The Two Pillars Beyond Par
The ancient sage Patanjali tells us that the key to accessing “the zone” is to‘calm the stormy nature of the mind.’ When this is achieved, the golfer resides in their unlimited potential.
How do we ‘quiet the turbulent mind’ over a golf shot? This challenging feat is accomplished with PRACTICE and DETACHMENT. Like the two sides of the same lucky ball marker coin, both are equally necessary.
We PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! But then we must DETACH FROM THE OUTCOME (this is not to be confused with the obstacle of LAZINESS). We must let go of the ‘fruits of our actions’ or our practice becomes skewed, leading to more suffering and self sabotage. The ball goes where it goes…
- We don’t have control over the outcome.
- We do our best.
- Then we can skillfully play for the love of the game.
As radical golfers questing for excellence (but not attaching to it!) our practice doesn’t end when we’ve walked off the 18th green. . . we soldier on down the fairway of life to reach our unlimited potential.
Dodie Mazzuca is the founder of Golf PROformance and teaches golf and mindset programs in Santa Cruz, CA.