Meaning: get off your arse and do something.  Please.  About an uncomfortable or unjust situation.  About a weakness in your game.  About your reaction when things don't turn out as you'd planned. 

Some mental fortitude.  Some grit & resilience.  Some other point of view - or shift of consciousness...

What you are paying attention to, basically.  Keep in mind, per cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz:

“Attention is an intentional, unapologetic discriminator. It asks what is relevant right now, and gears us up to notice only that."

Yet again, don't just take it from me (I implore you: always consider the source, friends).  Take if from William James, the grrrrrraight (that's the Scottish spelling, BTW ;)) American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.

“Our normal waking consciousness, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different… No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.”



You think Carnoustie is tough with its "trees and bushes and high grass" and the spectacle bunkers, pictured just above (and burns, and winds - oh, they'll blow, you just wait - and fairways baked out like an airport's runways, ricocheting golf balls in any, and every, conceivable direction)? 

Not as tough as Angela Hernandez.  You in need of some inspiration this fine Friday?  An unbelievable example of mental/emotional strength, ingenuity and improvisation (gimme those qualities in a golfer over how far they hit it, any day)?  Some motivation to become a better 'problem solver' on the course, and on the daily sidewalks of life? 

Click below on the disfigured vehicle, for the full story.  Then, next time the (fish and) chips don't 'fall' just your way on the links, remember how Ms. Hernandez managed to survive for over a week, despite suffering a brain hemorrhage, fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, broken collar bones and ruptured blood vessels.  And you're gonna cry, whine or gripe over a missed short putt, pace of play, or less than ideal weather?  Find your britches, lads and lassies, and pull 'em up!

Need some guidance on navigating the waters of the mind before, during and after a round of golf?  Some ideas on training the super-computer resting upon your shoulders?  On managing (yes, you can) the heebie jeebies on and around the green (and elsewhere, perhaps)? 

NO ONE better in the biz than Dr. Crews, and she'll be with me for two days next month.  Please don't let this Claret Jug of an opportunity slip through your hands... click on her image to read about the upcoming ESPN Films piece "Enhanced" where some of her work & findings will be featured.

Dr. Debbie Crews: 

Dr. Crews is an Adjunct Faculty in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, and sport psychology consultant at Arizona State University where she has worked with the Men’s and Women’s golf teams since 1979.  She has conducted over 35 years of research on attention in sport, primarily golf (in addition to working with dozens of LPGA/PGA and Champions Tour players), and is the Chair of the World Scientific Congress of Golf. 

Dr. Crews was the founding Editor of the International Journal of Golf Science.  Her research has been published in scientific journals as well as being featured on Scientific America Frontier and NBC Dateline. She is a Master LPGA instructor, an Ellen Griffith Teaching Award Winner, and serves on the LPGA Education and Research Advisory Board.  Dr. Crews was ranked in the Golf Digest Top 50 Women Golf Instructors, and the recipient of the Golf Digest Best Science in Golf Award in 2001. Currently, she is the CEO and Founder of Opti International, a feedback company for performance optimization.

 

Agenda

"Mental Training & Toughness + Yips Management" Seminar

Eugene Country Club Clubhouse

Cost: $75 members; $85 non-members; $50 juniors

Thursday, August 16, 2 PM - 6 PM

Friday, August 17, 9 AM - 2 PM

Individual one-hour sessions with Dr. Crews

Eugene Country Club Teaching Center

Cost: $125 for members; $140 for non-members; $100 for juniors

RSVP required, space is extremely limited.

Christopher@ChristopherSmithGolf.com