“Everything in our past has brought us to this auspicious moment.” –Bhavani Maki (The Yogi’s Roadmap)

ATHA. What does it mean? (“At The Hole A..hole”?. . .close). It’s time-honored wisdom from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras loosely translated as “NOW” (Sanskrit, pronounced ahh-tah).  Everything in our past has brought us to this golf shot. Right here, right now.

The NCAA Regional Championship my senior year at the University of Washington was a defining ATHA moment.  Faced with an impossible down hill sliding chip shot on the 18th hole to get my team into a playoff, our season looked as though it were over.  However, guess which shot I had rehearsed for hours on end as a kid? You guessed it. . . the down hill sliders! Everything in my past had brought me to that shot. . .the thousands of hours of practice and past experiences showed up at that moment in time (ATHA!). I almost made the chip, tapped in the putt, we won the playoff.  We were off to Nationals.

You never know when your distinguishing ATHA shot will be. Are you prepared? And what are you bringing to your moment?:

-Doubt?
-Past Memories?
-Confidence?

Every moment on the golf course (and life) has taken our entire lifetime to come this point. Today matters. . .Start preparing NOW.

Dodie Mazzuca is the Director of Instruction at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, AZ (November – April).  She also teaches golf in Santa Cruz, CA (May-October).