Whilst searching through my bookcase this week for something to read I came across an old business book called "The one minute manager". Having not read it in years I thought I'd flick through the pages to see what words of wisdom the contents held and came across the 5P's of Personal Power. Intrigued by this I decided to read with interest and low and behold felt how this could be relevant in the game of golf. The 5P's stand for
Purpose
Pride
Patience
Persistence
Perspective
Purpose- otherwise known as something you are working towards, not to be confused with a goal. Goals are tangible and achievable such as lowering your handicap to single figures or winning a major tournament. It has a beginning and end whereas Purpose is ongoing. For example your purpose could be to go out and have fun whilst playing golf. Now obviously if you go out and find yourself becoming frustrated with your game and annoyed at how bad you're playing then you are not fulfilling your purpose of playing golf. You may therefore need to ask yourself Why do I play golf? What is my purpose? Once you've answered these questions then observe and monitor your behaviour to see how well you are doing in relation to them. You will enjoy your game more if your behaviour is aligned with your purpose.
Pride- Golf can make you feel ecstatic one minute, when you hit the perfect shot and then make you feel inferior and incompetent after a shank or miss-hit. Whilst taking pride in playing well is healthy, a sense of inferiority can impact your ego. Unfortunately for some golfers, how well they play defines them as a person, so if their performance is poor they take it very personally and find it difficult to accept, resulting in clubs being hit against the bag and tempers raising. If you are one of these golfers you need to learn to focus on the positives instead of the negatives and accept golf is not a game of perfect. Every time you play you have two choices - you can feel good about yourself and the game or you can feel lousy - why would you want to choose the latter? If you find yourself struggling please contact us at Braintrain4.com we can help
Patience- now you have a clear purpose for playing the game and your ego is under control, the third element is patience. One sure fire way to prevent hitting your purpose is to loose patience when your game isn't going to plan. So many golfers become impatient when things go wrong and either take on ridiculous shots to try to get back in contention or give up. Well here's the facts, during a round you will get some bad breaks, where the ball hits hard ground and kicks off into the undergrowth lost forever. There will also be times where the golfing gods will smile down on you, giving you a lucky break, such as a ball ricocheting off a sign-post and landing an inch form the hole (this actually happened to me in a society day on nearest the pin - which I won!) Patience is the secret to winning, take the knock backs on the chin and stick to your game plan. Staying cool, calm and patient will win you the titles along with the next P,Persistence.
Persistence- this is about taking action by having a plan and sticking to it. Many golfers are so fixated on the score, that if they have a bad hole or two, they throw caution to the wind and take on risky shots or attempt a shot completely beyond their playing capability. We all know players like this and inevitably it only ends badly with the player becoming more frustrated. Define your game plan that is realistic and plays to your strengths and stick with it, you will see results over time guaranteed
Perspective- put your game into perspective. Most players take this game up for enjoyment, for companionship or for the challenge. We are not on tour and making a living out of the game. If Covid-19 has given you time to reflect, you will no doubt come to realise what is truly important in your life and golf is there for pleasure. Accept there will be some good breaks and bad breaks, at times you will play out of your skin and others its a grind to scramble a score, but at the end of the day you are able to play this wonderful game - how lucky you are!
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