Commentary By Rick Rodriguez
After reading Going Low by Patrick Cohn, I played golf with golf professional & long-drive champion Vince Howell longdrivers in Houston, Texas. This wasn't the 1st time I've played golf with Vince Howell. In fact, I've played golf with him hundreds of times over the course of our twenty-year relationship. Watching Vince Howell do spectacular things on a golf course doesn't surprise me; however, seeing him walk on the 1st tee on a never before seen course, and shoot 68 is pretty impressive!
Going Low By Patrick Cohn (Cohn P.27) "To play well, you first must be confident in your ability to play, rather than wait to play well so you can be confident. The sport psychology adage "you must believe before you can achieve" is certainly true and required for great golf!" This is a great definition of confidence, but when it comes to confidence there are varying degrees of it. It can range from no confidence to complete confidence in any given task." The author goes on to detail the 4 levels of confidence, and I won't expound here on the Author's instruction. In the Houston round, I noticed that Vince Howell plays the game from a "knowing" standpoint. Even though we went from the Airport to the 1st tee, Vince didn't spend much time analyzing his swing or taking practice swings. He swings the club from a knowing standpoint!
Going Low by Patrick Cohn (Cohn P.128) "To perform to your full potential, you must change how you usually think about your golf game and how you perceive yourself. You must overcome the barriers that impede your performance. Your point of view of the world around you and of yourself needs to change. In short, you must play beyond "the box." Easier said than done! I know it's difficult to magically convert thoughts for strong golf performance, but it is exactly those limiting thoughts that have limited the development of my game. Check out Peaksports to learn more about Patrick Cohn!
Going Low by Patrick Cohn (Cohn P. 124) "Do you have trouble taking compliments? Do you downplay even small accomplishments? Are you an extreme pessimist? The first behavior that prevents you from developing confidence is when you "disqualify the positive." The tendency to disqualify the positive, such as when you downplay achievements, is often a side effect of perfectionism. Perfectionists are very hard on themselves. Even small successes are not recognized as a positive step, because perfectionists demand so much from themselves." Yikes! How's that for brutal honesty! When I struck that tee shot that landed some 300 yards from it's origin, I looked over and saw Vince just on the other side of the fairway, in no way could that moment happen by affirmatively answering to the above questions. However, Mr. Perfection catches up to me often enough to prevent me from breaking through! And, perhaps there is the lesson for me and why I came to this book back in 2002, and why I chose today to put it's lessons back to use.
Going Low by Patrick Cohn offers many anecdotes, advice, and instruction about the game of golf. However, perhaps its greatest value may be the contributions it offers to the mental side of golf and for that matter any sport. I recommend reading and putting its lessons to use. The book will go along way on helping overcome the barriers that may be holding you back from your best golf game. And, of course, having a great Pro like Vince Howell as a friend doesn't hurt, either!
Going Low by Patrick Cohn is 161 pages. I read it in April of 2002.
Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco East Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.
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