Making a decision about your golf game is never easy. No matter what you decide, it inevitably generates joy, frustration, consternation, frustration (oh yeah mentioned that one already) and success. It is a process that is unique to the player which no one can change. However, I want to pose a hypothetical (or maybe more real that we think) situation regarding any decision. I my view, making a decision comes in two categories: forced or intentional. The more I think about any changes I made to my golf game, the movement to a different path fell into one of those two categories.

I bet if you take the time to think about my proposal, you will find that your past decisions were either forced or intentional. The journey of decision making in my case was an evolution of sorts where I transitioned from forced changes to intentional ones. In recent years, a quote keeps popping up in my mind relating to my golf game (and life) that helps drive my journey.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou.

In my early years of playing golf, most of decision fell into the forced category. My game would plateau to a point where I had to accept my limitations or be forced to step outside my comfort zone. Of course some of snap decisions did not work out and I would be force to take another path. This ping pong approach to improving my scores was very frustrating and not very productive. Each time I made a change, I did learn a bit more about golf and as such would do better.

In1990, my approach to my golf game took a drastic u-turn. I decided that I needed to change the way I approached improving my golf scores. I decided to become a student of the game and workout any intended changes in my mind by learning the knowledge to improve. Of course it did not hurt to have an awesome mentor, Bobby Fortune, guiding my transition. He really reduced the frustration of many any swing mechanic changes. Regardless, he helped me build a foundation that fostered the process of intentional change which I still use today.

The intentional change process is rooted in the realm of knowledge. It forces me to understand the mechanics and dynamics to any change (regardless of how minute) before I put a club in my hand. This process is fun, rewarding, and less frustrating because I am mentally empowering the process and understand that challenges will ensure. Knowing that I have intentionally decided to adjust something relieves the stress by focusing my actions through ownership. Making a conscious intentional change does make all the difference in the results as well. A majority of the time, I am able to adopt the new swing changes and live with the odd wayward shot without hesitation.

There you have it. It is my simplified version of decision making in golf. I choose to make intentional changes through a growth in my knowledge. I have left the force decision making in the past and am a better player because I did. I do not make many changes anymore, but when I do I will do the research, increase my knowledge, and intentionally decide to make the change.

Was your last decision to make changes to your golf game forced or intentional?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!