We are faced every day with decisions; some are bigger and more important than others. However, no matter how small the decision is, one choice is usually better than the other. These many decisions we are faced with each day and how we handle them are what determines the quality of our life. Just as in golf, the choices we make on the golf course throughout the round reflect on our scorecard.
Although, even if a beginner golfer was to make all the right decision on the golf course, the chance of them shooting a lower score than a low handicap golfer is extremely unlikely. This is because it is not always just the decisions we make that determine the outcome, but how much preparation we have put into it before the round. A low handicapper has put in many days and years of countless hours of practice. So when they make poor decisions it most likely ends in just a bogey or maybe a little worse. However, when a beginner makes a bad decision it can translate into a triple bogey or worse, since a bogey can be a good score for a beginner.
Practice in golf, is much like going to school for an education in life. The more we put into education and learning, the higher we set the bar for ourselves. So, although the decisions we make determine the quality of our lives, the preparation before each decision can determine the level of quality.
No matter how skilled a player is, one thing is for sure, they will still make a bad decision. They may be able to make it through a whole round without making a poor decision, but eventually they will have a lapse in judgment and make a poor choice. This is a critical moment in a golfers round. If the bad decision resulted in a ball hit into the woods and has 170 yards left to the green with trees between them, they must know their limitations before making the decision of what to do next. If the golfer wants to go for the green, but does not have the ability to hit the ball high enough, they will only get themselves into even more trouble. The ball could hit a tree and reflect even farther into the woods, putting themselves in a tougher situation than they were in the first place. If the player continues to go for the green in one shot, this could result in a huge disaster on their scorecard. The choice the golfer should make once in the trees is to realize their limitations and accept that they put them self in their current situation. The next shot should be to just do what they can to get the ball back into the fairway and in play to finish the hole with the least amount of damage.
When professional golfers are faced with shots they know they can’t pull off, they don’t let one bad decision transfer into another. They do what they can to get the ball back into the fairway, and continue to play the hole the best they can. They realize they will have many more chances throughout the round to make it up, and don’t want to make a bad situation even worse.
In our daily life, this is a wonderful metaphor for individuals who get into trouble and don’t know what to do. The smart thing is to always acknowledge the mistake. Do not try to rectify a bad decision without accepting the consequences.
In life we are faced with tough situations frequently. Using the same thought process that golfers go through when faced with a difficult situation can really help improve how individuals deal with their problems. For example, we have all told a lie at some point in our life. When we are caught in a lie, we are faced with the option to confess the truth and deal with the consequences, or we can come up with another lie to cover up the fact that we lied. Often when we cover up a lie with another, it becomes a vicious cycle and when finally caught, it has been turned into something much bigger than it ever needed to be. However, there are times that we may get away with it, but deep down this will only make us feel ashamed and unhappy with ourselves and lying can become a habit. The fact is, that if we were to admit that we lied, the consequences of those actions would be less severe and we would earn the respect of others for owning up to it.
Experienced golfers get very good at making the right decisions on the golf course. This is because after making the tough decisions, which at times can be the least fun choice or the less risky shot, they know when they take this route things turn out better more often than not. They have played many holes where they have found themselves in a tough situation on the course, and when they went for the low percentage shot or miracle shot, they found themselves wishing they had hit the ball back into the fairway or in a spot where they could play aggressive on the next shot. Once a golfer becomes better at making the right decisions on the course, it will lead to an increase in good decisions in the future. Good decisions breed more good decisions.
Learning how to make the right decisions on the golf course is essentially developing problem solving skills. This is an extremely valuable skill to develop in life, because we are all constantly faced with problems. These problems may not be the result of something we have done previously, but simply a situation that arises that we need to fix or improve on. Practicing problem solving skills allows us to make the right choice more often, and golf is a great way to keep those skills sharp.
The number one golfer in the world stills makes a bad decision every now and then; however he does it much less than anyone else. No matter how hard we try, or how much we practice, we are still going to slip up and make a poor decision. The key is to reduce poor decisions to a minimum and constantly try to improve.
In order to minimize bad decisions, golfers need to analyze those decisions after they have seen the results, whether the result was positive or negative. If the decision resulted poorly, they need to ask themselves, was it the decision or was it the execution? It maybe that the golfer chose the best option, but if the execution was poor, they aren’t going to see the result they were looking for. For example, if a golfer has 200 yards to the pin and there is water in front of the green and they decide they can reach the green with a 3 iron, but hit a little behind the ball resulting in catching too much dirt and chunking it. Then it wasn’t necessarily a bad decision, but the result of bad execution. However, if they are not able to regularly carry their 3 iron 200 yards, and the reason they chunked it was because they were trying to swing too hard, then it was a poor decision. The player would have been better off using a little more club, or laying up short of the water, ensuring they could make it over with the next shot. By analyzing poor shots they begin to learn their limitations on the course, which will prevent them from making poor decisions in the future.
If the decision made had positive results and was successful, it is important to know why and how. Even though the result was what they wanted doesn’t mean it was the best choice. For example, if a golfer is 140 yards away from the pin, and they choose a pitching wedge but on their swing they hit it thin (meaning they hit the ball low on the club face causing the ball to travel lower and farther), was it still the right decision even though the ball ended up only 5 feet away from the hole? The answer is no, had they hit the ball the way they wanted with the pitching wedge, the ball would have gone higher and not traveled far enough. Chances are, the ball would not have reached the green and ended up 10-15 yards short. But because they analyzed their shot even though the ball ended up near the pin, next time they have 140 yards to the flag stick, the player will know to use the 8 or 9 iron instead of the pitching wedge.
Perhaps the most important part of decision making in golf is sticking to it once a decision has been made. Golfers cannot second-guess themselves once they have made up their mind. If a golfer is not committed, whether the decision they made was good or bad, their chance of hitting a quality shot will drop. Even if the choice made was not the best but they still stayed fully committed to it, the result would end up better than if they had made the right decision but was not committed. This should not be an excuse for attempting a riskier shot, but is to explain the importance committing to the shot. However, before putting one hundred percent into it, they must make sure to think through all options and then decided what is best.
Too often people make decisions using their emotions rather than their head. When it involves more than one person, coming to an agreement on an issue can be tough. People tend to argue their point or their side until they win, rather than first learning the facts and then making a decision. When arguing to win, no one wins. It only causes separation and stress. Instead of people arguing their side, they should talk together to come up with a solution. It is much more rewarding to find a solution together than to win an argument and cause resentment.
Even if one were to win the argument, do they really win in the end? They may have won the argument, but if technically they were wrong, they will end up with a less than desirable result. It will only cause others to be upset with them, which causes even more stress and frustration. This can lead to even more arguments and eventually turn into a situation where people don’t even know why they are arguing and more of a game of who is right. It can be hard to put one’s own personal interests aside when in an argument, but in order to make the right decision they must learn how.