How to Set a Playing Focus in Golf Part 3

Female Speaker: We often say is that exactly, because outcome like the score you want, it's kind of like knee or kneener. It's saying get off focus, get off focus. But If you stayed focused on your vision for every shot and you came off with it 1-5 and you kept your promise to yourself that you did that in every shot. Male Speaker: Well, if I did that I would be very happy with that, if I did that in every stuff. Female Speaker: That's it. Male Speaker: Really? Female Speaker: Yeah. See, that's the whole thing. Male Speaker: I can see my 54 then. Female Speaker: Yeah. Male Speaker: So, let me see if I have this straight. So Dave starts off and he says his goal is to shoot par on every hole. Now that's outcome, right? Female Speaker: Yeah, that's a fun goal. I mean, that's what he wants. Like in our case we talk about player being able to shoot 54. He had envisioned that, he has had par on all the holes, he hasn't done it all in a row, but he see the potential. So that's good, that's an outcome goal. What we did there is by asking questions was how could he get focused on something that he could actually control, because score is not something that you can control. It's so to speak, a dream or it's a wish, I mean it's what you want, but now you have to come back and land in present time something that you can do. Male Speaker: So you say you haven't focused more on something that he can control, that is more related to the process that he needs to get better. Female Speaker: Absolutely. Then part of that is by focusing on something that he can't control and then having a way to measure that he is staying committed to that, because the score becomes sneaky. Let's say you make 4-5 pars in a row, Dave's case and you go, "Oh! This is working." Then all of a sudden you get outcome focused again. If you just be the opposite, you have a couple of bogeys and you go, "Oh! This process it isn't working." That's like then stay committed to it. Male Speaker: Now, is that way you have it and keep the separate scorecard? Female Speaker: Exactly, exactly, because if you don't keep the scorecard on the process, it can slip away. If there is, all of sudden again you're kind of into I had a bogey there. Male Speaker: Yeah. So it really keeps you right on the front burner. Female Speaker: Absolutely. We often say that's the game within the game. Male Speaker: Yeah. Female Speaker: You keep the promise to yourself, that you decided, a promise that you can take so it's totally under your control. So without players, we said, we don't want them to go out there unless they have this process focus, we call it their plain focus. That's what you take from your view to play golf with and it's been fantastic to see how helpful is this for many players. Actually, Annika Sorenstam, she is still the women who shot 59 in a competitive round and her playing focus further on was to make very, very clear committed decisions and then have 100% courage to go through with the decision that she was swinging. She kept that focus. That's how you can go dare to go really low because you know you keep on focusing the things in the present to things that are out of your control. Male Speaker: Right. That sounds like an excellent example of somebody who is taking the intention, not tension they get on the practice range, taking it to the course in terms of the being committed to every shot. Female Speaker: Exactly, any level golfer can do this and it's going to help anyone. Female Speaker: The cumulative effect of having a plain focus to stand committed to it is that if you do that you know it's nothing, you may not get the outcome the first time or the second time, but you are increasing -- that you aren't going to achieve that outcome. We often say by doing that you come off the golf course as a winner, no matter the outcome. I mean, I know you said that, she may not win the tournament but she comes off going, "You know what, I did this plain focus, and I feel a winner." Male Speaker: And yet obviously from her, the winning will take care of itself. Female Speaker: Yes. Female Speaker: Their millenium is going to come. Female Speaker: It certainly has.