GOLF ACADEMY
BY RYAN WILLIAMS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL
January’s Tip of the Month PUSH YOUR COMFORT ZONE IN 2024 If you will indulge me, I’d like to confide in you all some of the anxiety I had surrounding my wedding. To be clear, I had no doubts or worries about my lovely wife, Emily, but the formality and size of the ceremony was a source of stress in the months leading up
loved ones as we took our vows and kissed for the first time as a married couple. For an extended period of time after the wedding, I felt a calm confidence in every part of my life. It then occurred to me that without the fear associated with the wedding, the wonderful calm
played a tournament — particularly if that tournament was on a bigger stage than anything you’ve played in before. For example, I was very nervous for the Cal Cup Matches because I did not want to feel like my place on the team wasn’t justified. After the matches were done, however, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and it became much easier to enjoy the game and play freely immediately after. Those of you who have had a similar experience probably came to the same conclusion I did:
If you want to improve, you need to put yourself in uncomfortable situations.
to the big day. For some reason, the ceremony itself was the part I was most nervous about and I found myself wishing for that moment to come and go. Fast forward to the moment itself, I was shocked at how calm I felt walking with my mother to the altar and how much I enjoyed standing in front of all our
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I was experiencing would never have materialized. In other words, pushing my comfort zone made me a better version of myself. Now, how can that be applied to our golf games? Maybe some of you have experienced a new calm while playing a casual round after having
The problem with being uncomfortable is just that, it’s hard. However, if you can push through that discomfort, there are a variety of ways to grow as a player:
1. Play with Better Players
As someone very guilty of playing fun golf with players of a lower skill level, the benefit of being around a higher standard of golf cannot be
JANUARY 2024
