major cause of slicing the ball. 3. Not Attached to Outcome: (NATO): One of the other causes of ten- sion in the swing is fear—fear of the outcome. Golfers tend to remember all the bad shots or bad history, and they can't help but think about the outcome before they ever play the shot. To play tension-free golf, you must be able to close this cycle of negativity and stay focused on the shot at hand. I like to use the acronym NATO to describe the mindset. Remember we are playing a game, and the definition of play is to have fun. This gives you another opportunity to change the mind set and bounce back. Embrace the challenge! 4. Take a "Second-Shot" Mentality: How many times have you hit a bad shot, only to drop a second ball and then, without even pausing to give it a thought, knocked the next shot stiff? Or, maybe, hit your tee shot out of bounds and after reteeing it, you smacked the next drive down the center of the fairway? Happens all the time, right? It shows you that you can do it! Take this mental approach to the first ball. It can make the game more fun! Enjoy getting back into this crazy game that we love, a game that keeps us connected and engaged with each other. We look forward to seeing you at Pebble Beach or on the teaching and coaching tee. Give these ideas a try and visit us at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy for more direction on your game improvement. Golf is a game we play for a lifetime and we encourage you to be a lifelong learner. Please contact us at 831/622-8650 to learn more. C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 75 Photo: Evan Schiller