Bill Kroen - Golf: How Good Do You Want to Be?

The question How good do you want to be? is one that I hope you will pause and reflect on as you look at your golfing life. The answer depends on how much commitment and value you place on becoming the best golfer that you can be. You must weigh how important golf is to you.

Is it a once-a-week or once-a-month afternoon recreation or is it your avocation? Is the game of golf more than a game to you? Is golf a source of recreation, exhilaration, challenge, and fascination? If you answered in the affirmative to the last two questions then you are ready to accept change, play better, and realize that the hours you spend playing the game of golf should be fun and rewarding to you.

When you ask yourself, Why do I play golf? it is always better if your answers are positive: that you play for enjoyment, for the joy of being outdoors with friends and family, and for the exhilaration of doing well at something that you enjoy. This book is about and for people who really love golfwho want to play better and who want to learn as a process. The learning process is and has to be part of the journey of enjoying the game. Practice, gaining awareness, reading, observing, and absorbing little insights and exploring the wonders of the game are all the fun parts of the game and not just hurdles in the way of getting somewhere. As you set out on the road to becoming a better player, start from a standpoint of building and developing as a child would build and develop through the primary years of development. Drink in the environment and culture of golf, from knowledge of the swing to the rich history that makes the game so fascinating. Dont struggle to learnlove to learn.

In researching this book, I looked at handicaps at my club from ten years ago and compared them to current ones. There is almost no difference for the vast majority of players. In other words, most adult golfers reach a level and then stay at that level for their golfing lives. I tried to analyze the reasons for this, and this question became the basis for this book. Staying at a level of play for a lifetime may be acceptable for many, and actually it is a source of comfort for us as humans. Still, it is somewhat surprising that despite years of additional practice and experience and revolutionary gains in the technology of equipment, few golfers actually improve.

Why exactly is it hard to improve? One of the major obstacles to making a change in almost anything we do is the nature of change itself. In the late 1930s the medical community acknowledged the phenomenon of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the bodys way of regulating itself and resisting change in order to remain normal in all of its functions. If we become too hot, our bodies secrete sweat to cool our skin and slow our heart rate and muscle activity. If you sprain an ankle, your body sends blood to swell the area to prevent movement while it heals and sends pain signals to prevent its use. These are two simple examples in a myriad of complex functions that our brains do every day to regulate our bodies. Scientists are still discovering how the brain works its miracles.

Another aspect of homeostasis is that we have a built-in predisposition to avoid change. Not only do our bodies spring into action to restore health when a virus enters them, but our minds react when any change is brought into our known environment. Homeostatic behavior even extends to organizations. Corporations have learned that in order to make significant change they must bring in outside help and advice to execute the change. So what does all this mean to the golfer?