A good friend, Jack Burrell, shared something Brandt Snedeker said to him that makes so much sense. Standing on the clubhouse porch watching the rain cancel a charity golf event, we were discussing what guys always do, the length of their drives. Jack recently played with golf professional Brandt Snedeker whose brother and dad live in our town. Jack, who hits the ball 300 yards, swings ferociously. Brandt gave Jack the following tip which mirrors Brandt’s golf swing perfectly, “Swing easy if you can live with the extra distance.” That tip also makes sense off the course.
How many times have we tensed up and messed up is pressure situations? How many times have we tried to “bow” up and overpower the situation only to mess up the situation?
Swinging easy in golf requires that you empty your mind and relax your way through the activity. You still have a target, a goal, and you do execute the plan. You just let your body take over and keep your mind relaxed. And as Brandt pointed out, when you do this, you get an ever better result than when you over-think and over-will your body.
Here’s five ways to add some distance to your results:
1) Swing easy when you have to deal with a difficult person. Rather than anticipating a hard time, just relax and observe their behaviors rather than taking the bait.
2) Swing easy when you feel time pressure. You can only do one thing at a time so relax, pick the most important task, and enjoy getting the most important thing done.
3) Swing easy when you’re afraid of a negative outcome. Fear is never relaxing, yet failing is the #1 requirement to get better. Brandt is the #1 putter on the PGA tour and still misses 40% of his putts. He just keeps putting.
4) Swing easy when you feel anger rising up. Swinging easy requires relaxed muscles and relaxed muscles actually perform better. The same is true of a relaxed mind. Anger creates tunnel vision thinking which rarely improves the outcome.
5) Swing easy when you are unsure what to do. Over thinking your golf swing creates more bad swings than anything else. Analysis paralysis has stopped more potential growth than anything else. “Relax and try anything” will always work better than constantly “what iffing” a decision to death.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the wisdom in Brandt’s statement. Jack, who has a rocket science degree, agrees. So remember Brandt Snedeker’s advice and enjoy adding some distance in your life.