One Shot At A Time

Why should this cliche mean anything to us? On the surface it seems like a pretty meaningless catch phrase the pro's like to throw out during interviews because they have nothing better to say. And whilst this may sometimes be true, "one shot at a time" has a very real meaning.

golf is a slow sport and we have a lot of time to think. We have the luxury of musing on the past and future. That missed putt, "Oh damn just think how well I'd be doing if I hadn't missed it. Oooh, there's a par five coming up if I birdie it I might be abole to avoid going up 0.1..." Whatever.

These thoughts really aren't at all helpful. Rather we should aim to remove them because they break our concentration totally, lead to nervousness and anger. Ultimately they are the cause of poor play and all "caves" can be put down to suddeny becoming aware of how well you are doing (thought about the past) and hoping to finish it off well (thought about the future). When this happens we are likely to get nervous and "choke."

The pro's use one shot at a time as a mantra to bring them back into the present moment. They are only concentrating on what they are doing at exactly that moment, whether that be lining up a putt or talking to their playing partners. When the present moment is all that matters a Retief-Goosen-like calm descends. No shot is more important than another and interestingly golf can't make you angry.

Can you remember what you were thinking about during your best round ever? Take a few seconds to consider this...

For most people the answer is invariably very little. It's because you were so focused on what you were doing you didn't really think that much at all. You were too busy playing to worry about irrelevant things like the hole before or the greenside pond on the next hole. You were in "The zone". Another of golf's favourite cliches... :).

Falling out of the present isn't so much of a problem in continuous or fast moving sports though it is still possible. But that is no excuse to let it happen to you in golf. Next time you catch yourself slipping say that mantra to yourself "one shot at a time." And if that isn't enough there is the master cure to the disease of thinking too much: stretching your muscles. When you stretch you become aware only of the feeling in your muscles and it takes your focus into the present. Feelings can only exist in the present moment.

Fraser Hasell is the owner of www.goodatgolf.com

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