Golf can be an easy game - Chapter 19 'The Mental Side Of Golf'

The game of golf is a perfectly natural one to play. Unfortunately, many people make golf difficult to learn, principally through their failure to understand the procedures used. Most often, the inability to succeed in golf stems from a lack of comprehension rather than from a lack of the proper physical equipment in the player. For example, people who excel in other sports do not always perform well on the golf course.

Perhaps the failure to understand golf can be blamed on the players, who may be unable to make the necessary effort to learn, or perhaps it can be that the game is presented to them in a confusing manner—but none of this will be discussed here. The author will simply try to clear away some of the cobwebs to help lead the reader to a more understandable and more enjoyable game.

Understanding the game

As a rule, men are inclined to create problems for themselves on the golf course. The average male becomes egotistical because of the success he has attained in mastering the complexities of life's battle. He has had to work hard to attain his position, so when it comes to golf, he is inclined to want to take it in his stride. Why should he stop to make a problem of the simple matter of playing a game, particularly something as simple as hitting a ball with a stick? Many a strong, virile, brilliant man has become fouled up on a golf course to a point where disappointment, irritation and confusion cause him to give up the game in disgust. This is one of the reasons for their failure to make good pupils. Knowledge of a few elementary facts could have prevented this situation.

Women players, on the other hand, are inclined to depend too much on others for guidance, and they fail to work out in their own minds an aggressive plan of action, so necessary in the game of golf. Because women are good pupils, however, they do develop good form and golf style, and they become comparatively better players than their male competitors.

Because of its very nature, golf demands understanding on the part of the player. As we noted in an earlier chapter, golf is unlike most games in that it is played with a stationary ball. In practically every other game, the ball is put into motion, usually with intentional deception. Consider, for example, the serve in tennis, the pitch in baseball, or the pass in football. In these sports, if the player does not have the intuition to sense the play or the instinctive ability to get into position for the play, he soon finds himself sitting on the sidelines.

There is no deceptive delivery in golf, and there is no opposing player to interfere with the play. The ball is on the ground, waiting for the player to act, and the player can take as long as he wants, use whatever club he desires, and follow any method or style he chooses.

So, why shouldn't golf be easy? .........

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