Many years ago I spent some days in the company of Fred Shoemaker and his amazing colleagues at the  Extraordinary Golf School.

One of the things Fred shared with me was how the world was full of people he refered to as the “have have do do’s”, who were constantly having “this” and doing “that” hoping that one day they would “be” a golfer.

The culture of golf encourages them to have new clubs, and do lots of practice at the range, but actually none of these will help them become a golfer.

 Addiction to having and doing only moves you further from “being” a golfer, further from feeling what a golfer feels.

Ultimately frustration is the only outcome.

There is never enough, the new club stops performing, the latest swing thought  does not work anymore………….Aggh!

Being has to preceed having and doing, so the first thing you need to be aware of  is your actions, so you realise you are the cause of the shot you just hit.

Someone once told me the definition of madness is someone who keeps doing the same thing, hoping it will turn out differently. Sounds a lot like most people you see practicing to me!

Don’t tell everyone, but you have everything you need to play great golf, but perhaps you are not yet fully aware of your skills.

So next time you slice a shot notice what you did to cause it.

Often it helps to experiment on the range and even exaggerate your mistake to make sure, so that you are fully aware of what causes the slice, YOU!

When you know you are the cause you will stop blaming the clubs, the wind, the course, the weather, your partners……………, you will be happy, you will be a golfer!